john mayer time travel

How John Mayer came to join Dead & Company

Mayer's journey as a Deadhead was like many who got into the band after the fact – except he soon found himself onstage beside Bob Weir and a custodian of the Grateful Dead's legacy

John Mayer’s discovery of the Grateful Dead happened by chance. In 2011, while listening to random suggestions on Pandora, he heard the Dead classic Althea , and with that he fell hard and fast. Taking a deep-dive into the band’s vast back catalogue, he became a committed ‘Deadhead’, leading to a remarkable chapter in his career. 

The first evidence of the Dead’s influence on Mayer came with his 2012 album Born And Raised and 2013 follow-up Paradise Valley . Both albums marked incrementally intensifying departures from polished pop, with Mayer doing and playing exactly what he pleased. And both contained subtle but abundant Grateful Dead influences.

Queen Of California , the opening track from Born And Raised , was in tune with the folksy, acoustic numbers that abound on the Dead’s two albums from 1970, American Beauty and Workingman’s Dead .  

In the second verse from Queen Of California , Mayer also made a reference to Neil Young’s After The Goldrush , before a lengthy pedal steel-driven outro took hold over a bedrock of Dead-esque repeating chords.

Another connection was made in this album’s title track. Jerry Garcia – the founding member and de facto leader of the Grateful Dead as vocalist, lead guitarist and principal songwriter – had played pedal steel on the song Teach Your Children from Déjà Vu , the first album featuring Neil Young in the '70s supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. For the song Born And Raised , Mayer had David Crosby and Graham Nash on backing vocals.

And in Wildfire , the first track on Paradise Valley , a comparatively jam-based number with an outdoorsy feel, Mayer sang: “We can dance with the dead/You can rest your head.” Which – depending on how deeply you like to read into things – may well be a reference to the band. 

Fast-forward to 2015, and while appearing as a guest host on The Late Late Show , Mayer was presented with the opportunity to perform with another founding member of the Dead, rhythm guitarist Bob Weir.

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The song they played together was Althea . A bond was formed between them, and by the end of that year, Mayer was invited to join Weir in Dead & Company, a touring outfit also featuring Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, two drummers who played together in the Dead for many years. 

For all Mayer’s success, this was a challenge – not only to step out of his pop-meets-blues box into the realm of the jam band, but also to take the place of Jerry Garcia, the talismanic figure who died in 1995 at the age of 53.

With a vast repertoire to learn and a comparatively unstructured style of playing to get to grips with, Mayer entered a bootcamp for the role with all the reverence and sincerity a Deadhead could hope for. 

He wrote on Instagram, alongside a 1970s era photo of Garcia: “I’m only here as an interpreter of a master. I play in constant emotional, psychological and musical deference to Jerry Garcia.”

This being said, long-time Deadheads could be forgiven for reacting with some scepticism to the news that the man behind hits such as Daughters and Waiting On The World To Change could be right for the job – especially as more likely jam band candidates such as Warren Haynes and Phish’s Trey Anastasio had already tried out and then withdrawn from the position.

But Mayer was nothing if not thorough about taking on the role. As he stated in a 2016 SiriusXM Radio interview regarding his training for playing one of rock’s most expansive repertoires: “I’m naturally obsessive anyway, so it suited my way of life.”

Further to the material itself, Mayer went all-in on gear to make his transition to fronting Dead & Company as seamless as possible. 

Jerry Garcia’s tone was made unique by the pioneering addition of in-built pre-amps and effects loops to his custom-made Doug Irwin ‘Wolf’ and ‘Tiger’ guitars. Mayer teamed up with PRS to create the Super Eagle II – a guitar which became his main touring instrument with Dead & Company - and which comes in a super duper trippy hemp green finish.

The Super Eagle II features specially-wound 58/15 JM treble and bass pickups with a Narrowfield JM pickup in the middle position (with three individual coil-tap mini-switches), and a JCF Audio preamp – a layout and design very similar to Garcia’s instruments.

When it comes to playing live, the jam band environment seems to bring out the team-player in Mayer. After-all, Dead & Company is the first band he’s played in where the songs and the spotlight are not all his. Certain songs have bluesy in-roads and Mayer employs his well-honed chops to bring flamboyant interpretations to the music.

Elsewhere, the more psychedelic material leaves room for wandering melodic noodles where the destination may be predetermined, but the route to finding it is a little (or a lot) more flexible. Embracing simple, scale-based melodies without the large leaps and bends associated with blues soloing, Mayer is able to meander rather than race and, with trademark chromatic passages, channels Garcia effectively and respectfully.

On stage, Bob Weir looks like a cross between a wise mentor and a proud father figure as he and Mayer trade looks and licks. Back in 2016, alongside a snap of the band, Mayer posted on Instagram, “I grew up a lone wolf in my bedroom practicing my guitar, and all I ever really craved was a community.”

This is perhaps what best sums up the effect that joining Dead & Company has had on Mayer’s musical outlook. As a band who were able to draw the same crowd night after night in a country-wide “long strange trip”, the idea of community will not be alien to any long-serving Deadhead. Thanks to Mayer, the live experience that captivated fans for decades is far from dead.

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Since graduating university with a degree in English, Ellie has spent the last decade working in a variety of media, marketing and live events roles. As well as being a regular contributor to Total Guitar, MusicRadar and GuitarWorld.com, she currently heads up the marketing team of a mid-scale venue in the south-west of England. She started dabbling with guitars around the age of seven and has been borderline obsessed ever since. She has a particular fascination with alternate tunings, is forever hunting for the perfect slide for the smaller-handed guitarist, and derives a sadistic pleasure from bothering her drummer mates with a preference for “f**king wonky” time signatures.

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John Mayer at London’s O2 Arena: timings, tickets and everything you need to know

The American songwriter’s ‘Solo Acoustic’ tour stops by Greenwich this week

Even if you don’t know John Mayer’s tunes (and tbh you almost certainly do, he’s one of this century’s most popular US songwriters), you’ll know his vibe. The American singer, songwriter and guitarist has long been renowned for his heartfelt, warm, romantic tunes – you know that with Mayer you’re in for a soothing, melodic, altogether pleasant sort of time. 

John Mayer also has quite the live rep – and, excitingly, he’s bringing that show to London this week. The star is playing two nights at Greenwich’s O2 Arena as part of his current ‘Solo Acoustic’ European tour.

Planning on seeing Mayer at the O2 this week (or want to buy tickets)? Here’s everything you need to know about the two shows, from the setlist and doors to ticket availability. 

When is John Mayer playing London’s O2 Arena?

The two shows are on Monday March 18 and Tuesday March 19.

What time do doors open?

On both dates, doors open at 6.30pm.

What time will John Mayer come on stage?  

It hasn’t been confirmed exactly when Mayer will come on stage. Judging from previous stops on the current tour and the O2’s curfew, expect him to take to the stage between 8.30pm and 8.45pm. 

Who is supporting him?  

Playing both nights in support is folky singer and songwriter Madison Cunningham. 

Any news on the setlist?

There’s no official setlist, but this is what Mayer played at a stop earlier on the tour in Stockholm, according to Setlist.fm .

• Slow Dancing in a Burning Room
• Shot in the Dark
• Queen of California
• Shouldn’t Matter but It Does
• No Such Thing
• Waitin’ on the Day
• In Your Atmosphere
• You’re Gonna Live Forever in Me
• Stop This Train
• The Age of Worry
• Your Body Is a Wonderland
• In the Blood
• Walt Grace’s Submarine Test, January 1967
• If I Ever Get Around to Living
• Edge of Desire
• The Heart of Life
• Free Fallin’ (Tom Petty cover)

Can you still get tickets for John Mayer at London’s O2 Arena?

There are tickets still available for both shows, starting from £50. You can check availability on AXS here .

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John Mayer Says His Watch Inspired One of Patek Philippe’s Hottest New Releases

By Cam Wolf

Welcome to Watches of the Week , where we'll track the rarest, wildest, and most covetable watches spotted on celebrities.

A wise man (Uncle Ben from Spider-Man) once said that with great power comes great responsibility. And, of course, it is well known that the man was begging, pleading!, with John Mayer to understand the immense influence he wields over the watch community and to use that power to good. Waiting on the world to change? No thanks , says John Mayer. I’ll change it myself. Let’s look at the facts. Exhibit A: earlier this year, after the singer and Fit God wore a Rolex Daytona with a shamrock-colored dial, the value of the watch went hockey-stick. Naturally, it also started to appear on more famous wrists, like the one belonging to Jonah Hill.

This brings us to Exhibit B. One of Patek Philippe’s standout new releases this year is an Aquanaut with a “khaki-green” dial and rubber strap. When the watch was unveiled at Baselworld in March , Mayer noticed it looked pretty similar to an Aquanaut he bought around 2013 and equipped with a strap of the same color. “The watch/strap combo that inspired @patekphilippe to release the 5168g “khaki,” he wrote in a caption underneath a picture of his watch posted to Hodinkee’s Instagram .

It’s like no one actually ever said : “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Also this week, Rihanna and Dirk Nowitzki show off two very different types of sport watches.

Mayer’s Aquanaut, known as the “Travel Time,” is the first in its line to sport a complication. The watch comes with a GMT function: that fourth hand that allows the wearer to read a second time zone. “It’s a great watch and I wear it onstage most of the time,” Mayer said during a Hodinkee video. Adding to the piece’s value is its Tiffany-stamped dial. “I always like the rare inside, ‘Look closer, but look closer, but look closer still. Look inside the ‘A’ of Tiffany and you’ll see a small photo of myself as a child,’” he joked. As Mayer wrote on Instagram: “We love to see it.”

During these divisive times, there is one thing we can all agree on: Rihanna is the coolest person on the planet. There are so many reasons for this—the music, the clothes, the industry-changing beauty brand, when she called someone Fishy Poom Poom —that hardly anyone talks about another point in her favor: her unreal watch collection. Over the years, Rihanna has shown off classic Rolexes models like the Datejust and Day-Dates in rose- and yellow-gold. This week she wore Chopard’s very blingy Happy Sport model covered in 16.15 carats of diamonds, including the ones that sit like stones at the bottom of the lake at the 6 o’clock marker. Take that, Fishy Poom Poom.

Aaron Paul paired an unconventional outfit—electric yellow shirt and navy suit—with an incredibly conventional watch. There are few watches more befitting “classic” or “icon” status than the Rolex Datejust, which the brand put out on its 40th anniversarry in 1945. It doesn’t seem special now, but at the time, the watch marked a technological evolution: the Datejust was the very first self-winding watch with a date display that would cycle to the next day at midnight. Aaron Paul always knows what day it is ( bitch !).

On the product page for the RM 67-01 , there is a portrait of the actor John Malkovich wearing the piece. Who can say why? It is part of the magic and mystique of Richard Mille that legendary actors sometimes just materialize for no readily apparent reason. One theory: Richard Mille bills this extra-thin model as a “lifestyle” watch, as opposed to the (chunkier) made-for-sports models it markets with the help of famous race car drivers, Rafael Nadal, or the golfer Bubba Watson. But you don’t have to be a world-class athlete to wear this watch—just a world-class actor, or Maluma.

When it comes to the Rolex GMT and its two-tone bezel, the black-and-blue “Batman” and red-and-blue “Pepsi” get a lot of the shine. Maybe that’s because, and stay with me here, they are the layups and three-pointers of the watch world: reliable, sound choices that are approved by the community at large. That makes the black-and-brown “Root Beer” GMT the watch world’s mid-range jumper: only condoned if you’re a legendary German who can handle a tricky swerve, like pulling up from 18 feet off of one foot.

German watchmaking began in a tiny town of about a couple thousand people called Glashutte. But post-WWII, all the watch companies in the region needed to merge in order to survive. The result was Glashütter Uhrenbetriebe, or GUB, a manufacturer that was forced to learn how to make all of its pieces in-house since it couldn’t rely on imports. The watches made during that era are old and rare, and it appears Alexander Skarsgard wears a vintage GUB Spezimatic all the time . A pretty watch with a history lesson baked inside it.

Gird your bank accounts, gentlemen, because Tiffany & Co. has a brand new men’s jewelry collection . The collection includes a $180 silver golf tee and a scientifically perfect gold chain, but, in my opinion, the best piece is the excellent square-faced watch seen here on Justin Theroux’s wrist. Praying we all have a little blue box in our future.

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The Watches Of John Mayer (Part II)

In our second instalment of ‘Mayer Mania’, we explore how guitar virtuoso John Mayer has influenced the watch-collecting world at large, including the desirability of certain watches

Much has transpired since the  first instalment of the Watches of John Mayer – Watches & Wonders 2023 saw the release (and discontinuation) of many references, John announced and is currently embarking on a solo tour across the United States, and, on said tour, a potential new piece unique has been spotted on stage (more on that later). In this instalment of ‘Mayer Mania’, we explore Mayer’s influence on the watch-collecting world at large and speculate on how this may have affected, and continues to affect, the culture — including the desirability of certain watches.

Precursor to the Hodinkee x G-Shock Collaboration: John Mayer's Casio 89’ Twin Graph, NASA G-Shock DW5600 and G-Shock Frogman

The Ref. 6900 trio of collaborations are well known at this point – to the extent that one might mistakenly think that this was the genesis of the Casio-Mayer love affair. The relationship, in fact, sprouted during his middle school years – when John would while away his time in class just staring at the many functions on the plastic dial of his beloved  Casio 89’ Twin Graph . Many of us as adults have a tendency to seek out once treasured items, whether that be sneakers, baseball cards or even watches, that we either lost or could not afford at the time - and it seems Mayer is no different. John also appears to be equally excited about more recent Casio G-Shock releases, including the NASA x G-Shock DW5600NASA20-7 – a photo of which he proudly posted on an Instagram Story back in 2020. Although on-stage appearances are usually dominated by ultra complicated Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe timepieces, on occasion it would not be unusual to witness G-Shock Mudmaster or Frogman watches in the mix.

The Namesake Daytona(s): John Mayer's Rolex Daytona Ref. 116508 and Ref. 116509

Discussed during ‘Talking Watches 2’ with John Mayer, the 46th episode in the series, the yellow gold Daytona with a green dial (Ref. 116508) and the less talked about  white gold Daytona with a midnight blue dial (Ref. 116509) were singled out as “ sleeper hits ” that “ could be something special down the road ”. Mayer was immediately drawn to these watches given their slightly off-kilter characteristics, including coloured dials and all metal construction. Ironically, John enjoys “ looking past the hype ” but as with many items given the sign of approval by John Mayer, the video had a knock-on effect and saw prices of the yellow gold version climb – and to a lesser extent, the white gold variant too. Sadly for those who are looking to add this to their inventory, 2023 saw the discontinuation of both references - which is great news for those who already own it. A few pristine examples of the  yellow gold “John Mayer” Daytona sometimes find their way into our shop, so it would be worth keeping an eye on our webstore and Instagram page for a chance to scoop up a reference that is almost guaranteed to become more collectable over time.

Not an Ordinary Travel Time: John Mayer's Patek Philippe Ref. 5164A Aquanaut Travel Time

Boldly described by Mayer himself as the “ Chuck Taylor of Patek Philippe ” – alluding to its versatility – as well as “ the watch you wear when you just want to wear a watch ” without making a statement. His go to piece for most situations has a GMT function and, despite its steep price tag, is as practical as it gets. An important distinction must be drawn that this particular example is, naturally upon closer inspection, Tiffany-signed, which automatically bumps up the value by a fair percentage. In John’s opinion, wearing one of these in public would strongly imply to others that the owner definitely has other heavy hitters at home. In fact, if that is not the case, simply possessing this watch would be a clever way to “ skip the queue ”, as it were – with or without the double signed Tiffany & Co. dial. Always ahead of the curve, John somehow had the foresight to swap the strap on his Travel Time to an OEM olive drab (‘camo green’, officially) rubber strap just one month before Patek announced that they would be discontinuing that colour – with a few uncut, unworn spares to boot. As most readers may know, a little later down the line the  5168G white gold Aquanaut would be introduced which carries with it a very similar, if not identical, colour scheme with a matching ‘khaki green’ dial.

Controversial But Uber Functional: John Mayer's Apple Watch Ultra

The introduction of the Apple Watch caused a stir when it was released alongside the iPhone 6 in 2014. Since then, it has gone on to become the best selling watch in the market – surpassing Swiss juggernauts like Rolex and eclipsing other competitors in the smartwatch space in terms of units sold. Despite high profile partnerships with the likes of  Hermès , the target demographic for these technological marvels are decidedly different to collectors that focus on mechanical movements and delicate hand finishing. Though some in the watch community detest its widespread popularity, some industry heavyweights have decided to embrace the unrivalled functionality that these products offer. In his own words, the Ultra is “ [t]he first Apple Watch that excited me as a mechanical watch collector ” – being loaded with what he terms “ aspirational functionality ”. Being an outdoor lifestyle hobbyist, John appreciated the nifty innovations packed into the robust 49mm titanium case, including GPS waypoint tracking, depth gauge, dive computer and 86-decibel siren. A ringing endorsement from Mr. Mayer is unlikely to affect the sales figures of the Cupertino behemoth to the same extent as other high horology pieces - but as far as unpaid ads go, it doesn’t get much better. 

That’s a ‘Hot One’: John Mayer's Rolex Rainbow Daytona Ref. 116599

Talk show formats have evolved at a rapid pace since the advent of YouTube, and one of the most creative reinventions of the genre to have been birthed from this phenomenon is ‘Hot Ones’ on the First We Feast channel. The premise is simple enough - a celebrity guest is put through their paces with a series of chicken wings doused in increasingly intense hot sauces. All the while, host Sean Evans poses well-researched questions for each wing devoured. Participants must conquer all ten levels of the fiery inferno and winners are then given the opportunity to plug their latest album, movie or project. John Mayer bravely appeared on the  season 5 finale , showing up in a grey T-shirt (likely from Visvim with tie-dye undershirt peeking out) and distressed jeans – and a flashy Rainbow Daytona in the white gold variant. This rare Daytona is covered in gems including 36 baguette-cut rainbow-graded sapphires on the bezel and diamond-set lugs. John admits that he “[ doesn’t ] quite know who the target audience is” from an aesthetic standpoint. Ever the completionist, also in his collection is the Ref. 6270, arguably the original baguette pavé dial Daytona which were manufactured in frighteningly small quantities (disputed between 8 or 10 of each in existence). Fielding questions left and right, John does his best to work through the pain but this hardly distracts from the fact that it is unequivocally hilarious to wear a US$500,000 watch to eat hot wings.

Man Of The People: John Mayer's Tudor Heritage Black Bay

Tudor has been on a roll lately. Fresh off of Watches & Wonders 2023, the brand unveiled one of the simplest but most talked about releases – the Black Bay 54, a time-only stainless steel diver with a shrunken form factor of 37mm. Rewind a few years and one might discover that Mr. Mayer is also a fan of the modestly priced  Black Bay range . He has made his love known on not one, but several occasions – starting with a written review of the inaugural 41mm Heritage reference. Back then, the popular model still featured the original Tudor rose logo on the dial and was powered by an ETA movement – not to mention the curved ‘smiley’ text paying homage to vintage designs. Some elements have carried over into current versions, including the stunning gilt-effect dial. For anyone still on the fence about the pedigree of the approachable diver, “ for just over $3,000 [retail prices have risen slightly since] , you can be a watch guy with the best of them ”. It just goes to show that snobbery has no place even in the high end watch community. In addition to the original model, John has sported the  Black Bay GMT “Pepsi” during his on-the-fly style “Current Mood” Instagram talk show and sang praises of the  bronze version that Tudor eventually also made in the more compact  Fifty-Eight 39mm size . It however would not be a true John Mayer commentary without an exclusive friends and family piece. In a fleeting Instagram Story, John publicly expressed his thanks to the  Undefeated team for gifting him a Tudor Black Bay with a blue bezel and Undefeated logo on the dial. These were limited to a small batch of 50 so don’t expect to see them pop up on secondary listings.

Though it may not be the most diverse of collections when it comes to brands, it certainly exhibits range and a level of discipline that has been refined over decades of collecting - running the gamut from G-Shock to shockingly rare Patek Philippe references. Whether or not you enjoy his songs, Mayer may have directly or indirectly influenced a past purchase or future acquisition. Fans and critics alike can recognize what John Mayer brings to the table when it comes to watches. Following the accessibility of his most recent Casio collaboration, John has teased a forthcoming collaboration that sits on the other end of the spectrum. Some have speculated that it would be with the house of Audemars Piguet, a brand that he has fervently supported throughout his watch collecting journey. There are social media outlets dedicated to identifying timepieces on celebrity wrists (including our friends at  @celebwatchspotter ), and there have been  murmurs that John is either showing off a piece unique during concerts or road testing a potential collaborative piece. The watch in question bears remarkable resemblance to the Royal Oak Tourbillon Extra-Thin Ref. 26510PT but appears to feature a white tinted dial instead of the phenomenal smoked ‘Fumé’ grey dial introduced at SIHH 2016. With no official announcement on the cards as of yet, we are offered no alternative but to wait with bated breath.

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LMU’s John Mayer is coaching his brains out, and winning big

Travis Mewhirter

February 21, 2024

LOS ANGELES, California — It was a most peculiar sight that greeted any visitors or passerby at the new beach volleyball courts on Loyola Marymount University’s campus on the morning of February 17. A dozen or so high school girls were playing beach volleyball, or doing something that kind of, sort of, in some ways resembled it and in many ways did not. One approached her attack by doing a cartwheel. Another did a 360. One headed it over the net. John Mayer, head coach of the Lions and the man overseeing the clinic, enjoyed that one.

“I love it,” he said, smiling. “What else can we try?”

This whimsical “drill,” if one could call it that — and many old school types likely will not — could be passed off as aspiring college athletes having a bit of a fun warm-up, and in many ways, that is exactly what was happening. But then you look at the nets, and it seems that of all of John Mayer’s many skills, setting up nets is not one of them: one is men’s height, one about a foot lower than women’s, while still another is slanted from high to low.

“Who knows what’s going on over there,” Mayer told the players.

On the contrary, Mayer knows precisely what’s going on over there, and setting up nets in his own mischievous ways is, indeed, one of his many skills. What may seem to be a most peculiar sight to the uninitiated is, in fact, what LMU assistant coach Angela White, formerly Bensend, called “the next evolution of coaching.”

For two hours, Mayer will spend perhaps only 10 minutes talking, though make no mistake, he is coaching.

The players just might not know it. That’s entirely the point.

Mayer’s subtle and quiet demeanor is quite the contrast from the more bombastic and gregarious manner of traditional coaching, with consistent instruction and a small, finite number of correct, technical ways of performing a skill or task. Rather than preach to the impressionable athletes on how to do something, Mayer simply puts them in various situations in which they can experiment and figure it out for themselves.

“Practice is a search,” he wrote on the daily whiteboard and emphasized a number of times over the course of the first two hours.

And so, throughout the morning, he lets — no, encourages — them to search.

“They’re learning how to become anti-fragile.”

“You always had that freedom to experiment so it’s OK to fail,” Marine Kinna, a former player for Mayer, said. “You never know what John is thinking.”

He lets them search for different ways to score on the perimeter, and ways to score in the meat of the court. He lets them find ways to score when the net is high and the defense pulling, and when the net is low and new angles of attack are presented. He lets them search for ways to score when their only tool to do so is with a poke. He lets them search for ways to score when one ball is flat, another is too pumped, one is a Mikasa, another a Wilson. He lets them search for ways to score when a surprise mini ball is thrown into the mix.

“They’re learning,” Mayer said on SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter , “but they don’t even realize it.”

Strange? Goofy? Gimmicky? It’s easy to see how one could view it that way. Evidence of Mayer’s massive success at LMU, and decades of motor learning science to back it up, would suggest otherwise.

In August of 2015, Mayer, then still a full-time player on the AVP Tour and in the midst of a season in which he would be voted the AVP Defensive Player of the Year as well as the AVP MVP, was named the head coach of the LMU beach volleyball team. He inherited an underfunded program that had gone a combined 14-29 in three seasons, a mid-tier school in a West Coast Conference dominated by Pepperdine, a fully-funded National Championship winning power.

Within two years of Mayer taking over, the Lions posted a winning record and made the finals of the WCC tournament. Two years after that, in 2019, they won their first WCC title, beating Pepperdine for the first time in school history.

They have won every WCC title since.

And Mayer has been named the WCC coach of the year every year since.

“It’s been fun, and it’s been fun to do it from kind of ground zero,” Mayer said. “Almost building a house where you see it as rubble. Our first year, the budget was $4,000. It was no staff, I shared an office with five people, no scholarship money. Because we had no budget, we’d play USC like 15 times. Now to see how far we’ve come, I have a full staff, two full-time staff members, three student managers, six scholarships, four-court facility on campus, we’ll travel to Hawaii, travel to Florida State. We have a team that could win a national championship.

“It’s also cool, you look around, it’s football schools, it’s USC, UCLA, Florida State, LSU, and little LMU, who has never won a national championship in any sport, which is unbelievable. It’s kind of exciting to think that we could be the first ones to ever do it. It would be a big deal to the legacy of LMU and hopefully open up some doors to what LMU can do.”

The fact that “little LMU” is annually in contention to win an NCAA title is a testament to what Mayer brings as a coach, a role he takes as seriously as parenting his own daughter.

“I think coaching is about as important a job as there is in the world, the influence you can have on lives, on young people’s lives, the mentors you can be for adults,” Mayer said. “I think it’s an impactful position. The issue is, we don’t treat it that way. My daughter’s fifth grade teacher has an advanced degree in education, in mathematics. My daughter’s fifth grade coach has no education. The requirement is she played when she was in high school. There’s decades of research on how to run a good practice. There’s psychology, there’s so many fields to dive in and learn about. But we don’t treat it as a profession. We go ‘You coached once!’ But this person could positively, negatively change their lives and this kid or this adult might have a negative relationship with activity, with exercise and sport. They might make lifelong friends, they might develop a love for the sport because of the way the coach goes about it, and we don’t respect it the way it should be.”

For a decade, he has co-hosted the podcast, Coach Your Brains Out , alongside Billy Allen, now the assistant coach at Stanford, picking the brains of coaches in every industry and sport, from professional golf coaches on the PGA Tour to pitching coaches with the Los Angeles Dodgers to the tight ends coach of the Miami Dolphins. During COVID, when schedules were cleared and Mayer had additional time on his hands, he scheduled a weekly zoom meeting with a group of individuals with PhDs in fields related to coaching and motor learing. That year became something of a hinge point in Mayer’s style as a coach.

“It’s non-linear. I talked about the coach being the provider of a solution, but when you approach things from an ecological perspective, the coach is the provider of problems,” Mayer said. “I’m not here to say ‘This is the way, this is how you have to do it. Here’s a unique movement problem, now go and try to solve it. Now, this is a hard problem, I’m here to help, but what else can you try?’ I’m nudging them to explore, nudging them to experiment. They’re having to self-organize, adapt, experiment, explore. They’re learning how to be anti-fragile, problem-solvers, all these skills that are game-changers.”

Never the same coaching experience

It is that very style that brought Kinna to LMU. A native of Guethary, France, Kinna starred at Lynn University as an outside hitter. When she decided to use her final year of eligibility on the beach, she had no shortage of offers, with a traditional power in UCLA calling, as well as “little LMU.”

Her boyfriend, DJ Klasnic , a professional player and regular listener of Coach Your Brains Out, recommended Mayer, both because of his coaching acumen and his resume as one of the best defenders of his generation on the AVP Tour.

“He already had an idea of how John views beach volleyball and how he could help me as a player,” Kinna said. Even Klasnic, however, couldn’t have foreseen the exponential growth Kinna would experience under Mayer.

Prior to transferring to LMU, Kinna had played limited beach volleyball. She was initially recruited as a left-side blocker…and wound up competing as a right-side defender … on court two … on a top-five team in the country. And finished 29-10.

“I never had a coach, so I was really raw. When I came to LMU, I know a lot of people have a hard time adjusting if they come from another coach, but because I had no background, it was super easy for me to understand it because I had nothing to compare it to,” Kinna said. “We had to figure it out as a player. Sometimes it takes more time to figure it out, but when we do figure it out, you’re more fulfilled. He’ll give you hints, little key points, he’s going to give you a result to achieve but you have to figure out how to do it. Throughout that period of learning about yourself, that’s how you’re going to figure out how to do it. It’s great to have a bigger toolbox. You’ll try things you think will never work and then all of a sudden it works really, really well.”

Was this new style strange at first? Of course. When coaches get into the field of coaching, the tendency is to fall back on a style of coaching that resembles how they were coached, perpetuating a string of top-down, one-way-is-the-correct-way style of teaching that is slow to evolve. Mayer admits that’s how he began, too, though it’s certainly not how he currently shapes his practices.

“This ecological view is this relationship with the environment and we’re going to let the body self-organize and we want to be as adaptable as possible. It’s more about how many tools can I add? Even if they never use it, we’re opening up more athleticism,” Mayer said. “It’s a way more fun way to coach our sport. That’s why it’s so fun. It’s never the same coaching experiences.”

It can make for quite a shock sometimes when athletes transfer into the program. Take Macy Gordon, a defender who won 79 matches at Cal Poly prior to transferring to LMU. Given her success, it isn’t surprising that the shift from Poly coach Todd Rogers’ style to Mayer’s took a bit longer than it did Kinna.

“She came to LMU and poor girl, she was so not used to this stuff,” Kinna said, laughing. “She took so long adjusting to it because she was so used to another type of coaching. I’m 100 percent sure it’s different and some of them ask why are we doing this?”

Why are they doing this? Allow the results to speak for themselves: In Gordon’s lone year at LMU, she finished 30-6, the best record of her career, surpassing her previous season-high win total by four.

Mayer is the first to admit that his style of coaching is breaking conventional norms, that even he isn’t sure it’ll land, that he’s learning right alongside the very athletes he’s teaching.

“John told us that we were kind of an experiment, that I don’t know if this style of coaching works,” Kinna said. “I think that’s the thing about John, he is always learning. It’s rare. Coaches can be closed-minded and have one vision. John is always learning something new. Now I’m sure he’s doing something different. I think it’s great.”

True enough, Mayer said that when he and Allen co-wrote a book, Coach Your Brains Out , in June of 2019, he’d revise much, if not all, of the material.

“I’m still young as a coach, 2018 was my last season [as a player],” he said. “I’m still trying to find that voice.”

He is still practicing what he preaches, and writes on his own whiteboards: That practice is a search, even for the man who has already found so much.

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What time is John Mayer on stage at London's O2 Arena?

John Mayer is set to bring his Solo Acoustic tour to London ’s O2 Arena this week to give his audience a cosier take on some of his heartfelt romantic numbers.

The US singer-songwriter is stopping off at the Greenwich venue for two nights, on Monday and Tuesday, as part of the European leg of his world tour. 

Later this week, he will head to the Netherlands for two nights in Amsterdam and then a one-night stop in Paris, before it’s back to our isles for Glasgow on March 27 and Dublin on March 29. 

Here’s what happened last time he played the O2 Arena.

And below is all you need to know ahead of Mayer’s shows. 

Who is supporting John Mayer? 

Madison Cunningham, a folk singer with three albums under her belt. has been given the nod for the European dates. She is very much in the spirit of Americana and will provide a perfect warm-up for Mayer’s soulful numbers. 

When will John Mayer be on stage? 

Doors open at 6.30pm and our educated guess is that Cunningham will be on stage by around 7.30pm, giving enough time for Mayer’s team to set up. 

By recent precedent, Mayer will be on stage at around 9pm and has been winding up with Free Fallin’ before 11pm. 

But don’t leave it to chance; in a recent gig in Copenhagen, he caught a few out by turning up at 8.40pm. Maybe his parking ticket was about to expire. 

Londoners , you’ll be absolutely fine to get home as the Jubilee line is running a good service all the way to Stanmore until 12.20pm. However, it’s always best to check the latest travel updates ahead of your journey.

Can I still get tickets? 

Yes. Tickets are still on sale from £50 for both nights, available from axs.com .

What might Mayer’s setlist be? 

Anything goes and don’t let our guide be the gospel on this. But, for an indication, he played the following numbers at his recent gig in Stockholm . 

Slow Dancing in a Burning Room

Shot in the Dark

Queen of California

Shouldn’t Matter but It Does

No Such Thing

Waitin’ on the Day

In Your Atmosphere

You’re Gonna Live Forever in Me

Stop This Train

The Age of Worry

Your Body Is a Wonderland

In the Blood

Walt Grace’s Submarine Test, January 1967

If I Ever Get Around to Living

Edge of Desire

The Heart of Life

Free Fallin’ (Tom Petty cover)

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Hands-On The Patek Philippe Aquanaut Travel Time Ref. 5164R

A high-functioning do-it-all that glows in rose gold. the watch, not me..

Originally announced at Baselworld in 2016, the Patek Philippe Aquanaut 5164R is not a new watch. That being said, I hope you'll cut me some slack as, for me, it's kinda the watch. Among the ranks of modern watches, the 5164, and lately, the 5164R (the R lets you know it's made of rose gold) has long pulled at my heartstrings, even if it's unlikely that I will ever have the purse strings to make such a watch my own. So, I ask only that you dream a little rose-gold dream with me, as I go hands-on with a true grail, the Patek Philippe Aquanaut 5164R. 

Many of you who know my writing are already well aware that I adore travel and travel watches. I've crossed the country to review a great GMT , dedicated my chapter of our recent book to travel watches and, to spend some time with this Aquanaut, I had to first remove a well worn Rolex Explorer II from my wrist. 

One of the great things about travel watches is that the complication itself is open to a lot of creative interpretation. The need to show additional time zones can be managed in many different ways, from the established tone of GMTs and world timers to the more free form interpretation of "dual time" or "travel time" watches (in which true travel functionality is far from a guarantee).  With the creation of the original steel 5164A in 2011, Patek included their Calibre 324 S C FUS, an automatic 4 Hz movement with a 45-hour power reserve that offers a clever dual-time function controlled by two pushers set into the left side of the case. Using a pair of hour hands, one of which is skeletonized and can be hidden beneath the main hour hand, the Aquanaut 5164R can easily transition between home and away modes.

This is far from the first time such functionality has been seen in a Patek, and we can actually look as far back as the early 60s and the insanely cool ref. 2597 (shown right), which Ben describes here as "a ref. 570 Calatrava with a special travel-time movement." The functionality was originally created by one Louis Cottier, aka the father of the world timer complication. While the original series one 2597s had only a single hour hand for adjustment, the later series two examples had two hands, just like the 5164. 

With this modern Aquanaut Travel Time, each hour hand has its own AM/PM indicator by way of a pair of small apertures in the dial which transition from white to dark blue as either of the local or home time displays moves from day into night. Starting with the hour hands overlapped, when you land in a new timezone you can use the pushers to advanced the local hand forwards or backward, reflecting the new time. Should you pass midnight, the date (as displayed in the subdial at six) will follow the local hand. You can now read the local time and date on the standard handset, while home time is displayed by a white skeletonized hour hand. It's almost deceptively easy, nearly too elegant for its own good, and I'll award extra points for the creation of a travel time function that does not require removing the watch from one's wrist (Cottier gets me, as ever). 

In an example where function is well matched by form, the 5164R is a heady mix of sporty Aquanaut design language, outright legibility, and a wrist presence that I would dare to call perfect. To apply an overused term, it's simply fantastic in the metal.  On wrist, it feels a bit smaller than I expected of its 40.8mm case. At 10.2mm thick, it hugs my 7-inch wrist and feels well balanced on its supplied dark brown polymer (rubber) strap and matching rose-gold, double deployant clasp. While the rose gold is certainly a heavy way of crafting that lovely case and bezel, the proportions (including a lug to lug of 48mm) shrug off the weight, leaving the 5164R to feel special but not at all cumbersome on wrist. 

The dial is a warm brown tone with a faint gradient and an equally subtle lined pattern that mimics the lines of latitude and longitude on a globe (and is seen again in the date sub-dial). While I think it's safe to say that the steel 5164A is likely the (much) more subtle of the pair, the rose gold is just as wearable but feels vastly more special. It's a gold Patek that is also a sporty travel watch with 120 meters of water resistance and a screw-down crown. My heart. 

I know what some of you are thinking, and it's either W hy not a Nautilus? or Why even write about a watch no one can buy?  I think both queries are fair and both can be answered by a consideration of the Aquanaut's considerable come up. What started as a casual watch that was meant to be the "poor man's Nautilus" has become an icon in its own right, a rubber-clad slice of high horology that maintains the shibboleth of the deep enthusiast, while offering outright flexibility, style, and, in the case of the 5164, truly useful functionality. 

Spurred on by r ising auction performances and the occasional new colorway from Patek, the fanfare and waitlist lifestyle commonly attached to the Nautilus is absolutely shared by the Aquanaut – and the 5164 is undoubtedly class unobtainium. 

While the Aquanaut may have been a bit ahead of its time when the line first launched back in 1997, today it offers a fresh take on a classic style, perfect for the west-coast dominated, casual yet considered aesthetics of ardent devotees like Keegan Allen or John Mayer (both praise the watch in their episodes of Talking Watches). 

I know many of you reading this have already experienced the pleasure of owning your grail, be it a Patek or otherwise, and for that, I salute you. There is something so wild to me about a gold Patek Philippe – typically the foray of well-heeled bankers – rendered into the brand's entry-level sports platform, with a rubber strap, and a killer GMT movement.

Competition is a weird thing with any nearly-impossible-to-buy watch, but I'll give it a try. Against nearly any comparable, the $53,070 5164R is expensive. Consider the $36,600 Vacheron Constantin Overseas Dual Time, or the (steel only) Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Dual Time at $20,700. Hell, the Everose Rolex GMT-Master II is $36,750. A Lange 1 Time Zone in pink gold is around $52,000. You can even stay within the Patek Philippe family with the pilot-styled 5524R at $49,560. These are all very cool watches. But there's cool and there's cool. The 5164 is the latter, as shown by its higher-than-average cost and its incredible demand. 

For my wrist, in either metal, the 5164 is the coolest modern Patek Philippe and, judging by how hard it was to take this Aquanaut off my wrist, an instant one-watch collection. While undoubtedly expensive and certainly very very hard to come by, the Patek Philippe Aquanaut 5164R is a timezone jumping endgame for those with an all-too-precious penchant for a great travel watch. 

For more, visit Patek Philippe online .

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John Mayer: The king of the cameo

You know who's great at making fun of John Mayer? John Mayer! The musician proved he's king of the cameo with a small, but memorable role in new comedy  Get Hard . In the movie, Mayer, as himself, is hired to play at an engagement party for the rich James (Will Ferrell). Before launching into  Daughters with James, Mayer says to him, "Ever see 100 women get wet at the same time? Watch this."

Classic John Mayer.

Later on in the movie, we see Mayer appear on  Fallon  to talk about the engagement party performance. Mayer has found out that James has been arrested. He talks about how he "had no idea I was performing for a monster," before going into a speech about feeling helpless about the "monetization of the creative process." Mayer proceeds to promote his new song, about James, that's available on iTunes.

Mayer also has a cameo in the (real) movie  Zombeavers  as a truck driver, too. He talked about it with Stephen Merchant:

And Mayer guest-starred in an episode of  Time and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!,  too.  He played "the romantic heartthrob musician John Mayer."

The musician has also made plenty of onstage cameos, we'll call them. In other words: He plays guitar in other people's bands for a night. For example, he played electric guitar while Frank Ocean sang on  Saturday Night Live:

He's performed several times with Ed Sheeran, too, including at this year's Grammys .