Review: John Mayer, a barnburner in Camden

John Mayer is a howling wolf in lamb's clothing. He first got attention as a sensitive strummer but all the guy really wants to do is shred.

And there were plenty of guitar pyrotechnics during his concert at the Susquehanna Bank Center on Thursday night, a show so overstuffed and energetic, it was reminiscent of a Springsteen barnburner.

Mayer took the stage in a black sleeveless Purple Rain t-shirt that showed off his heavily tattooed arms, tearing off a searing solo to lead into "Belief".

He followed that with two softer songs, "No Such Thing" seguing into "Why Georgia". But even the mellower songs were delivered at shirt-palpitating volume.

The whole evening was like a steel cage match between the two sides of Mayer's musical personality: Stevie Ray Vaughan vs. Dave Matthews. And Dave lost.

Mayer's poppier songs unquestionably provided some of the night's highlights, like a springy version of "Vultures" and a freewheeling "Bigger than My Body" which came with the whole rock show shooting match - smoke machines and sweeping arrays of lights.

But those songs were outshone by Mayer's incendiary ventures into the blues, like "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room" and a down-and-dirty cover of Robert Johnson's "Crossroads".

Mayer's considerable guitar prowess was evident throughout the night, especially on "Stitched Up" when he coaxed a kalimba-like sound out of the instrument by popping the strings.

Vocals are generally the weakest part of the Connecticut-born performer's repertoire. But he was in fine voice on Thursday, particularly on a lovely understated cover of Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'."

After closing with a lingering and haunting version of "Gravity" fittingly capped with a towering solo, Mayer returned to the stage alone for the first encore, a brassy cover of "Bold as Love" that ran into "The Wind Cries Mary" transformed with choppy dub guitar.

Doing a double shot of Hendrix unaccompanied - now that's chutzpah.

The band joined him for two more encores: a slow, smoky version of "Wheel" and a grandiose rendition of "Say" jollied along by veteran sideman Robbie McIntosh on ukelele.

The set composition seemed almost haphazard but it was rich enough that no one left the Susquehanna feeling cheated.

Two California singer-songwriters opened the show. Brett Dennen, with his unruly shock of red hair, performed while the venue was still half-empty. He delivered a set of spry songs, listlessly delivered including "She's Mine" and "When You Feel It".

He was followed by MySpace sweetheart Colbie Caillat who swanned through a shimmering set of wan ballads like "The Little Things" and "Feelings Show". A spark was provided by her unlikely choice of a cover: the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back."

Caillat is statuesque but her stage manner is too static to be effective in an arena setting. And she made the classic mistake of the tyro performer: playing more to her band than to the crowd.