Where Does This Door Go Tour Review
Typically, people have this notion about February being the month of love. On February 1st, Mayer Hawthorne’s Where Does This Door Go U.S. tour filled the Fox Theater in Oakland to a sold out crowd of lovers, radioheads, and movers and shakers.
To jump start the show was Los Angeles native singer and dancer Gavin Turek. To some patrons, this was their first time hearing Turek’s music and seeing her perform. She enticed the crowd with her Tina Turner-inspired look and music to make them move with an electro-pop and disco soul vibe. From her barefoot dancing, to her colossal curly hair, to her electric blue fringe romper, Turek is a new-age disco vocalist on the rise.
Next to take center stage was Danish soul duo Quadron with front woman Coco O. leading the soulful band. Quadron are no strangers to the Oakland music scene as this was their second time performing in the Bay Area. Quadron took the audience back in time with more of a retro jazz sound. Coco O. took to the mic singing songs from their latest album Avalanche, and paid homage to singer Lauryn Hill with a rendition of Ms. Hill’s hit song “Ex-Factor.” Quadron completed their set of love songs to prepare the audience for headliner Mayer Hawthorne.
The stage was then set with Hawthorne’s signature broken heart symbol at center stage, as well as the owl, made popular from his recent album cover, placed next to his microphone. Hawthorne brought a Motown sound filled with funk, rock, hip-hop and R&B with his four-piece band backing him up. He performed songs from his albums A Strange Arrangement, How Do You Do, and his latest Where Does This Door Go. He displayed a number of talents by not only singing, but also strumming the guitar to a few of his songs and rocking out to his own drum arrangement on his song “Designer Drug,” and then tossed his drumsticks to a few lucky fans. Hawthorne kept the crowd surprised as he performed his own covers to Bell Biv Devoe’s “Poison” and the Aerosmith and Run-DMC hit “Walk This Way.” He also showed fans some smooth dance moves as he and his band performed with synchronized choreography, similar to moves one would see by The Temptations back in the day.
Mayer Hawthorne at the Fox Theater
In the middle of his set, he stopped everything for “picture time.” A chair was brought out for him as he had the whole audience pose with their hands up while a friend snapped the picture. The “picture time” moment has become a signature part of Hawthorne’s concerts in each city as he usually posts the shots to his Instagram account and website. After he performed his last song, the crowd gave him a standing ovation filled with chants and applauses. He then walked back out in a suave motion to give the audience an encore as he sang his cover of Barry White’s “Playing Your Game, Baby.” He then ended his set with his own hits “Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out” and “Her Favorite Song.” The Where Does This Door Go tour kept the audience on their feet, singing along to every song and the love mood lingered throughout the night. When the tour comes to your town, be ready to two-step, party like a rockstar, and witness these contemporary artists bridging past music eras with a modern day twist.
