John Mayer needed no backing band to keep fans at TD Garden on their feet Monday night in Boston. Mayer, fresh off tours with Dead & Company and his backing band last year, has decided to go stripped down on this run. It isn’t just musically that he’s opening himself up, though. The show felt a bit like therapy for him and 19,000 of his fans. The 45-year-old rock star has never been more sentimental or more vulnerable, and he’s never felt so personal on stage.
Mayer came out and sat down in a chair with “Assasin” before going into his cover of Beyonce’s “XO” and “Waitin’ on the Day”. Later in the set, he dove into “Whiskey, Whiskey, Whiskey”, his last goodbye to alcohol, as he described it. After visiting “Your Body Is A Wonderland”, complete with 3D animated unicorns and rainbows dancing around on the screen behind him, Mayer noted how most people who release a song like that at 21 would continue to release songs like that.
It was a nice transition to introducing a new song, “Driftin’”, performed for just the second time (this time without a pick). After the arena was lit up by cell phones and the song was received with an extended and loud applause, Mayer couldn’t help but reflect on how he’s always scared he doesn’t have anything left to say—that he’ll just need to rely on the songs he’s already released.
It was a theme throughout the night, Mayer looking into the fear—the fear of performing solo for almost two hours, of how a new song would be received, that people think he’s overconfident (which he clarified saying he’s always been overcompensating).
As Mayer sat down at the piano for a few songs, including an extended version of “Changing” with an impressive guitar solo mixed in, then back to acoustic guitar for hits like “Stop This Train”, “Slow Dancing in A Burning Room”, and “3×5”, the connection for fans was personal. This was Mayer bearing himself and connecting with a crowd in a different way.
An encore of “Wheel” and Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’” capped off a special night on what looks to be a special tour for the legend. It felt like a reminder not to take Mayer’s talent and love of performing for granted, while he really took the opportunity to open up and take a risk with huge rewards.
John Mayer – “Assassin” – 3/13/23
[Video: Robert Ahearn]
Setlist: John Mayer | TD Garden | Boston, MA | 3/13/23
Acoustic: Assassin (with “Shot in the Dark” snippet), XO (Beyoncé), Waitin’ on the Day, January 16, 2002: “Room for Squares” Interview (Promo video from the Room for Squares Tour at Tower Records on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, CA), No Such Thing, Neon (with extended intro), Whiskey, Whiskey, Whiskey (with “Last Goodbye” by Jeff Buckley snippet), Your Body Is a Wonderland, Driftin’ (Introduced as “Version 2” (without a pick)), Walt Grace’s Submarine Test, January 1967
Piano: New Light (First verse & chorus) > You’re Gonna Live Forever in Me, Changing (with false start, with looped piano & electric guitar outro)
Acoustic: In Your Atmosphere (With ‘Wherever I Go’ outro), Stop This Train (with “Homeward Bound” by Simon & Garfunkel snippet), Slow Dancing in a Burning Room, The Age of Worry, 3×5
Double Neck Guitar: If I Ever Get Around to Living, Edge of Desire
Encore: Wheel (Performed on electric guitar), Free Fallin’ (Tom Petty)
Note: Emoji of a Wave, I’m on Fire, All I Want Is to Be With You and Dear Marie was on the setlist but not played.
Setlist: JP Saxe | TD Garden | Boston, MA | 3/13/23
Set: Tension, A Little Bit Yours, The Few Things, I Don’t Miss You, If the World Was Ending
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