John Mayer Opens Solo Tour With Debut, Rarity, Grateful Dead Cover & More In Newark

John Mayer launched his first solo acoustic tour on Saturday in Newark, New Jersey. Mayer delivered a 24-song performance at Prudential Center that included a new original, a “deep cut” and covers of Grateful Dead and Tom Petty classics.

The career-spanning concert began with “Slow Dancing In A Burning Room” off 2006’s Continuum and “Queen Of California” from 2012’s Born And Raised before he looked to his latest LP, 2021’s Sob Rock for “Shouldn’t Matter But It Does.” A take on Search For Everything’s (2017) “In The Blood” was followed by footage of a young, pre-fame John Mayer filmed outside of Tower Records in Hollywood on January 16, 2002. The clip was featured in a promo video for a tour in support of his debut studio album, 2002’s Room For Squares. Fittingly, the guitarist then played Room For Squares classics “Neon” and “Why Georgia.”

Saturday’s concert rolled on with “Split Screen Sadness” and “Home Life” from John Mayer’s sophomore LP, 2003’s Heavier Things, split by “Who Says.” The guitarist hadn’t performed “Home Life” since December of 2005. “Now, if I remember upon the initial posting of the announcement of this tour, there were many posts of comments saying ‘deep cuts,’” Mayer said before the bust out. He recalled a conversation he had with pal Andy Cohen which helped soothe his nervousness about the tour. Since fans wanted deep cuts, he decided to dust off “Home Life.”

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“There’s a trick in playing live, where you could play something deeply esoteric and make people who didn’t dig it forget all about it by moving right into a song everybody knows without stopping,” Mayer exclaimed over the end of “Home Life” and dropped into “Your Body Is A Wonderland.” He stopped nearly immediately and asked the crowd “Is this song stupid?” Mayer told the crowd he would “play the song like it’s not a joke.” The guitarist closed the first section of the show with Continuum standout “Stop This Train” complete with a bit of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Homeward Bound.”

John Mayer sat down at the piano for the second portion of Saturday’s concert. He worked the start of Sob Rock’s “New Light” into “You’re Gonna Live Forever In Me” from The Search For Everything. Mayer stuck with the 2017 LP for the ensuing “Changing,” which featured looping piano and electric as part of its outro.

The Connecticut-bred musician returned to acoustic guitar for Born And Raised chestnut “The Age Of Worry” and a cover of Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’.” Mayer then introduced the evening’s lone premiere, “Driftin’,” after explaining he likes to test out new material live before releasing records with those songs.

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A pairing of “Waitin’ On The Day” and “In Your Atmosphere” came next ahead of the Dead & Company guitarist utilizing a rare Martin double-neck acoustic guitar for a pretty version of the Grateful Dead’s “Friend Of The Devil.” John Mayer also played Born And Raised’s “If I Ever Get Around To Living” and “Edge Of Desire” from 2009’s Battle Studies on the unusual instrument. He was back on a normal acoustic guitar for evening’s encore featuring “Walt Grace’s Submarine Test, January 1967” and “Born And Raised.”

Watch fan-shot video of Saturday’s “Friend Of The Devil” below:

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Audience Recording (Taped by Zachary Semcken)

Source: JamBase.com