John Mayer

As John Mayer’s last show on his Australian tour, which included shows at the Blues and Roots Festivals, it seemed likely that he would be on fire by the time he reached Sydney. He was.

Ben Kweller came out solo but was later joined by his band, adding bass, drums and keys. His vocals were clear, and he seemed jovial, looking back on what he said was an amazing tour. After playing ‘Sundress’, Robbie Macintosh from Mayer’s band joined him on the electric guitar. The two had a solo duel, and I think it is fair to say that Robbie absolutely played the pants off Ben. Not that Ben is bad; Robbie is just fantastic. Kweller closed his set with ‘Penny on the Train Track’ and left the crew to prepare for Mayer.

John’s band came on-stage to rapturous applause, with John leading them, slouching across the stage with an oversized white shirt, and Stratocaster in hand. He began playing a bluesy solo which developed into the intro to ‘Belief’. This was followed by ‘Bigger Than My Body’. John let the crowd sing the last chorus and pulled one of his in-ear monitors out to listen to the noise. Between songs he spoke about the young people in the front row, pointing out a kid in an orange shirt saying, “Look at that! That’s just pure, unadulterated love of music!” and jumped down to give the kid a guitar pick.

‘No Such Thing’ was next, and had almost every one of the 12,000-odd people standing in their seats. ‘Good Love Is On The Way’ followed, and in my opinion was one of the nights highlights. After this, John yelled “Good Love!” before breaking into ‘I Don’t Trust Myself (With Loving You)’.

John stated that Australia had some of the best signs in the world, pointing to one in the crowd saying ‘Stop This Train’, written on a stop sign. He started playing the song of the same name, solo on his acoustic. His band weren’t prepared to accompany him, as it was an impromptu decision, so John whistled the piano part...rather badly...but who cares? It’s this spontaneity and interaction that makes a John Mayer show so personal.

‘Clarity’ was next, featuring a saxophone solo, then ‘I Don’t Need No Doctor’ and ‘Vultures’. ‘The Heart of Life’ followed, and towards the end John began singing a teaser of the song ‘In Repair’. ‘Why Georgia’ was well received, with the crowd singing the entire “So what, so I’ve got a smile on...” section. An extended version of ‘Gravity’ closed the set, with guitar solo’s by John and Robbie, and awesome vocal harmonies by almost everyone!

The encore started with ‘Waiting on the World To Change’after which John began playing an Eric Clapton-esque solo, which developed into ‘I’m Gonna Find Another You’. Mayer and his band left the stage and 12,000 Sydney-Siders satisfied and deaf.

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