Any Given Thursday

''Any Given Thursday'' is a live CD/DVD by John Mayer, recorded in Birmingham, Alabama at the Oak Mountain Amphitheater on September 12, 2002, during the ''Room for Squares'' tour. The album quickly peaked at #17 on the Billboard 200 chart. It features mostly songs from ''Room for Squares'', as well as several covers, including " Lenny" by Stevie Ray Vaughan and "Message in a Bottle" by The Police. Covers have since become a regular feature in Mayer's live shows.

Production and content

Though mostly featuring songs from ''Room For Squares'', the album also features "Man On The Side" (co-written with Cook and appeared on the Lo-Fi Master's Demo) and "Covered in Rain", neither of which have ever been released on a studio recording by John Mayer. "Covered in Rain", according to a documentary included in the DVD release, is "part two" of the song "City Love", which features the line, "covered in rain." The concert features songs previously not heard, such as " Something's Missing", which appeared on ''Heavier Things'', his following album. It also features "Comfortable" from his original EP, ''Inside Wants Out''. John Mayer also features his newly recorded song at the time " 3x5 "
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The DVD contained several features in addition to the concert: an audio commentary of the concert by Mayer and his friend Scotty Crowe (whose blog used to be hosted on Mayer's site), a photo gallery from the tour (not exclusively the concert shown in the video itself), and a documentary of an interview with Mayer entitled, "The Morning After", in which Mayer talks about his influences, some meanings of songs, and just general information about Mayer.

Reception

The CD/DVD received conservative consistent praise with critics torn between his pop-idol image, and (at the time) emerging guitar prowess. Erik Crawford (of AllMusic) asked "Is he the consummate guitar hero exemplified when he plays a cover of Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'Lenny', or is he the teen idol that the pubescent girls shriek for after he plays 'Your Body Is a Wonderland'?" Billboard called the DVD "a great introduction to a rising star." David Browne, with ''Entertainment Weekly'', gave the album a B− saying, "one wishes Mayer were a more convincing rebel, but at least he doth protest a little."Browne, David (March 14, 2003)
"Strummer Time"
''Entertainment Weekly''. (700):62

Commercially, ''Any Given Thursday'' entered the Billboard Albums Top 100 chart at number 34. It peaked at #23 for one week, and spent a total of 12 weeks on the chart. It quickly peaked at #17 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. In Australia, the DVD is certified 3× platinum by ARIA for sales of 45,000 copies.John Mayer – Any Given Thursday
αCharts.us. Retrieved 2007-10-17

Track listing

All songs written by John Mayer unless noted otherwise.

Disc one

#"3x5" – 8:05
#" No Such Thing" (Clay Cook, John Mayer) – 4:46
#"Back to You" – 4:36
#"City Love" – 5:11
#" Something's Missing" – 6:47
#"Man on the Side" Medley – 8:46
#*" Lenny" (Stevie Ray Vaughan)
#*"Man on the Side" (Cook, Mayer)
#"Message in a Bottle" The Police – 5:06
#*Features "Jóga" (DVD version only) (Björk)
#"Love Song for No One" (Cook, Mayer) – 3:35

Disc two

#"Why Georgia" – 8:24
#"Your Body Is a Wonderland" – 6:05 ''Note: Mayer preempts playing this song by telling the audience that he wrote it in Birmingham.''
#"My Stupid Mouth" – 5:02
#"Covered in Rain" – 10:25
#"83" Medley – 7:29
#*"83" (Mayer)
#*"Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (Robert Hazard)
#*"Let's Hear It for the Boy" (Tom Snow, Dean Pitchford)
#"Comfortable" (Cook, Mayer) – 7:37
#"Neon" (Cook, Mayer) – 10:22
#*Features a drum solo and a bass guitar solo

DVD version

#Introduction
#"3x5" – 8:05
#"No Such Thing" (Cook, Mayer) – 4:46
#"Back to You" – 4:36
#"City Love" – 5:11
#"Something's Missing" – 6:47
#"Man on the Side" Medley – 8:46
#*"Lenny" (Vaughan)
#*"Man on the Side" (Cook, Mayer)
#"Message in a Bottle" (Sting) – 5:06
#*Features "Jóga" as an interlude (Björk)
#"Love Song for No One" (Cook, Mayer) – 3:35
#"Why Georgia" – 8:24
#"Your Body Is a Wonderland" – 6:05
#"My Stupid Mouth" – 5:02
#"Covered in Rain" – 10:25
#"83" Medley – 7:29
#*"83" (Mayer)
#*"Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (Hazard)
#*"Let's Hear It For The Boy" (T. Snow, D. Pitchford)
#"Comfortable" (Cook, Mayer) – 7:37
#"Neon" (Cook, Mayer) – 10:22
#*Features a drum solo and a bass guitar solo
#Credits

Personnel

*John Mayer – vocals, guitars, keyboards
*Michael Chaves – keyboards, guitars, backing vocals
*David LaBruyere – bass guitars
*Stephen Chopek – drums, percussion

Differences between the DVD and CD releases

*The song "Jóga" (originally by experimental musical artist Björk) does not appear on the CD release due to copyright troubles; however, it does appear on the DVD.
*Between many songs, the CD contains some brief comments by Mayer. On the DVD, these comments tend to be longer, including a few long monologues referred to by Mayer himself as "John's Story Time" (on the DVD commentary).
*Extended introductory explanations to songs (such as "City Love" and "Covered in Rain").

Certifications

References

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John Mayer video albums
Albums produced by John Alagía
2003 video albums
Live video albums
2003 live albums
Aware Records live albums
Aware Records video albums