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John Mayer hypnotizes Jakarta
This was the first time Mayer has performed in Indonesia since the musician released his debut album in 2001. Since then, he has released numerous critically acclaimed albums, including his latest in 2017, The Search for Everything.
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American singer-songwriter John Mayer performs at ICE BSD City in Tangerang, Banten, on Friday, April 5, as part of his Asia Tour 2019. (JP/Donny Fernando)
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ith the Jakarta show of the John Mayer Australia & Asia Tour 2019 at ICE BSD City in Tangerang Banten still hours away from commencing, thousands of fans packed the venue, dominated by people in their 20s and 30s sporting their most fashionable ensembles.
This was the first time Mayer has performed in Indonesia since the musician released his debut album in 2001. Since then, he has released numerous critically acclaimed albums, including his latest in 2017, The Search for Everything.
Anticipation ran high, as tickets for the show had been sold out since January.
Concert-goers Adzlina Afia, 24, and Yan Yan, 26, arrived at the venue at 3 p.m. Adzlina said she had been listening to Mayer since her high school days, saying his sound and lyrics were what attracted her the most.
“His latest single, ‘I Guess I Just Feel Like’, is John Mayer doing what he does best: those distinct sounds and meaningful lyrics,” she said.
Riska Damayanti, 32, another concert-goer, said she was excited to see Mayer live for the first time.
“He is definitely a talented musician, who boldly wears his heart on his sleeve. I respect him for that,” she said.
“I think his strongest point is his ability to create long-lasting music. Something he’s proven up till now,” she added.
Just hours before the Jakarta concert, Mayer posted a poll on his Instagram story. The poll featured a drawing of himself standing with Jakarta’s landmarks in the background, by renowned Indonesian illustrator Hari Prast.
In the poll, Meyer asked his followers to choose between two fan-favorite songs; “Edge of Desire” and “Dreaming With a Broken Heart”, which resulted in a 51 percent win for “Edge of Desire”. The song from Mayer’s fourth studio album Battle Studies won the hearts of Jakartans.
A giant multicolored tie-dye backdrop acted as the background for Mayer, who in recent years has been known for his fashion-forward choices. Last night he went the casual way of donning a green shirt, faded blue jeans and brown boots.
"After 17 years, here I am," he said. "Yes, I read your DM's, your mails," he later said, referring to Instagram.
Read also: Venue for John Mayer's first Indonesia concert revealed
Mayer opened the show with “Belief”, something of a nod to the current moral crisis happening worldwide. Taken from his third studio album Continuum released in 2006, the song received a warm welcome from the audience.
Mayer's particular concoction of blues, country, rock, folk, soul, rock with a hint of Americana stole hearts with every song last night.
Mayer continued with “Helpless”, a fast-forward to his 2017 The Search for Everything.
The third song of the Jakarta set list was “Love on The Weekend”, also from same album.
Indonesian audience, known for singing loudly to every word in concerts, apparently brought a big smile to Mayer after they took part singing his part in "Moving On and Getting Over".
The humorous musician often took the time to banter with the audience, alongside cheeky smiles and long, lingering sentences as if casually thrown among friends.
Heartfelt in every performance, Mayer sang about heartbreak, love and hope with a contemplative and joyous note.
Mayer's performance with his band, which included bassist Pino Paladin, guitarists Isaiah Sharkey and David Ryan Harris along with drummer Aaron Sterling, was a fine spectacle of musicianship.
With seven albums up his sleeve, Mayer had a vast pool of songs to choose from. Seven different albums also meant changes of musical styles and the band somehow encompassed all these forms with ease. For almost three hours, they hopped from one album to the next meticulously, making the concert all the more riveting to see.
Following the pattern of not abiding to the same setlist night after night on the tour, Mayer switched it up in Jakarta.
Recent stopovers in Singapore and Bangkok had different songs than the ones performed last night. Indonesian fans, for instance, were spoiled with “XO” (a Beyonce cover) and “You’re Gonna Live Forever in Me”, both performed by Mayer alone on guitar and keyboard respectively.
The singer/songwriter had performed in six cities in four countries before Jakarta, kicking off his world tour in Auckland, New Zealand. Mayer then continued on to Australia, where he performed in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.
The Asian leg of his tour started in Singapore before he continued on to Bangkok and Jakarta. Following his Jakarta show, Mayer is scheduled to perform in Hong Kong on April 8 and conclude the tour in Tokyo on April 11 before heading back to the United States. (asw)
