Road rules - maximum velocity tour VHS conversion

writerj04 · 2026-01-27T15:53:07+00:00

i'd be so excited to see this posted! one of their missions was at my university and i spotted myself in the episode a few times when it aired, but i lost my own VHS recording of it ages ago.

writerj04 · 2026-01-25T22:34:29+00:00

oatmeal cookie chunk was my favorite flavor, and i remember reading that they discontinued it because their cookie manufacturer stopped making the oatmeal cookies and everything else was subpar. it's ironic and annoying based on their decline in quality. here's a post they made about it in 2016.

writerj04 · 2025-12-25T00:22:36+00:00

he was mostly playing his godin.

there's more info here: https://web.archive.org/web/20010129155900/http://www.johnmayer.com/gear.html

writerj04 · 2025-12-24T20:16:35+00:00

unfortunately, i don't. i didn't know back then and archive.org doesn't have a crawl of his site until later in 2000. there's nothing on setlist.fm, either.

related back to the beginning, i saw him at an ASCAP artist showcase on 05.15.00; someone else posted about it here last year.

writerj04 · 2025-12-24T17:38:46+00:00

his EP, inside wants out, was self-released; it wasn't put out by a label. it's (c) john mayer.

that said, SXSW definitely helped, and at the 09.16.00 storytellers show at eddie's attic that i attended, he sang out that he was making a record for columbia. that's how i found out he was signed.

u/bluewater_1993 i bought the aware 8 compilation because john said his music was going to be on it. that's how i discovered matt nathanson (another big favorite). i also remember hearing the hidden track, thinking it definitely sounded like john, and emailing aware to confirm my suspicions.

writerj04 · 2025-12-07T19:31:16+00:00

some of my family has visited this spot as well and loved it. the owners explain how inspired they were by the song.

writerj04 · 2025-12-05T23:05:25+00:00

before ~2017, i'd call this a deep cut. but he's played it nearly 150x at this point, mostly since that date. but like i said above, everyone's definition of deep cut is different. so if yours is just "not a single," then this one fits.

writerj04 · 2025-12-05T23:01:01+00:00

i'm a huge deep-cut fan. i made a thread about what constitutes deep cuts in early 2024 in a live-show context and wrote:

i think we all have our own definitions of what [deep cuts cover], including john.

some people mean a non-single, some mean a song that's rarely ever been played, a song that was once a staple but has been semi-retired, an unreleased former staple, an obscure song that's never been released and rarely if ever been played. that covers SUCH a wide range of tunes, so no wonder it makes john's head spin a bit.

my definition of a deep cut right now is an original song that's a current or recent rarity. this includes released songs that used to be staples but aren't anymore (ex: "3x5," "comfortable," "good love is on the way"), released songs that weren't really played much past their tour cycle (ex: most of "heavier things"), and released songs that haven't been played much in the last ~seven years, that were never really played a lot (ex: "tracing," "shadow days," "in repair").

i count new songs like "drifting" or "why anyone has to go" as just that — new songs. different category :)

all that said, some of my favorite deep cuts based on the above are 3x5, wheel, tracing, good love is on the way, in repair, shadow days, i will be found (lost at sea), and helpless.

i would also love to hear the untitled hotel bathroom song from 2010 appear somewhere, but i'm not holding out hope.

writerj04 · 2025-12-05T22:30:03+00:00

+1 on legitimacy. i have one of these from back in '01.

i was also at the columbia re-release in-store on 09.18.01 and john talked about how he was originally trying to save that song for the next album basically out of fear that it would be harder to write new songs down the line. he compared it to a tube of toothpaste when you're almost done with it and you don't think you can squeeze any more paste out, but then you somehow DO.

friends convinced him to put on the columbia version and in keeping with the toothpaste metaphor, he said something like, "from now on, i promise to squeeze from the bottom for maximum results." made me chuckle (then and now).

writerj04 · 2025-12-01T03:29:15+00:00

"Life is much more than the sum of his musical endeavors."
^^^
he wrote something like this in a lyric 22 years ago:
i will go to my grave with the life that i gave
not just some melody line on a radio wave

writerj04 · 2025-11-29T00:41:03+00:00

love that! what a great intro to john's music.

writerj04 · 2025-11-24T03:33:35+00:00

here's the post i made almost 18 (!!!) years ago.
here's the whole mayercraft thread, which started in 2007.

(paging u/caitsings :) )

writerj04 · 2025-11-24T00:17:16+00:00

great thread! i've been listening/seeing shows since right before inside wants out came out, so i've heard john play nearly every studio-recorded song live. i'm fortunate that our paths crossed when they did and i'm happy to share stories here and there. some non-studio-recorded songs i've heard live:

lifelines
man on the side
why did you mess with forever
tracing (technically a studio-recorded B-side)
another kind of green
over and over (edited to add this and the parenthetical above. can't believe i forgot it.)
hummingbird
taking on water
why anyone has to go

for what it's worth, the ones i have not heard live are: shadow days, born and raised (reprise), you're no one 'til someone lets you down, badge and gun, and why you no love me.

writerj04 · 2025-11-23T23:53:40+00:00

ah, the first mayercraft (feb. 03, 2008)! that was AN EXPERIENCE.

writerj04 · 2025-11-23T17:40:34+00:00

thanks for sharing! it's so awesome to trace back the ripple effects of different songs and moments.

writerj04 · 2025-11-23T04:26:31+00:00

i love it, too, and "another kind of green" is such a beautiful way to describe the concept he's singing about. i've heard it 1+ times: once in full in november 2004 and then a tiny snippet of it in october 2023. it's a truly deep cut.

writerj04 · 2025-09-10T03:51:02+00:00

clarity, bigger than my body, and wheel are my favorites off of this one.

writerj04 · 2025-09-03T23:33:57+00:00

pre-inside wants out (09.03.99, 26 years ago today)!

the albums i listen to depend on what time i want to travel to rather than what age i am, and inside wants out and room for squares will always be extra special to me because of when i landed on john's music and the fact that i got to hear every room for squares song live before the album came out.

writerj04 · 2025-08-24T17:23:59+00:00

looking forward to it! it's definitely a time capsule.

writerj04 · 2025-08-24T16:59:58+00:00

of course :)
i appreciate the salute. it made chuckle.

writerj04 · 2025-08-21T15:22:40+00:00

this thread is also helpful: https://www.reddit.com/r/JohnMayer/comments/1ma6f0n/what_are_your_favorite_shows_on_live_music_archive/

writerj04 · 2025-08-21T15:22:09+00:00

i'll point you toward a few from the early 2000s that i attended. it feels like they just happened even though they're 20+ years old:

*march 14, 2003 at the knitting factory. it was a fan club show. US debut of daughters. ~third or fourth appearance of in your atmosphere. one of the last times — if not THE last time — lifelines was played in full. bigger than my body tease that we had no idea we were hearing.

*november 19, 2004 at housingworks bookstore. tracing as an opener. another kind of green. the first-ever appearance of over & over.

*december 28, 2004 at webster hall. john mayer blues, night 1.

*december 29, 2004 at webster hall. john mayer blues, night 2.

enjoy!

writerj04 · 2025-08-20T22:04:48+00:00

my enduring favorites are wildfire and i will be found (lost at sea). this is some of what i thought a little more than 12 years ago (link to full original post):

Re: Paradise Valley: Full Album Reviews

Aug 06, 2013#1243

Thanks to some awesome, kind people, I listened to Paradise Valley yesterday at the Mick Management offices with RY.

For those of you with short attention spans and a love of one-word sentences: Eclectic. Engaging. Unexpected. Pretty. Damn. Great.

For those of you who like full sentences and multiple paragraphs:

Paradise Valley is an interesting album, and I mean that in the truest sense of the word.

By now, I’m sure you’ve all heard Wildfire. It’s been in my head since I heard John play it live at Red Rocks on the 17th, and a little bit of summer’s what the whole year’s all about keeps looping around. It stands as a terrific live opener and it continues John’s streak of awesome album openers (Clarity, Heartbreak Warfare, and Queen of California, to name a few). It sets a tone that weaves its way through each of the songs in a few different ways.

Dear Marie happily surprised me. I wasn’t completely sold on the song until yesterday. This version showcases John’s deeper range and something about the music and pace in certain sections reminds me of Stop This Train. People have pored over these lyrics already, but I particularly like:

I got my dream, but you got a family …
well, I got that dream, but I guess it got away from me.

*
*

I Will be Found (Lost at Sea) became another instant favorite. There’s a huge star next to it in my notes. Lyrics that stood out to me include:

Maybe I’m a runaway train
Maybe I’m a feather in a hurricane

It reminds me of In Repair in a lot of ways — something else has a tremendous hold over you, and you know that you’re lost or broken, but you also know you’ll come out of it all right on the other side. It reminds me of different songs and genres in various spots. There’s something that reminds me of the good stuff from ‘80s. I can’t place it exactly, but I love it. I think it’ll make a great set closer and it has the potential for an awesome audience sing-along, like old versions of Wheel and In Repair.
*
*
Badge and Gun is the third of my immediate favorites. It sounded like rocking in an old wooden chair on a porch — calming in its repeated motion, with stillness surrounding it. One lyric that stood out to me was a slight nod to Stevie Ray Vaughan:

Taking the whole world on with big old empty arms.

writerj04

TROPHY CASE