ST. PAUL, MN — Multi-Grammy award-winning singer, songwriter, and guitarist John Mayer, 45, was back in the Twin Cities on Saturday, April 1st, and it was no April fool’s prank. Crowds filed into the Xcel Energy Center for the 8 pm show, and the sounds of his songs filled the streets of St. Paul.
At the same time, surrounding businesses played some of his music as they bustled with patrons excited for the concert. Right about 8 pm, an unfamiliar face appeared on the left side of the stage.
The smaller screens on either side displayed the name Joy Oladokun.
We all waited in anticipation as she threw an electric guitar strap over her shoulder. The emotional tone of the evening was immediately set when the strums of her guitar brought the John Mayer bluesy feel to the venue.
Joy was on stage for about an hour. Her authentic stories, nervous laugh, and visual anxiousness brought a living room feel to the arena. She was incredibly open about her experience as a songwriter and how she was on tour with her hero.
You couldn’t help but love her journey of finding confidence and living her dream. Just before her last song, she said, “I find listening to be a radical act, so thank you for doing it.”. Xcel Energy Center was filled with applause and cheers as she left the stage, and I felt she had set the tone for an emotional evening with John Mayer.
On the stage, you could see three different “areas.” Starting on the right, there was a chair and microphone, a standing microphone in the middle, and on the left, a chair at a piano with a microphone. He had no band, drums, or other major instruments except what he would play himself.
He began on the right side with an acoustic guitar, and the crowd erupted as he started the concert with “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room.” He began the second song a capella. After he finished “Shot in the Dark,” he told the audience, “I’ve always wanted to start a song acapella, and tonight was the night.”
As he moved across the stage, switching types and styles of guitars. He continued to play hits and favorites from every aspect of his career—a mix of all his classics and telling heartwarming stories of his journey made for an impassioned evening.
I appreciated how he played videos of his younger self talking about his love of music and his hopes and dreams. One of the videos he played showed baby face John Mayer talking about someday maybe playing a show of hits, foreshadowing the evening we were enjoying.
At one point during the show, he shared a song we had never heard. For the first time during the concert, you could only hear the music and guitar; the audience was silent as they took in his new lyrics. Although he was on stage alone, the rest of the concert had an echo of a stadium full of backup singers.
A few times, we even took over and sang the lyrics loud and proudly ourselves.
While playing “Changing” on the piano, he recorded a portion of the piano. It was musical poetry. He played a guitar solo over the top. I lost count of all the guitars he used; there were at least five. Three different sizes of acoustic, including a double neck and two separate electric guitars, were played.
He also played the harmonica and piano. It was a truly inspiring show of his musical talents.
He shared a fun story about how sometimes he puts songs in the “penalty box” and that while playing “Daughters,” it dawned on him that the song had made it out without realizing it. The irony that he was playing in a hockey arena was not lost on him or the audience.
As his show was coming to an end, he thanked us for being there. In his opinion, he explained the difference between an audience and a crowd and how grateful he was that we helped bring life to the songs. Therefore, we were more than a crowd; we were an audience.
As he left the stage, the audience was as loud as they had been the whole night. Slowly through the cheers and darkness, cellphone flashlights began filling the arena with dots of light. When John Mayer returned to the stage for an encore, the small lights filled the entire stadium; it was a fantastic impromptu sight.
He played two more of his songs and ended the evening with a stadium sing-along of “Free Falling,” one of his more infamous covers. Overall, it was as intimate as a hockey arena can be. John Mayer Solo and his team did a great job bringing an experience to the evening, a show that lasted about 2 hours and did not disappoint.