Returning back to Manchester for the first time in years, John Mayer lights up the stage at the Manchester Arena in a colourful masterclass in guitar music in the last show of his European tour. With his band behind him as he performs, Mayer proves just how much of a true musician he is. Guitar solo after guitar solo, Mayer is magnetic as he wows the crowd with his talent and energy. On stage, he and his band appear as if they’re having the time of their lives playing for us and the crowd reciprocates, dancing, cheering and singing along in return.
The show is over two hours long, almost three, but never boring as Mayer pleases the crowd with a string of fan favourites. Who Says, Edge of Desire, Daughters, Slow Dancing in a Burning Room and Gravity earn some of the loudest cheers of the night. Mayer’s well-loved cover of Tom Petty’s Free Fallin’ is also warmly welcomed. My only gripe with the whole show is that one of my personal favourites In Your Atmosphere wasn’t included in the set, but when your career spans twenty years and you have as many hits as Mayer does it’s going to be difficult to curate a setlist that will satisfy everybody.
Mayer’s show reminds me of what I love most about music; that it is for everyone. During the ever-relevant Waiting on the World to Change the screen behind Mayer is filled with shots of the crowd as they sing along. Packing out the arena are loved-up couples of all ages, a group of guys in their early twenties swaying with their arms around each other in a brotherly fashion, grandparents, parents, children - a little girl is filmed with her homemade sign that proudly tells us she's “Maya age 7”, her parents cheer with delight beside her when she makes it onto the screen. From my seat I’m surrounded by a mix just as diverse; to my left a girl is with her boyfriend and her parents, to my right is an older couple, there’s a young family behind me and behind them sit a group of four Scotsmen, one too many pints deep and hilariously heckling as Mayer performs, providing us in block 211 a secondary source of entertainment. But it’s Mayer’s music that brings us all together, all of us in awe, singing along to the music we all love so much. It’s endearing, being surrounded by so much warmth as we feel connected in some way by Mayer’s lyrics.