{"id":2448255,"date":"2019-09-02T14:24:00","date_gmt":"2019-09-02T20:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/jazz-aspen-labor-day-experience-review-sting-john-mayer-weezer-luke-combs-h-e-r-and-more\/"},"modified":"2019-09-03T12:41:15","modified_gmt":"2019-09-03T18:41:15","slug":"jazz-aspen-labor-day-experience-review-sting-john-mayer-weezer-luke-combs-h-e-r-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/jazz-aspen-labor-day-experience-review-sting-john-mayer-weezer-luke-combs-h-e-r-and-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Jazz Aspen Labor Day Experience review: Sting, John Mayer, Weezer, Luke Combs, H.E.R. and more"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.8734353268428\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-312219-818\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/Jasphotos-atd-083119-21-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/Jasphotos-atd-083119-21.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Lynn Goldsmith \/ Special to The Aspen Times | Rivers Cuomo of Weezer played to a full house Friday night to open the JAS Labor Day Experience at Snowmass Village.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Rivers Cuomo of Weezer played to a full house Friday night to open the JAS Labor Day Experience at Snowmass Village.<\/strong><br \/>Lynn Goldsmith \/ Special to The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/Jasphotos-atd-083119-21.jpg\" alt=\"Rivers Cuomo of Weezer played to a full house Friday night to open the JAS Labor Day Experience at Snowmass Village.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/Jasphotos-atd-083119-21-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/Jasphotos-atd-083119-21-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times | Sting performs on Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019, at the Jazz Aspen Snowmass Labor Day Experience in Snowmass Village. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"0\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"11\">\n<p><strong>Sting performs on Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019, at the Jazz Aspen Snowmass Labor Day Experience in Snowmass Village. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)<\/strong><br \/>Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/Jasphotos-atd-083119-21-1.jpg\" alt=\"Sting performs on Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019, at the Jazz Aspen Snowmass Labor Day Experience in Snowmass Village. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/Jasphotos-atd-083119-21-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/Jasphotos-atd-083119-21-2.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Lynn Goldsmith \/ Special to The Aspen Times | John Mayer play the guitar at the JAS Labor Day Experience in Snowmass Village on Saturday, Aug. 31.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"9\">\n<p><strong>John Mayer play the guitar at the JAS Labor Day Experience in Snowmass Village on Saturday, Aug. 31.<\/strong><br \/>Lynn Goldsmith \/ Special to The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/Jasphotos-atd-083119-21-2.jpg\" alt=\"John Mayer play the guitar at the JAS Labor Day Experience in Snowmass Village on Saturday, Aug. 31.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/Jasphotos-atd-083119-21-3-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/Jasphotos-atd-083119-21-3.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times | H.E.R. plays during the Jazz Aspen Snowmass Labor Day Experience on Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019, in Snowmass Village. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"0\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"11\">\n<p><strong>H.E.R. plays during the Jazz Aspen Snowmass Labor Day Experience on Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019, in Snowmass Village. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)<\/strong><br \/>Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/Jasphotos-atd-083119-21-3.jpg\" alt=\"H.E.R. plays during the Jazz Aspen Snowmass Labor Day Experience on Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019, in Snowmass Village. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/Jasphotos-atd-083119-21-4-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/Jasphotos-atd-083119-21-4.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Lynn Goldsmith \/ Special to The Aspen Times | Luke Combs play at the JAS Labor Day Experience in Snowmass Village on Saturday, Aug. 31.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"9\">\n<p><strong>Luke Combs play at the JAS Labor Day Experience in Snowmass Village on Saturday, Aug. 31.<\/strong><br \/>Lynn Goldsmith \/ Special to The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/Jasphotos-atd-083119-21-4.jpg\" alt=\"Luke Combs play at the JAS Labor Day Experience in Snowmass Village on Saturday, Aug. 31.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/Jasphotos-atd-083119-21-5-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/Jasphotos-atd-083119-21-5.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Lynn Goldsmith \/ Special to The Aspen Times | ZZ Ward plays at the JAS Labor Day Experience in Snowmass Village on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2019.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>ZZ Ward plays at the JAS Labor Day Experience in Snowmass Village on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2019.<\/strong><br \/>Lynn Goldsmith \/ Special to The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/Jasphotos-atd-083119-21-5.jpg\" alt=\"ZZ Ward plays at the JAS Labor Day Experience in Snowmass Village on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2019.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/Jasphotos-atd-083119-21-6-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/Jasphotos-atd-083119-21-6.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Lynn Goldsmith \/ Special to The Aspen Times | Portugal. The Man hit the stage Friday night in Snowmass Village on opening day of the JAS Labor Day Experience.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Portugal. The Man hit the stage Friday night in Snowmass Village on opening day of the JAS Labor Day Experience.<\/strong><br \/>Lynn Goldsmith \/ Special to The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/Jasphotos-atd-083119-21-6.jpg\" alt=\"Portugal. The Man hit the stage Friday night in Snowmass Village on opening day of the JAS Labor Day Experience.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/Jasphotos-atd-083119-21-7-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/Jasphotos-atd-083119-21-7.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Lynn Goldsmith \/ Special to The Aspen Times | Portugal. The Man singer and percussionist Zoe Manville performed Friday night on opening night of the JAS Labor Day Experience.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Portugal. The Man singer and percussionist Zoe Manville performed Friday night on opening night of the JAS Labor Day Experience.<\/strong><br \/>Lynn Goldsmith \/ Special to The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/Jasphotos-atd-083119-21-7.jpg\" alt=\"Portugal. The Man singer and percussionist Zoe Manville performed Friday night on opening night of the JAS Labor Day Experience.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/Jasphotos-atd-083119-21-8-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/Jasphotos-atd-083119-21-8.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Lynn Goldsmith \/ Special to The Aspen Times | Weezer takes to the stage Friday night at the JAS Labor Day Experience in Snowmass Village.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Weezer takes to the stage Friday night at the JAS Labor Day Experience in Snowmass Village.<\/strong><br \/>Lynn Goldsmith \/ Special to The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/Jasphotos-atd-083119-21-8.jpg\" alt=\"Weezer takes to the stage Friday night at the JAS Labor Day Experience in Snowmass Village.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/jazz-aspen-labor-day-experience-review-sting-john-mayer-weezer-luke-combs-h-e-r-and-more\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/jazz-aspen-labor-day-experience-review-sting-john-mayer-weezer-luke-combs-h-e-r-and-more\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">When Jazz Aspen Snowmass\u2019s Labor Day festival took off in the new millennium, it was top-tier Baby Boomer acts who powered it to prominence \u2014 Bob Dylan (2002) and Tom Petty (2003) and Steve Miller Band (2004). Those days are in the past.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Weezer\u2019s crowd-pleasing, nostalgia-driven opening night headlining set at the 2019 edition of the festival marked an early indication of a generational shift toward the new oldies and an age of nostalgia for \u201990s kids. Fans who loved early Weezer in adolescence \u2014 now in their 30s or 40s \u2014 found out Friday that their music now may be the nostalgia-based bread and butter of Aspen\u2019s biggest pop music festival.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The weekend festival, boosted by the best weather the festival has seen in years and a blue-chip lineup, brought capacity crowds to Snowmass Town Park. It closed Sunday night with a hit parade from a still-ageless Sting and boasted a Saturday night crowd-pleaser from John Mayer, along with well-received down-the-bill performances by rising R&amp;B singer H.E.R., country star Luke Combs and rock band Portugal. The Man.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">WEEZER LOOKS BACK<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Led by singer and guitarist Rivers Cuomo, Weezer is making a case to be both the best Weezer they can be in 2019 and America\u2019s best cover band.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The foursome has enough pop hits and rock anthems of their own to keep a festival crowd singing and woo-hooing and say-it-ain\u2019t-so-ing along all night. But the band isn\u2019t content with that these days, as it is leaning into its new status as both the great \u201990s heritage act and the jukebox tribute band of the moment, layering nostalgia upon nostalgia for the masses in their 75-minute performance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Playing to a buoyant crowd, the band played six out of the 10 songs from their self-titled debut \u201cBlue Album\u201d from 1994, opening with \u201cBuddy Holly\u201d and \u201cSurf Wax America\u201d to set the fan-friendly tone. (They actually played \u201cBuddy Holly\u201d twice \u2014 beginning the encore with a four-man barbershop quartet rendition that quieted the crowd to a hush.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">With few exceptions, they played the old stuff note-perfect from the recorded versions this crowd knew well, with details matching down to samples of the recorded background party conversations on \u201cUndone (The Sweater Song).\u201d Weezer didn\u2019t show up to jam or mess around or hawk the new stuff (they didn\u2019t play anything off their new album of originals).<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Weezer gave the people what they wanted, which has been working for them lately. The cover songs \u2014 inspired by an online fan campaign for a Weezer version of Toto\u2019s \u201cAfrica,\u201d the centerpiece of a 2019 all-covers album \u2014 are downright irresistible in a live setting like Jazz Aspen. The first notes of \u201cAfrica\u201d sent seemingly every cellphone camera in the crowd skyward. Additional covers included a mash-up of the Turtles\u2019 \u201cHappy Together\u201d and Green Day\u2019s \u201cLongview,\u201d Tears for Fears\u2019 \u201cEverybody Wants to Rule the World,\u201d A-ha\u2019s \u201cTake on Me\u201d and TLC\u2019s \u201cNo Scrubs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Cuomo delivered his stage banter and rock star theatrics with the hint of irony that\u2019s always been in Weezer\u2019s DNA, as when he called out with a smirk early on: \u201cYo, Aspen! You ready for some Weezer rock?\u201d But these cover songs were delivered with utmost sincerity (and the awesome soar of Weezer guitar). These covers are fun, which has also always a Weezer staple.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The most interesting of the covers, musically, ended up being \u201cNo Scrubs,\u201d because the band had to come up with its own rock arrangements for the R&amp;B track and because Cuomo charmingly rapped Chilli\u2019s cocksure verses.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Portugal. The Man singer\/guitarist John Gourley, in his band\u2019s hard-charging festival-opening set earlier Friday, praised Weezer lavishly for its mastery of writing bridges, calling them \u201cthe best bridges of all time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">So, it made sense that a climax of Weezer\u2019s set came during \u201cMy Name is Jonas,\u201d when Cuomo, bassist Scott Shriner and guitarist Brian Bell posed in rock star formation at center-stage during, yes, the bridge before the final chorus.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">For their part, Portugal. The Man \u2014 the indie rock stalwarts who have been thrust into pop stardom by the runaway hit \u201cFeel It Still\u201d \u2014 opened the festival on Friday with a 90-minute set that may have been a shock to casual listeners expecting a dance pop show in the mode of \u201cFeel It Still.\u201d The band kept the guitars up front, a fact they underscored in the running commentary they displayed on the screen behind them (at one point it read, \u201cThat\u2019s right, kids. No computers up here. Just live instruments.\u201d) and incorporated more than a little thrash metal into the live versions, along with playful doses of Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and a set-closing \u201cHey Jude.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">STING\u2019S ASPEN DEBUT<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Early in his 95-minute set, Sting admitted with a smirk that he was an \u201cAspen virgin.\u201d Yes, the legendary frontman for The Police waited until four decades into his reign of pop stardom to come to Aspen, but he delivered what the fans came for on Sunday night, closing the festival with a hit parade for a lively sold-out audience.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Opening with \u201cMessage in a Bottle,\u201d \u201cIf I Ever Lose My Faith in You\u201d and \u201cEnglishman in New York,\u201d the performance was tight as a drum, honed in an ongoing world tour showcasing his biggest songs both from The Police and his solo career \u2013 the greatest hits he recently re-arranged and re-recorded for the 2019 album \u201cMy Songs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Sting is a remarkably well-preserved 67 years old and wears it well, proudly sporting a tight black t-shirt with cutoff sleeves that exposed his distractingly defined arm muscles. Energetic and engaged, he urged crowd participation throughout with built-in call-and-response passages, hand-claps and a bit of jazz hands. His voice is still a robust instrument, too. Though he occasionally leaned on his backup singers and talked through some lyrics, he hit the higher notes when he reached for them, including that iconic whine in the chorus of \u201cRoxanne.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">He performed with a four-piece band, two singers and a harmonica player, but it was Sting\u2019s show, tirelessly leading the action of center-stage and tapping his battered vintage 1957 bass guitar up through a set-closing run through \u201cWalking on the Moon,\u201d \u201cSo Lonely,\u201d \u201cDesert Rose,\u201d \u201cRoxanne\u201d and \u201cEvery Breath You Take.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">It may have been a by-the-numbers greatest hits show, but you don\u2019t go see Sting for new revelations. You go to hear those hits, to belt out \u201cSo Lonely\u201d with 10,000 fellow fans, and if \u2014 like many Aspen concert-goers you\u2019d never seen him before \u2014 to check the experience off your list of rock legends.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Few fans left early from his festival closing concert, a testament to Sting\u2019s enduring allure. His three-song encore began with \u201cKing of Pain\u201d and \u201cNext to You.\u201d Then he quieted things down, saying \u201cIt\u2019s my custom to leave a place quiet and thoughtful, so that you can go home quiet and thoughtful,\u201d before ending playing \u201cFragile\u201d to a hushed crowd.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">It may have taken him 40 years of touring to make it to Aspen, but he left the stage with a promise to return: \u201cWe shall see you again!\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">H.E.R., the recently anointed next big thing in R&amp;B, opened for Sting and played for little more than an hour but left an indelible mark.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The 22-year-old, who earlier this year won the Grammys for Best R&amp;B Album and Best R&amp;B Performance, hopped from acoustic guitar to electric guitar and bass and keyboards all while delivering the vocal performance of the weekend.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">She gave the crowd a stirring take on her Grammy-winning song, \u201cBest Part,\u201d and \u2014 in another nod to her versatility \u2014 followed it with a short reggae remix. She played some fresh unreleased material, covered Lauyn Hill\u2019s \u201cEx-Factor\u201d and, after spending much of the short set on intimate acoustic ballads, closed by ripping a distortion-heavy electric guitar solo in \u201cLights On.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">A JOHN MAYER FOR EVERYONE<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">John Mayer\u2019s headlining set Saturday underscored how the singer and guitarist has improbably drawn fandoms spanning a rare and wide swath.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Playing to a sell-out crowd, under an evening of perfect cool summer mountain weather, Mayer\u2019s 100-minute set had something for everyone. For the Deadhead crowd, there was a powerhouse six-piece band behind him with dual drummers and two backup singers. For his blues fans, there were his virtuosic note-bending guitar solos. For those who came for the ballads, there were sweet renditions of \u201cDaughters\u201d and \u201cFree Fallin\u2019\u201d during an acoustic interlude. And for the Top 40-ers there was a big pop singalong to \u201cWhy Georgia.\u201d Even the potheads had their moment with Mayer, as the wafts of smoke rising during his stoner anthem \u201cWho Says\u201d evidenced.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">His guitar theatrics were never predictable or repetitive. Sometimes, as in Saturday\u2019s renditions of \u201cSlow Dancing in a Burning Room,\u201d Mayer veered off into rollicking solo blues jams (the Jazz Aspen video crew did a commendable job of shooting close-ups of his finger work during these guitar passages, giving fans far from the stage a chance to see him at work). But for some of his pop hits, like \u201cLove on the Weekend,\u201d \u201cDear Marie\u201d and \u201cWhy Georgia,\u201d he stuck to the pop star script and skipped the jams. (Varied in tempo and style, the constant among the solos were Mayer\u2019s notoriously dramatic face contortions.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt\u2019s weird when you play a festival,\u201d Mayer told the sold-out crowd a few songs in, \u201cbecause you don\u2019t know who is there for you and who is not there for you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">One enthusiastic fan immediately tossed her bra on stage to signify she was, in fact, there for Mayer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">A bemused Mayer looked down at the bra and used the moment to lightly touch on his once-controversial and very public past with sex, and to note his maturing reaction to fan underwear arriving on-stage. Bras, the 41-year-old noted, have a practical purpose: \u201cNow I\u2019m an older and wiser person and I\u2019m thinking, \u2018There is someone out there without support.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">And for the fans who road-tripped from across western Colorado to the festival from towns with less glitzy names than Aspen, Mayer had a message: I see you. He mentioned that he flew into the Rifle airport and drove across Garfield County and up the Roaring Fork Valley for the show, crossing our stretch of Earth for the first time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cEvery town we passed, from Rifle to Aspen, I Googled it: population as of the 2010 census, chief exports, median income,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s wonderful country, we\u2019re lucky to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Then Mayer added with a grin: \u201cI\u2019m John. My chief export is feelings, and business is good.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Preceding Mayer, Luke Combs made his best effort to steal the show with a blistering and tough-to-top rock country throwdown. The 29-year-old newly minted country star laid on the charm, between songs telling the story of his recent meteoric rise from Nashville outsider to his string of six No. 1 singles. He also previewed tracks from a new album due out this fall, he shot-gunned a Miller Lite between verses of \u201cOne Too Many,\u201d and worked this cowboy-hat-wearing Texas-heavy crowd into a lather with boot-stompers like \u201cBeer Never Broke My Heart\u201d and a cover of Hank Willliams, Jr.\u2019s \u201cAll My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight\u201d and got everybody singing along on his breakout single \u201cHurricane.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Combs was backed by a six-man band of Nashville gunslingers and definitely won over some fans with this set, which mixed his humble charm as a storyteller and his blistering take on country rock and drinking songs, sung with a rasp and a twang that he modulated song to song.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The best of it was \u201cCan I Get an Outlaw,\u201d his ode to Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings and a less slick brand of country. Introducing it, Combs recalled the story of playing three of his future chart-toppers for a record executive who told him he\u2019d never make it in country, given his burly stature and his slightly hard edge.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cHe said to me, \u2018You gotta write some better songs and nobody is ever going to pay their hard-earned money to hear you play your songs. So you\u2019ve got to give them to somebody else.\u2019 \u2026 This song sums up how I felt about that whole situation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Another high point of the early acts was the progressive blues bandleader ZZ Ward, who played her best-known song, \u201cPut the Gun Down,\u201d at the outset of her Saturday-opening set and ripped through a performance that wowed the early-arriving crowd.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Ward coyly suggested that fans who liked what they heard should look for an announcement soon from an Aspen music club: \u201cWe may be back some time in the fall, I may be hinting at something there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\"><a href=\"mailto:atravers@aspentimes.com\">atravers@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/jazz-aspen-labor-day-experience-review-sting-john-mayer-weezer-luke-combs-h-e-r-and-more\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rivers Cuomo of Weezer played to a full house Friday night to open the JAS Labor Day Experience at Snowmass Village.Lynn Goldsmith \/ Special to The Aspen Times Sting performs on Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019, at the Jazz Aspen Snowmass Labor Day Experience in Snowmass Village. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2448255","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-26 01:49:10","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2448255"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448255\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2448285,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448255\/revisions\/2448285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2448255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2448255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2448255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}