Indianapolis, IN. – John Mayer returned to Gainbridge Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis, but this show was a little different than his last few appearances in Naptown. There was no Dead & Company. There wasn’t a band with backup singers. No bass. No drums. This time, appropriately named the Solo Tour, it was all John Mayer. Well, to clarify, he did bring along Canadian singer JP Saxe to open the evenings event, but other than that, it was just John.
For a band, performing in front of an audience can be a daunting task; nerves & jitters can get to even the best of them. But, Mayer seemed to pull it off with ease. Turning the “Home of the Pacers” into an intimate coffee house setting that included approximately 18,000 customers, John walked out onto a bare stage with only a few guitars & piano. He took a quick glance around the full house, grabbed his acoustic and took a seat. Immediately showing off his guitar skills with the intro to “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room”, John kept the audience engaged as he took them on a two-hour journey through his eight studio albums including getting into some deep cuts.
I have to admit, I wasn’t sure how the Solo tour would be. I’ve seen John a handful of times on his previous tours (always with a band), including several shows with Dead & Company. I find him to be a very talented, underrated guitar player. The dude is a monster player. He has made a living playing radio friendly “pop tunes” and is a master at the “side projects” he chooses. He has played with everyone. If you aren’t familiar, I highly recommend checking out the John Mayer Trio or his work with Herbie Hancock &/or John Scofield. I especially enjoy when John breaks into the Blues. But just John…I wasn’t sure what that was going to look like. Would it be enough? Well, the answer is YES.
John breaks his set up into four parts: acoustic, piano, acoustic, and double neck acoustic while throwing in a couple of videos from past interviews he did during the Room for Squares and Continuum eras. He is engaging; often talking to the crowd in between tunes, sometimes giving you the back story behind the song. I did miss his electric guitar though. He picked up an electric for a brief moment for the solo in “Changing“, but that was all he gave us. I don’t want to give away all the spoilers of the performance but do recommend grabbing the tickets if you were hesitatant because of the “solo status”. After all, when you go to see John Mayer are you there for the band or for John? Here’s your opportunity to answer that question. It’s “Perfectly Lonely”.
Setlist: Indianapolis
Acoustic: Slow Dancing in a Burning Room, Shot in the Dark, All We Do is Say Goodbye, Queen of California, Neon, Who Says, Waitin’ on the Day, I’m on Fire (Bruce Springsteen cover), 3×5, Daughters/Love Is a Verb/Paper Doll, Split Screen Sadness
Piano: New Light, You’re Gonna Live Forever in Me, Changing (picking up electric for solo)
Acoustic: Stop the Train, In Your Atmosphere, Your Body is a Wonderland, In the Blood, Walt Graces’s Submarine Test, January 1967
Double Neck Acoustic: If I Ever Get Around to Living, Edge of Desire
Encore: Why Georgia, Free Falling (Tom Petty cover)
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Opening the night was Canadian singer/musician JP Saxe. This was my first time catching JP and I thought he was really good. I look forward to catching his headlining tour “A Grey Area” behind the album of the same name (out now via Arista) – coming to Indianapolis in March 2024 to The Deluxe inside Old National Centre.
SHOW DATE: 10/17/2023
