John Mayer is my favorite musical artist of all time, and when I found out that he was going to be performing at a free festival in Central Park, I had to find a way to go. Unfortunately I had become really busy with school work and totally forgot to look into getting festival tickets. I had pretty much lost all hope, until one of my roommates told me that her friend won tickets and had an extra few the day before the festival. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity to go.
We left at noon on Saturday so we could be there around the time the doors would open (2 pm). We got there at the perfect time and made it to the front of the lawn section, before it had been cut off into sections that were further from the stage. The line for food and drinks was about a two-hour wait, so we completely ruled out that idea, but my roommate and I were able to jump on the line for the merchandise tent. I got a cute black tee with an American flag graphic filled with a list of the performing artists.
The major performers were Kings of Leon, Alicia Keys, John Mayer and Stevie Wonder. Elvis Costello and Janelle Monae made appearances, and each performed a song. In between performances multiple celebrities including Katie Holmes, Gerard Butler, Bono, Olivia Wilde and Will. I. AM introduced the artists, and philanthropists talked about the fight to end poverty being made by different charities.
Kings of Leon was the first band to perform. I only previously knew 2 or 3 songs, but I ended up really enjoying some of the songs I had never heard before. They sounded amazing live and their music is fun and easy to dance along to, even if you don’t really know many of their songs. When I got home, I immediately downloaded “Supersoaker” and a few others.
Alicia Keys was the second performer. She is extremely talented and is one of those artists that really give you the chills. It was great to hear some oldies like “Fallin’” and “If I Ain’t Got You”. She was definitely the most in touch with the cause and did an amazing job of creating a lot of emotion in the crowd.
Obviously John Mayer was my favorite performer. John played “Wildfire” (one of my favorites) from his new album Paradise Valley. He also performed some classics like “Slow Dancing In A Burning Room” and “Gravity” from older albums. Of course the famous “Waiting on the World to Change” was played, fitting for the cause. He is so talented and seemingly flawless in every performance. He made sure to end each song with an incredible guitar solo, and I managed to record every one.
Unfortunately we were exhausted and left after John’s performance right before Stevie Wonder went on, but I could only imagine how amazing he was. We were able to quickly exit the festival and ended up crossing paths with a bunch of familiar Fordham students who were raving about the performances. Going to school in New York City is such a privilege, and every Fordham student should take advantage of all the amazing opportunities the city has to offer!
There really is something special about going to a concert with many different artists. It’s interesting to see what songs each singer decides to perform, and how passionate many of them seemed about the great cause they were playing for.