John Mayer Welcomes JJ Johnson In Washington DC

John Mayer‘s Sob Rock Tour pulled in to Washington D.C. last night for a concert featuring J.J. Johnson on drums for most of the evening. Johnson lent a hand at the beginning and end of the show at Capital One Arena on Wednesday with the middle devoted to solo acoustic and full-band acoustic performances.

Mayer switched up the format of the concert, as he did at Madison Square Garden on Monday, after current touring drummer Steve Ferrone and vocalist Carlos Ricketts tested positive for COVID-19. J.J. Johnson was John Mayer’s drummer for a seven-year stint starting in 2003 and then was a member of Tedeschi Trucks Band through 2019.

The guitarist went with Continuum cuts “Belief” and “I Don’t Trust Myself (With Loving You)” to start last night’s show. Electrified, full-band versions of “Who Says” off 2009’s Battle Studies and Continuum’s “Stop This Train” followed. Mayer then grabbed an acoustic guitar to lead his band sans drummer on a six-song sequence featuring Sob Rock tracks “Last Train Home,” “Shot It The Dark,” “New Light,” “Wild Blue” and “Til The Right One Comes.” The 44-year-old musician did play electric on “Wild Blue,” while the second portion of the evening also included the tour debut of “The Age Of Worry” from his 2012 LP, Born And Raised.

John Mayer continued the concert solo acoustic for classics “Your Body Is A Wonderland,” “Neon” and “In Your Atmosphere” as well as a cover of Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin.” The band and J.J. Johnson then returned to end the main set with a second electric sequence that included “No Such Thing” and “Why Georgia” from Mayer’s debut studio album, Room For Squares, along with John Mayer Trio cut “Vultures,” a portion of Prince’s “The Beautiful Ones” showcasing guitarist David Ryan Harris and a set-closing “Slow Dancing In A Burning Room.” Johnson was also on hand for the evening’s “Gravity” encore.

Watch fan-shot video featuring last night’s “Gravity” finale below: