Prepping for his upcoming trek across Europe and the UK, John Mayer is bringing his 2019 North American tour to a slow close. Since announcing his tour back in January, Mayer has traveled across North America as both a solo artist and as a touring member of Dead and Company, giving fans twice the number of opportunities to witness his genius live.
In addition, Mayer released a new single “Carry Me Away” just a couple of weeks ago alongside his announcement that he will be recording a new album next year. During the release, Mayer took to instagram to explain his thought process on the new song.
“I didn’t see it coming that this tour would have so much life and energy in it, so when it was time for a two week break, I found myself wanting to create.”
Considering his nonstop schedule so far this year, it makes perfect sense that Mayer had to delay the recording studio until then. Luckily, it won’t be much longer until we can add another pristine Mayer album to our collections.
As Mayer wraps up his current tour, we can’t help but look back onto the tour thus far. Playing two nights at the Forum this past weekend, the guitar guru brought out all the stops during two of the last dates on this leg.
Thus far on the tour, Mayer has shuffled his setlists, playing a different variation every night. It’s as if he stole that idea right out of the Dead and Company playbook. No wonder why he fits in so well. But the real twist of the weekend came during his final night at the Forum when he played his hit 2006 album Continuum in its entirety for only the second time ever.
Standing in front of a relatively simple production consisting mainly of a single large monitor backdrop, Mayer wowed the LA crowd with a two-set structured show including a list of hits, deep cuts and some unexpected covers. Check out the full twenty-five song setlist here!
Wearing his typical formal attire — jeans and a t-shirt — Mayer opened the first set with a few deeper cuts including “Helpless,” “Moving On and Getting Over,” “Love on The Weekend,” “Edge of Desire” and “Changing.”
Further stealing from the Dead and Company’s repertoire, Mayer used the stage as an improvised jam session during most songs, showing off his guitar skills like no other. The band continued the first act with a unique cover of Beyonce’s “XO” before harping on a few bigger hits including “Daughters,” an acoustic version of “Neon” and another deeper cut “In the Blood.”
After a thirty-minute intermission, Mayer returned to stage with his nine-piece band still in tow for set two. As previously mentioned, the Grammy Award-Winning songwriter used the second act to perform Continuum in its entirety. From “Waiting On the World to Change” and “The Heart of Life” to “Slow Dancing In a Burning Room” and “I’m Gonna Find Another You,” Mayer and company didn’t miss a beat as they weaned their way through the album.
While the entire second set can be deemed a masterpiece, nothing beats Mayer’s sporadic improvisations and frequent guitar tangents, especially during “Gravity.” With Mayer’s extended guitar solo and his backup singers’ shining moments, the performance of “Gravity” truly encompassed the essence of the entire night.
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Ending the second set with “I’m Gonna Find Another You,” Mayer reminded the audience why he is so praised in his musicianship and more particularly, his soulful, raspy voice as he left it all out there for the final performance of the regular set.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a John Mayer show without an encore featuring a deep cut and brand new song. What would normally be used as a final moment to perform an artist’s most popular song, was used as just another moment to surprise the audience with unexpected tunes. A typical Mayer move.
Featuring “Carry Me Away” and “New Light,” Mayer vocalized his love for lettuce wraps as he transitioned between songs. And with a more than interesting low budget-type film starring Mayer being played behind him during “New Light,” the night came to an end with a confetti shower, raining over the entire crowd. Talk about a perfect way to end an unexpected show.
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If the final few shows have been any indication of the tour in its entirety, then you won't want to miss your chance to see John Mayer live before he officially wraps it up. Check out all of his remaining tour dates below and don’t forget to grab tickets at LiveNation!
John Mayer Remaining 2019 North America Dates:
09/16 – San Francisco, CA @ Chase Center
09/17 – Sacramento, CA @ Golden 1 Center
09/20 – Dallas, TX @ Crossroads Guitar Festival
09/21 – Dallas, TX @ Crossroads Guitar Festival
John Mayer 2019 Europe/UK Dates:
10/01 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Ericsson Globe
10/03 – Oslo, Norway @ Oslo Spektrum
10/04 – Trondheim, Norway @ Spektrum
10/06 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Royal Arena
10/07 – Herning, Denmark @ Jyske Bank Boxen
10/09 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Ziggo Dome
10/10 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Ziggo Dome
10/13 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
10/14 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
10/16 – Dublin, Ireland @ 3Arena
10/18 – Manchester, UK @ Manchester Arena
