John Mayer SOLO in Glasgow Review: A Night with John and Friends

By Tom Wilson

Arena concerts these days tend to be shows on a grand scale, with lights, back up dancers, and an intricate stage layout. In a concert hall with thousands of seats, one might be forgiven for expecting a strictly scheduled, somewhat sterile performance. John Mayer’s SOLO Tour was the opposite, making the arena feel like an intimate gig. 

In Glasgow’s packed out OVO Hydro, Mayer rocked the crowd by playing through his extensive music catalogue. What made this concert, and tour, different was that there were no other performers on stage with him. Almost twenty years on from the release of his most popular album, Continuum, Mayer managed to pull off what seemed impossible: sell out European arenas with only him and a guitar.

Once described by Eric Clapton as a “master” guitarist, Mayer left the audience in admiration of his abilities. While mainly an electric guitarist, he adapted almost all songs to acoustic. He effortlessly played some of his most technical songs, like ‘Neon’, and improvised some acoustic solos up the guitar’s neck that left the audience in awe.

Music aside, Mayer demonstrated impressive crowd work. After the first two songs, Mayer began talking to the audience about his time on tour. As he was about to play the third song on the list, he paused, and said that “The best way to stay fresh on tour is to be you, always.” Like a performer at a local pub, he asked the crows to shout out suggestions of songs he should play. Hearing someone say ‘Only Heart’, a song he had not performed in ten years, he spent two minutes relearning the instrumentation while joking with the audience about his unprofessionalism. He then performed the tune with perfection, as if it had been on the set list all night. 

This audience interaction did lead to one of the show’s only negatives, however. In trying to “perform in front of his friends,” Mayer seemed to forget that he was performing in front of 13,000 people. As the crowd heard Mayer’s request for suggestions, some would scream song names for almost the whole two hour performance. Pinning the blame on Mayer may seem harsh, but one would expect a musician with almost thirty years of performing experience to ask for requests at the end of the show.

Apart from that, Mayer continued to impress by showing his instrumental variety. He played two songs on the piano, an instrument he admitted to “not being very good at,” and then delighted fans by finally delivering an electric guitar solo. While the only solo of the show, it was delivered with passion and care. 

Throughout the two hour performance, video clips of a young John Mayer would appear on the big screens. The first was of Mayer on January 16, 2002, a few months after the release of his debut album Room for Squares. As the clip ends, the arena spotlight pans to Mayer, now forty-six, smiling at the image of younger self. It was an intimate look at the man who so often was part of tabloid controversy in the early 2010s. He then turned back to the audience and surprised them with a mashup of ‘Why Georgia Why’ (off Room for Squares) and ‘Something like Olivia’.

The two hour show in Glasgow featured music from across Mayer’s catalogue. Popular hits, such as ‘Stop this Train’, ‘Free Fallin’, ‘Heart of Life’, ‘Heartbreak of Warfare’, ‘Your Body is a Wonderland’ and ‘Slow Dancing in a Burning Room’ were all played. Some fans may have been disappointed at the lack of legendary hits such as ‘Gravity’ and ‘Vultures’, but Mayer made up for this with his crowd work, which provided a real insight into the artist. Those in the front rows were even lucky enough to have an impromptu five minute chat with the man after the show.

The Glasgow stop of Mayer’s SOLO Tour was the perfect show for any John Mayer fan. It was a performance full of personality and care. Having listened to Mayer since the age of fourteen, I came out pleased with the experience. At almost fifty, Mayer shows no sign of slowing down, and may have more in his pocket for the future.