John Mayer Dusts Off Pete Townshend & Bruce Springsteen Covers In Melbourne

John Mayer busted out covers of songs by Pete Townshend and Bruce Springsteen on Wednesday night at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. As per Setlist.FM, Mayer played Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire” for the first time since August 19, 2017 and Pete Townshend’s “Let My Love Open The Door” for the first and only other time since July 27, 2013.

The guitarist has settled on a format of opening with a full band set and breaking the evening up with a few solo acoustic songs before the ensemble returns for the rest of the night. In Melbourne, Mayer began with “Queen Of California” and then served up his recent single “I Guess I Just Feel Like.” The career-spanning start also featured a version of “Love On The Weekend” that utilized “The Search For Everything Theme” as an intro and a “Clarity” that mashed up the rhythm of Toto’s “Africa” in part of the outro.

John’s acoustic segment started with “In Your Atmosphere” and then saw him play “I’m On Fire” for just the fourth time since 2010. The Grammy-winning “Daughters” was followed by a “Neon” that included a snippet of Suzanne Vega’s “Tom’s Diner.” After the band returned, Mayer noted he was going to perform a tune that still had “that new song smell.” He then pulled off an exercise routine as part of the intro to 2018 single “New Light.” Later in the night, the guitarist played part of “Let My Love Open The Door” as an intro to “The Age Of Worry.” He noted, “This song was devised to take you up higher no matter where you are in your personal worry number, we’re going to take all that worry away and remind you that it is going to be okay.” John Mayer’s only other known rendition of Townshend’s biggest solo hit came in Irvine, California on July 27, 2013 and was dedicated to those who helped him in his recovery from vocal surgery in 2011. That version featured the whole band, while last night John was just accompanied by keyboards.

The night came to a close with an encore of “Born & Raised (Reprise)” and “Gravity.” Watch videos from Wednesday’s concert as well as the 2013 version of “Let My Love Open Your Door”:

I’m On Fire (Partial) Captured by Spirited Jewel

I’m On Fire Captured by ArcticViper

Speech > Let My Love Open The Door > Age Of Worry
ArcticViper

Speech > Let My Love Open The Door (Closeup)
Captured by Ayesha K. Wasiq

Daughters Captured by Spirited Jewel

Neon Captured by Ziao Chen

Let My Love Open The Door (2013) Captured by Lauren Leialoha

Setlist