With the Indonesian leg 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 blue and white tie-dye screen served as Mayer’s backdrop, with the musician donning a green shirt and faded blue jeans.

“After 17 years, here I am,” he said. “Yes, I read your DM’s, your mails,” he added later, referring to Instagram.

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 unique combination of blues, country and rock with a hint of Americana stole hearts with every song.

Mayer continued with “Helpless”, a fast-forward to his 2017 The Search for Everything: Wave Two EP.

The third song of the Jakarta set list was “Love on The Weekend”, taken from Mayer’s seventh studio album The Search for Everything.

Indonesian audiences are known for singing along loudly to every word during concerts, and the Jakarta crowd brought a smile to Mayer’s face as they sung “Moving On”.

The humorous musician also took the time to engage in some banter with the audience.

Heartfelt in every performance, Mayer sang about heartbreak, love and hope in a way that was both contemplative and joyous.

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)

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