John Mayer Covers ‘Fire On The Mountain’ At Madison Square Garden

Guitarist John Mayer continued his The Search For Everything Tour on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Mayer tipped his hat to another of his projects, Dead & Company, by working a cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Fire On The Mountain” into a full-band portion of the evening.

So far this show John has formatted each concert by opening with a number of songs featuring his full band, then moving on to an acoustic section before bringing out the John Mayer Trio. Next, he brings the full band back for the final portion of the main set and the encore, though the shows end with Mayer presenting a solo piano version of “You’re Gonna Live Forever In Me” as he did in New York City.

John Mayer kicked off the MSG show with “Moving On And Getting Over” and “Helpless” from his new album. The opening full band segment also included a cover of Bob Marley’s “War” featuring David Ryan Harris on vocals. Wednesday’s acoustic sequence saw Mayer lead “Walt Grace’s Submarine Test, January 1967,” “Emoji Of A Wave” and a take on Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’.” The Trio part of the set saw Mayer, bassist Pino Palladino and drummer Steve Jordan perform “Crossroads,” “Vultures” and “Bold As Love.”

The main set ended with six more songs from the full band. After “Who Says” and “Stop This Train,” Mayer and his band jammed “Queen Of California” into “Fire On The Mountain.” John both sang the Dead classic and played an extended solo. “Still Feel Like Your Man” and “Why Georgia” ended the main set, while “Love On The Weekend” and “Gravity” served as the first encore ahead of the solo piano “You’re Gonna Live Forever In Me” finale.

Watch fan-shot footage of “Queen Of California” > “Fire On The Mountain” captured by Shoestring Racer: