I thought the sold-out stadium at TD Garden was going to break the sound barrier trying to coax John Mayer back out to do his encore. I’ve never felt the kind of energy that was in that stadium Wednesday night, and gladly went practically deaf.
Along with his dynamic encore medley of “Daughters,” Mayer played a litany of old favorites, which were greatly appreciated by the insatiable crowd. He also played songs from his new album Battle Studies, such as the popular “Heartbreak Warfare” and “Who Says,” but worked in classics like “No Such Thing,” “Why Georgia” and “Bigger Than My Body.”
Looking out over the stretch of endless cell phone lights and the rare lighter, Mayer’s smooth vocals and astounding guitar riffs had the crowd engaged and singing along for two solid hours.
This Boston show seemed pretty close to his heart as he made continuous references to his former residence. Before strumming the intro to “No Such Thing,” he gave a shout out to his old apartment at 150 Massachusetts Avenue, where he penned his first hit. He even reminisced about days (and nights) spent “wandering up and down Newbury Street in the middle of the night, having panicked “Where the f*ck am I?’ moments.”
As for his opening act, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Mayer couldn’t have picked a group with a sound more opposite his own. Franti was loud and in-your-face and probably experienced whiplash once or twice as he bounced around the entire arena. One second he would be on stage, and the next he was in the middle of the crowd jamming on his guitar. By the end of his performance he had the entire arena singing to his infectious reggae-inspired hit “Say Hey.”
John Mayer, though entitled to a rock-star attitude, was grateful for the turnout. Despite his recent descent in the media lately, he played the humble card, and even sounded pretty sincere. Thanking fans again and again for their dedication and contribution to success, he had the entire audience swooning.
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