Mayer's other guitarist and backing vocalist, David Ryan Harris, displayed a spine-tingling falsetto over an all-too-brief snippet of Prince's "The Beautiful Ones" en route to Mayer's "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room." Backing vocalists Tiffany Palmer and Carlos Ricketts finally got to show off their soaring voices during the encore, for "Gravity," but only for a short segue into another Mayer guitar solo. For "Waitin' on the Day," rhythm guitarist Isaiah Sharkey earned one of the strongest ovations of the night with a stunning guitar solo that soared and dived with bold strokes and nuanced soul as Mayer intensely looked on, acoustic guitar in hand and pride in his eyes (mixed, perhaps, with a touch of envy?). There was one distinctly bold solo, though, for "Helpless," a highlight from Mayer's so-so 2017 album "The Search for Everything," with whispered Delta squeals that ultimately sparked a fiery, funky strut.įor the second, 90-minute set, Mayer relinquished a little control to select members of the band, and things improved. He spiked a few songs like "Vultures" and "I Don't Trust Myself (With Loving You)" with fabulously flashy guitar solos, but you kind of knew where Mayer was going once he laid down those first notes. Personally, I found Mayer's musical pleasantness during set one a bit monotonous, primarily because he was the only musician who actually had the freedom to flex. In actuality, there are plenty of millennials who really dig Mayer - superstar Shawn Mendes among them - and along with the career-long fans at Fiserv Forum Tuesday, twentysomethings relished the smoothness of "Heartbreak Warfare," "Whiskey, Whiskey, Whiskey," and eight other songs during that first hour. He sarcastically referred to “No Such Thing” as a hot single burning up the charts, and joked that he tried to write a song last year with big beats 24-year-olds would dig. Now 41, Mayer has nothing to prove and, based on Tuesday's show, is enjoying midlife serenity. Those were more engaging performances than this one. At Summerfest in 2013, he was kicking off his first tour after a granuloma in his throat nearly ended his singing career.
With Dead & Company at Alpine Valley, Mayer's had to stay on his toes. Mayer was mellow, too, compared with recent area appearances.