John Mayer Impresses at a Sold-out Forum

Monet Clayton

Fans had waited four years to see famed singer-songwriter and guitarist John Mayer out on the road again with new music. Last night, with a sold-out show at the Forum in Inglewood, his loyal followers were warm and receptive to some fresh material, as he played three new songs very early in the set.

Mayer’s Forum gig is just the first of several stops he has in Southern California. He’ll return with this tour to Honda Center in Anaheim on Tuesday, July 25, and will be back in Inglewood on Sunday, July 30. He’s also playing with Dead & Company at the Hollywood Bowl on Wednesday, May 31 and Thursday, June 1. Friday night’s show was a big celebrity affair with famous faces such as Paris Jackson and Kendall Jenner in the crowd, as well as the much buzzed-about new music couple Selena Gomez and the Weeknd. Even Christopher Lloyd, yes, Doc Brown himself, was spotted in one of the front rows, enjoying Mayer’s music.

The evening was broken up into five chapters, during which Mayer performed an acoustic set, with a full band and with the John Mayer Trio alongside bassist Pino Palladino and drummer Steve Jordan. The current world tour which is in support of his seventh album, “The Search for Everything,” that dropped on April 14, includes an impressive mix of songs from throughout Mayer’s career. After opening with an older song (but clear fan favorite), “Belief,” Mayer and his full band dived into “Helpless,” a new and pleading tune that the audience responded well to. They followed it up with the familiar “Who Says” before landing on another new one, “Love on the Weekend.”

That was the first taste of music fans got off the new record back in November, and as Mayer leaned in hard on his guitar, it seemed like one that will live within his live setlists for years to come. The same could be said for “Moving On and Getting Over,” yet another new song with a lot of groove. The mood turned more mellow as Mayer drifted into the acoustic portion of the show, standing solo on stage with his guitar and cooing along to “In Your Atmosphere.” Next, he delivered “Emoji of a Wave,” a dull song with an eye-rolling title, but he picked up momentum with a little of “Dreaming With a Broken Heart” and “Walt Grace’s Submarine Test, January 1967.” Mayer ended the acoustic set with a sweet rendition of Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’,” during which he cracked perhaps his biggest and most genuine grin throughout the evening as the crowd roared along to the song.

Rounding out the rest of the full-band set, Mayer’s fingers flew across the frets with “Why Georgia” and his latest single, “Still Feel Like Your Man” – and he wrapped it all up with a stunning extended version of “Gravity.” The 39-year-old guitarist returned to the stage for two encores. The first included the sultry “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room” and the crowd sing-along, “Waiting on the World to Change.” After a quick change-over, Mayer was back, this time on the piano, ending the evening with another new offering, “You’re Gonna Live Forever in Me.”

John Mayer’s “The Search for Everything Tour” came to L.A’s The Forum with opener LANY on April 21.