Setting his sometimes-controversial personal life aside, as a musician John Mayer conjures a wide range of emotions. For some, he’s a world-class musician and songwriter capable of mastering a variety of genres, from soft rock to blue-eyed soul to Americana to blues. Those whose tastes skew a bit more towards “hipper” styles may roll their eyes, associating him solely with slightly corny hit songs like “Your Body is a Wonderland” or “Daughters.”
Photo Credit: Jenna Houchin
Judging by his performance and setlist at an absolutely packed-to-the-gills arena show at The Forum, a late-career Mayer is aiming for the former instead of simply leaning on his biggest commercial successes. That he can still fill arenas with legions of exuberant fans demonstrates that despite going several years without a bonafide smash radio hit, he’s still extremely popular. And this wasn’t just some sort of nostalgia trip for millennials – his last album, Sob Rock hit number one on the Billboard charts and were some of the most well-received performances of his set.
While his performance at The Forum was the concluding stop on his Solo Acoustic tour, his energy as a performer and gregarious stage banter fed into the excitement of the evening. In fact, about halfway through the set, right before he performed “Driftin'” he took a moment to talk about the state of his career and how the tour affected his mentality. Going into the tour, he admitted he wasn’t sure where his career was headed but the flexible, free-form nature of these solo, acoustic shows ignited a spark of inspiration that he believes will guide him into his next album (or even albums). He did technically bend the tour theme slightly when he picked up an electric guitar for a solo during “I Will Be Found (Lost At Sea),” but all is forgiven considering he literally played the guitar and piano simultaneously.
The show kicked off with “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room” on a 12-string guitar. It’s been the opening number for the vast majority of his stops on the tour (though “Assassin,” “Gravity” and “Neon” have all served as opening songs at various points along the tour.) Taken from Continuum, it reflects his pivot to bluesier music on his third record. “Love on the Weekend” was interpolated with “Split Screen Sadness” and even a little dash of “Hysteria” by Def Leppard. It was so subtly intertwined in the melody and chord progression that most of the crowd appeared to miss the reference, luckily Mayer ensured everyone was made aware of the reference.
Besides the Def Leppard snippet, concluding “Stop This Train” with a reference to Simon & Garfunkel’s “Homeward Bound” and opening “If I Ever Get Around To Living” with Bon Jovi’s “Dead or Alive,” there were a few full-song covers mixed into the set. Beyonce’s “XO” was the fourth song of the night, transforming the R&B hit into an acoustic serenade aided with a little harmonica riffing. Considering Mayer moonlights as the frontman for Dead & Co. with several members of The Grateful Dead, covering “Friend of the Devil” was an obvious choice later in the set. The final song of the night was a cover of the late, great Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’.”
The set was very light on Mayer’s biggest hits, with “Your Body Is a Wonderland” being the only notable radio smash. Instead, the crowd saved their biggest singalongs for deep cuts like “Heartbreak Warfare” and “Who Says.” Okay, those were both actually singles from Battle Studies, but significantly less ubiquitous than inescapable songs like “No Such Thing” or “Waiting on the World to Change” – both of which were absent from the setlist.
Video clips were screened every few songs, highlighting Mayer’s meteoric career trajectory. The first features him on Sunset Boulevard promoting his debut album Room for Squares, a charming glance into the personality of an relatively-unknown musician about to explode into an international superstar. Later a clip highlighted his backing band as they worked on sophomore record Continuum.
The set mixed new songs from Sob Rock with older tracks from his debut like “3×5” and “Neon.” Born and Raised was particularly well-represented, with “The Age of Worry,” “Walt Grace’s Submarine Test, January 1967,” and “Something Like Olivia” among the songs he played from that 2012 album. The audience got a little behind-the-music look at the song “Last Train Home,” as Mayer chose to perform it as it was originally written, with a folksy, Laurel Canyon troubadour vibe.
All in all, there’s no denying that after all these years, Mayer still has incredible musical chops, able to passionately croon over a technically-advanced guitar riff or finger-picking figure. Commanding a massive room like The Forum with nothing but a guitar, his voice and a piano is something even the most accomplished musicians would struggle to achieve. After he mentioned how much this tour has influenced and guided his perspective on moving his career forward, it’ll be interesting to see how this tour influences Mayer in his upcoming ventures.
All photos by Jenna Houchin
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