Video: John Mayer Frolics on Maiden Voyage of "Mayercraft Carrier"

The first-ever Mayercraft Cruise Carrier sailed from Miami, FL to Freeport, Bahamas this past weekend, bringing with it John Mayer, his handpicked roster of singer-songwriters and a few thousand enthusiastic fans (ranging from the single twenty-somethings to families and aspiring Mayer clones). Despite recently shutting down his official blog due to being "done & dusted & self conscious & back to work," Mayer took every chance he could to show off for his fellow passengers during the three day cruise.

On Sunday morning, Mayer opted to don a Borat bathing suit and take a short jog around the upper level of the Carnival Victory's Lido Deck — much to the joint amusement and horror of the crowd of about fifty catching mid-morning rays.

The rest of the weekend's top five Mayer moments included:

• Sunday afternoon's acoustic set on the Lido deck: after admitting he had been drinking earlier in the day, Mayer took a bathroom break midway through the forty-five minute set and returned for a medley of "Sucker," "Love Soon," and "Man on the Side" — three older tracks that hadn't been seen on set lists for quite some time.
• Sunday's fan club Q&A session: between Borat and the acoustic performance, Mayer took time to answer questions from a few hundred fan club members, shedding light on some of his inspirations, his mother's influence on him and offering an impression of the vocal similarities between Janis Joplin and AC/DC's Brian Johnson.
• A surprise solo from Mayer during Colbie Caillat's Saturday night set, for which Mayer came on stage dancing before joining Caillat on "Battle."
• Mayer's headlining sets Friday and Sunday: since the largest performance space on the boat could only fit one half of the audience at a time, the headlining gigs were split into two sessions. For each, Mayer and his seven-piece backing band put on a two hour set consisting both of setlist rarities and standards, all of which had a fresh energy thanks to some time off the road over the last few months.

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Song Stories

“Youth Knows No Pain”

Lykke Li | 2011

“Like on 'Youth Knows No Pain' — we are the ones that should demonstrate, because we can take it,” Likke Li said. “We can pierce ourselves, take Ecstasy, dance all night and still go to work at our McDonald's jobs.” Despite the hedonistic sentiment in the song, the Swedish singer also admitted in hindsight her youth had repercussions. “I remember when I was 18-19 and feeling that I know it all,” Li said. “I always feel that I know it all. But that song is about realizing you don’t, and reflecting, ‘Boy, if I only knew what would follow.’”

More Song Stories entries »

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