On Sunday night, John Mayer took to Hartford, Connecticut, for a performance at XFinity Theater with opening support from Dawes. Mayer is currently continuing his The Search For Everything World Tour in promotion of his similarly titled and recently released solo album after taking a break to go on tour with Dead & Company this summer. Similar to when Mayer toured earlier in the year for his solo tour, his performance in Hartford was broken up into distinct segments featuring a full band, his trio, and an acoustic portion.
After an incredibly successful tour with Dead & Co this summer, Mayer has been including Grateful Dead tunes all weekend long. On Friday night, Mayer teased “Scarlet Begonias” during “Queen of California” in Camden. Saturday night’s show included a “China Cat” tease in “Something About Olivia” in Holmdel. During Sunday’s Hartford show, he appropriately teased “Fire On The Mountain” during the full band’s performance of jam vehicle “Queen of California.”
Sunday night’s Hartford show also included a snippet of the Rolling Stones‘ “Miss You” during the opening “Helpless,” as well as regular covers of “Free Fallin'” by Tom Petty and “Crossroads” by Robert Johnson. Mayer’s original “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room” also included Prince‘s “The Beautiful Ones” intro, which was sung by bandmate/guitarist/vocalist David Ryan Harris.
Mayer certainly admits his love for the Grateful Dead catalogue, but there’s something comforting about his live representation during his own pop/rock performances. Listen to the audio from Sunday night’s performances below (the “Fire On The Mountain” tease starts at 4:25 mark of “Queen of California”), courtesy of Keith Antaya:
Setlist: John Mayer | The Xfinity Theater | Hartford, CT | 8/20/17
Full Band: Helpless (w/ “Miss You” snippet), Moving On And Getting Over, Something Like Olivia, Who Says, Changing
Acoustic: In Your Atmosphere, Daughters, Free Fallin’
John Mayer Trio: Crossroads, Who Did You Think I Was, Vultures
Full Band Reprise: Rosie, Queen of California (w/ “Fire On The Mountain”), Slow Dancing in a Burning Room, In The Blood, Why Georgia
Encore: Stop This Train, Gravity
Epilogue: You’re Gonna Live Forever In Me
[Photo from 8/17/17, by Carol Spagnuola]