John Mayer Brings "Born and Raised" to the First Niagara Pavilion

In 2010 during the Battle Studies tour, Mayer was fresh off the media backlash from his recent Playboy interview. His performance during this tour was lack luster and seemed forced. Mayer seemed ready to throw in the towel and could not wait for that tour to end. One comment he made, as I remember it, was a reaction to the crowd heading to the parking lot before his set was over. Pittsburghers gave back the energy that he was putting into the show and decided to beat the traffic.

The Born and Raised tour last evening, however, was singing a different tune. He entered the stage with a warm welcome to his Pittsburgh fans and brought an undeniable energy to the lake last evening. Mayer was filled with smiles and laughs and truly was enjoying the show.  We were lucky enough to be in the second row to experience his triumphant return.

He started out his set with the Paradise Valley hit, “Wildfire” followed by an up-tempo version of “Half of My Heart”. During his heart-wrenching break up song, “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room”, a young couple was escorted to the front row and before my eyes the young man proposed to his girlfriend.  This was probably not the best Mayer song to pop the question to, but a beautiful moment to witness.

Mayer continued on with a cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad” and later broke out his harmonica with a wonderful interlude into the tour titled tune, “Born and Raised”.

Later, Mayer performed “Who Says” and changed the lyrics to reflect his current age -  “Its been a long time since 32”. This is certainly acceptable, since he is now looking back at the time when he was struggling to find who he is today. 

Other unique performances included, “I Will Be Found (Lost at Sea)” from Paradise Valley while on the piano and “Come Back To Bed” from his critically acclaimed 2003 album, Heavier Things. Mayer attempted to play this for a fan that requested it from the 5^th row. He said he had not played it for a very long time and ‘put it away’ to make room for his new songs. Mayer really went for it, knowing the chords were not coming easy and we enjoyed watching his interaction with the fans during this moment.

Mayer ended the night with his guitar-shredding classic, “Gravity” and left fans soaring to their cars talking about how impressed they were with the evening.

 

He later put a picture on his Instagram, showing he was not holding back - shredded fingertips and all. Mayer seemed taken back with the Pittsburgh crowd this time. He certainly received from us the high praised energy that he and his amazing band were putting into the show … and no one was trying to beat the traffic.

This was the best I have ever seen him perform. The vibe was chill, the fans were singing, and John was smiling. This performance was memorable and showed his appreciation to being back on the stage.