After wrapping up his finest tour to date with Dead & Company this summer, John Mayer is back on the road continuing his The Search For Everything World Tour in promotion of his recently released solo album of the same name. While Mayer has switched gears and is tapping back into his more mainstream pop sensibilities, the guitarist and singer/songwriter continues to prove that he’s cognizant of the fact that he now serves as an ambassador for the Grateful Dead. Over the weekend, Mayer teased Grateful Dead tunes at all three of his concerts in the Northeast. During last night’s performance at Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, New York, he continued this theme, teasing “China Cat Sunflower” and later showing some serious love to a dedicated Dead & Company fan.
John Mayer Teases “Fire On The Mountain” In Hartford [Audio]
Mayer teased “China Cat Sunflower” during “Something Like Olivia”, a song off his 2012 release Born and Raised, which came as the third song of the night during the show-opening full-band portion of the evening. While the tease may not have been recognized by all the attendees at his solo concert, it was a subtle nod of acknowledgment to any new fans he might have picked up through time spent with Dead & Company. However, a truly special moment came during the banter right before his set-closing rendition of “Why Georgia”, when Mayer took the time to individually acknowledge and thank a fan who he’s seen at every single Dead & Company show.
After thanking the audience at large for “making my music feel like usable music.” After catching a t-shirt a fan threw to him on the stage, John pointed out a member of the crowd, saying, “I’d actually like to thank this gentleman right here in the headband. This gentleman has been at every Dead & Company show. He’s been to every show—not almost every show. There’s maybe four or five people that I saw at every show, and I’ll tell you something: I’ve looked to you at times when I wasn’t sure that I really knew what was going to come next or whether I was on the right part of the guitar neck or whether I was making any sense at all, and this gentleman would just go like this [pumps fist in the air]. He would bring me right back to the confidence to continue sort of exploring and searching. What a great surprise to see you, and I just want to thank you. I want you to follow me around in life!”
You can check out a video of this sweet shout out and his “China Cat Sunflower” tease in “Something Like Olivia” below, courtesy of ShoestringRacer.
“Why Georgia”
“Something Like Olivia” and “Who Says”
This special moment isn’t been the first time that John Mayer has acknowledged Grateful Dead fans during this leg of his tour, though it was his first thank-you to a specific individual. Earlier in August, Mayer gave a hilarious shout-out to the men in the audience—most of whom can be assumed to be fans of the Grateful Dead or his trio over his work as a pop artist—at his show at PNC Music Pavilion in Charlotte in the middle of “Your Body Is Wonderland.” During his cheeky interlude during the lady-oriented song, which you can listen to below, courtesy of NSL, Mayer said, “Guys, we’re halfway through the song. I’m speaking to the men only for a moment. Men, we’ve made it halfway through, it’s almost over. All the guys with Grateful Dead shirts, all the guys who want to hear the Trio and don’t know what to do with their gaze…Don’t know what to look at during the song lest I look up and make eye contact with them. Fifty percent of the song is over. Hang in there!”
[Photo: Carol Spagnuola; H/T: Jambase]