John Mayer performs at the United Center in Chicago on March 31, 2023.
John Mayer is no stranger to Chicago. He stopped by the United Center last year on the Sob Rock Tour and he’s played multiple shows at Wrigley with Dead & Company. Not to mention the countless tours he’s brought to venues across the city, from the House of Blues to Northerly Island.
At the United Center on March 31, he did something completely different. For the first time in his over-twenty-year career, he took the stage as a true solo artist – armed with only his guitars, piano, and harmonica – for a performance in conjunction with his Solo Tour, presented by Live Nation. The stage was much sparser than previous Mayer concerts, and that left him with ample space to fill with stories and songs.
Beginning with “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room” – a popular show starter throughout this tour – the first portion of the concert featured Mayer on acoustic guitar. He remained seated, contemplative in song, for “Heartbreak Warfare” and “Love on the Weekend” before grabbing his harmonica for a unique take on Beyonce’s “XO” which inspired raucous applause.
Video interludes signaled different acts of the performance and different chapters of Mayer’s career. The first installment featured a Room for Squares era interview that set the stage perfectly for an extended rendition of “Neon” complete with an absolute face-melter of an acoustic jam. Deeper into the set a Continuum video interview took fans further down memory lane.
John Mayer performs at the United Center in Chicago on March 31, 2023.
The solo acoustic format was rife with opportunities for Mayer to share stories and catch-up with the crowd. “Who Says” led to an especially fun interaction with a fan who had a sign altering the track’s lyrics, “Who says I can’t get stoned” into a romantic proposition and, on the flip side, their phone number. He also joked with fans about “locking eyes” and singing about “your bubblegum tongue” before a deliciously camp performance of “Your Body Is a Wonderland.”
Later, Mayer explained how the protagonist of “Shouldn’t Matter But It Does” is more of someone thinking, “I don’t get it, and it was probably me too, but I don’t get it,” rather than someone saying, “Oh, screw you.”
“In my mind, this song – even though it’s three minutes long – takes place in someone’s mind for like 15 seconds at the checkout line,” he added, joking about his Christopher Nolan-esque explanation for the Sob Rock stand-out. He also got earnest expressing how honored he feels by the way fans have embraced this newer hit as part of his songwriting canon.
The piano portion of the night allowed Mayer to demonstrate the care he takes when playing “New Light” by revealing the musical similarities the song shares with A-ha’s “Take on Me” and Harry Styles’ “As It Was.” He later took time out to give a nod to his friends in the Grateful Dead with a double-neck acoustic version of “Friend of the Devil.”
“Half of My Heart,” the vivid new song “Driftin,’” and a beat-box snippet of “Vultures” were further setlist highlights as was “Changing.” The Search for Everything tune found Mayer acting as a one-man band, looping piano phrases that he colored with wailing electric guitar in the most rock-fueled moment of the night.
Check out photos from John Mayer’s March 31 performance, featuring support from Joy Oladokun, at the United Center below and click here to pick-up tickets – including another Chicago stop on Oct. 18 – to future dates. More information can be found at Johnmayer.com.
(Photos by Laurie Fanelli)
