Colbie Caillat & John Mayer

Friday, July 18th

This internship with WXRT has not only opened doors for me to new genres of musical artists and festivals, but it has allowed me to attend live performances of some of my favorites. I am grateful for the many opportunities I have had to attend these concerts, because I believe that events such as these will only add to my knowledge and experience when searching for a future career in this industry.

This past Friday at the Midwest Bank Amphitheater in Tinley Park, Ill., Pop-singer-songwriter and guitarist from Malibu, California, Colbie Caillat opened for John Mayer, the Blues-Rock singer-songwriter who has topped the charts with his studio albums, Continuum (2006), Heavier Things (2003) and Room for Squares (2001). Among these albums, he has reeled in several Grammy awards and other major awards with his singles, "Waiting on the World to Change", "Belief" and "Gravity" from the year 2006 as well as from 2007, singles "Dreaming With a Broken Heart" and "Say". Caillat isn't exactly as big of a house hold name as Mayer, but this young 23-year-old is quickly building a name for herself, touring with The Goo Goo Dolls last year and working with other popular artists such as Jason Mraz. The combined duo drew fans in from across the state of Illinois and even across the country to provide a soulful, blues and pop-rock concert for a summer evening.
The XRT truck was blasting tasteful music as fans of all ages arrived to the 28,000 outdoor seating venue. Our table, although still dripping wet from the rain, provided free can koozies and buttons along with the opportunity to sign up to win free concert tickets to see Dave Matthews Band in August. After meeting some of our contest winners and visiting with other XRT listeners, the other interns and I headed into watch the remaining opener, Colbie Caillat. Singing my favorite song off of her 2007 album, Coco, and current ring tone for my cell phone, "Realize", we found our seats in preparation for one of the best concerts I have seen in a long time. John Mayer opened with a very appropriate rendition of "Sweet Home Chicago" into "Bigger Than my Body". After an energy-packed mix of his popular hits and other covers by Buddy Guy, Tom Petty and Duffy, Mayer ended the show with an encore performance of Van Halen's "Panama" and "Say" off of his 2006 album Continuum. I headed out a little bit early to hand out static XRT window clings as fans exited the venue, exhausted from an incredible three hour show.

John Mayer is definitely my all-time favorite and well-respected musician. The seats were amazing, and the show was out of this world. I had one of the best nights! I could hardly call it work, but this experience topped the list of things I have done for XRT this summer. Only if I could have met John...