Mayer Hawthorne wows fans at Bimbo's 365 Club
Fresh off the release of his second album How Do You Do, Mayer Hawthorne wowed energetic fans with his retro swagger at Bimbo’s 365 Club last night.
It was the perfect setting for a soulful celebration, complete with bowties, doo-wop and dazzling lights. After a somewhat lengthy wait following opener Chico Mann, fans were eagerly anticipating Hawthorne’s 60s-inspired performance.
Thankfully, Hawthorne did not disappoint. Opening with “Maybe So Maybe No” from his first album, Hawthorne quickly reminded us why we love to see him live; he seamlessly transitioned into a flirty rendition of Snoop Dogg’s “Gangsta Love,” stirring the crowd up for what was next to come. “The Walk,” a breezy track about a love gone awry, is a song from his newest album and gained the crowd’s instant approval.
Hawthorne prefaced “No Strings” by saying, “I’ve got a lot of songs about girls and relationships, you know, sappy stuff. This song is not one of those. This song is about sex.” After more covers like Hall & Oates’ “You Make My Dreams Come True” he broke into a collection of groovy numbers from both of his albums, including “A Long Time” and “The Ills.”
Finally, Hawthorne and his band, The County, came back out for a three-song encore, starting with an intimate piano solo of “I’ve got a Crush on You,” a jazz classic performed by all the greats. Next was the finger snapping hit “One Track Mind” and finally, he ended the show with his upbeat rendition of The Isley Brother’s “Work to Do.”
Ashley Smith is a writer and music lover from San Francisco. You can check out what she is grooving to at www.thegrooveisontheloose.com.
