John Mayer
23rd March 2019
Spark Arena, Auckland, New Zealand
Review by Lauren Sanderson. Photography by Rachel Van Luyt.
The legend that is John Mayer kicked off his world tour at Auckland’s Spark Arena last night. The American singer-songwriter hit kiwi shores having not played a show in New Zealand since 2014. The question is, was it worth the wait?
The simple answer is YES!
Mayer is the definition of a modern day crooner – he’s slick, smooth and certainly knows how to work a crowd. Talking about the crowd, Spark Arena was jam packed with loyal fans who had been following Mayer throughout his career. The usual general admission standing area was converted into a fully seated affair, but there really was no need for seating as we spent all evening up on our feet admiring and swooning over the musical wizardry of John Mayer and his seven piece band.
With no support acts Mayer performed a double set, where he brought 25 of his much-loved tracks to life. Kicking off the night with How Great Thou Art (accompanied by the magnificent Soul Diva Bella Kalolo singing in Te Reo), quickly followed by the Haka. After the warmest of welcomes ‘An Evening with John Mayer’ was in full swing as ‘Heartbreak Warfare’, from his fourth studio album Battle Studies echoed around the arena.
As soon as Mayer opened his mouth and took the first strum of his guitar, the audience shared their love by letting out screams of joy with one desperate fan even shouting out her phone number (let’s hope he calls her).
Taking us back to where it all began with his first album Room for Squares, ‘No such thing’ followed, the upbeat tempo was welcomed after the slower and steady pace of ‘Heartbreak Warfare’. It demonstrated Mayers diversity and his ability to switch things up. This became more evident as the evening went on, as his conveyer belt of hits became increasingly more extraordinary.
Mayer was just warming up, “I want to dance”, he declared and with that said that’s exactly what we did to ‘Something like Olivia’, which not only showed a softer side to Mayers vast vocal range, but also was an insight into his relationship with his band. The seven piece and Mayer were having the ultimate jamming session to this track and you could tell that they were lost in the moment just as much as we were.
The blues singers newest track New Light is another killer track under his belt, it was extremely refreshing as it had a playful 80’s vibe to it and took away from his usual bluesy, soulful ballads. It was intriguing to watch as Mayer manipulates his guitar to create a funky fresh beat, that just goes to show that the 41-year old certainly isn’t a one genre type of guy and he’s the master of his trade.
By this point the energy was contagious and ‘New Light’, perhaps inspired by the green screen magic music video to the track, brought out a lot of new and wacky dance moves from both the crowd and Mayer himself. It was great to see that he wasn’t taking himself too seriously and could still have fun with his music.
After the interval, Mayer returned solo for his rendition of Beyonce’s ‘XO’ – it was great to see the stripped back version of Mayer that we all know and love accompanied by his acoustic guitar and harmonica. ‘Daughters’ and ‘Emoji of a Wave’ followed, demonstrating the power of one man and his guitar.
The band returned for their second set and busted out ‘Helpless’, which had the entire crowd up on their feet and again emphasised Mayer’s guitar ability, it really does reach no limits. If you take a moment and stop dancing to the mesmerizing beat (hard, we know) and watch Mayers facial expressions, yes they’re slightly odd and rather funny, but they tell a story and you can see that with every strum of his guitar he becomes more lost in the moment.
Along with being a musical genius, Mayer is quite the storyteller and would share some inside jokes with the audience – now if you aren’t a hardcore fan then i’m afraid you wouldn’t quite get the reference. He introduced his track Rosie, by saying “this track is about a stupid idiot” – referring to himself, followed by “But I couldn’t be more sure of anything.”
Mayers relationship with his band was certainly a highlight of the night for me, it was obvious that he simply wanted to blend in with them and not take all of the limelight – after all they are all just as talented as one another. Isaiah Sharkey took his epic guitar solo to a whole new world, in fact, a whole new universe. Along with guitarist David Ryan, who showed that his vocal ability was on par with his guitar skills.
I’ve never seen a band change guitars as much as Mayer and his seven piece, they changed instruments (even the drums) more than a pop star’s outfit changes. But nevertheless, this was never a distraction and highlights the fact that no matter what instrument you put in front of Mayer, he can play it.
It’s hard to pick a highlight of the night, but a track that really stood out was ‘Gravity’, as the crowd and musicians really did become one at this point. The arena was lit up as were thousands of people’s faces. A few more highlights were ‘Slow Dancing in a Burning Room’, ‘Queen of California’ and closing encore track ‘Still Feel like your Man’.
There is no question about the talent that John Mayer possesses, he is a born wizard on guitar and that’s complemented by his beautiful angelic vocals and his stagemanship. His performance last night showcased that he is so much more than his 2002 hit ‘Your Body is a Wonderland’ (which didn’t make an appearance) and highlights exactly why he is and always will be a known name in the industry.
Closing off the night Mayer says “I’m just going to do this until I can’t do it anymore” and this is a statement that we truly believe… we just hope it’s not another five years until we see you again John!
Until next time…
Were you there at Spark Arena to witness this good old fashioned blues / pop rock show? Or have you seen John Mayer live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Setlist:
- How Great Thou Art (with Bella Kalolo singing in te reo, followed by haka)
- Whakaari Mai
- Heartbreak Warfare
- No Such Thing
- Who Says
- Waiting on the Day
- Something Like Olivia
- In the Blood
- Changing
- New Light
- Queen of California
- XO [Beyoncé cover]
- Daughters
- Emoji of a Wave
- In Your Atmosphere
- Helpless
- Paper Doll
- Love on the Weekend
- I Guess I Just Feel Like
- Rosie
- Slow Dancing in a Burning Room
- If I Ever Get Around to Living
- Gravity
- The Heart of Life [encore]
- Still Feel Like Your Man [encore]
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