John Mayer Kicks Off Sob Rock Tour In Albany

John Mayer opened his Sob Rock Tour last night with a concert at the MVP Arena in Albany. The guitarist and his new touring band put the focus on recent material on Thursday during their 21-song performance.

Mayer’s ensemble consists of keyboardists Jamie Muhoberac and Greg Phillinganes, bassist Pino Palladino, guitarists Isaiah Sharkey and David Ryan Harris, drummer Steve Ferrone, percussionist Lenny Castro and vocalists Tiffany Palmer and Carlos Ricketts. Last night’s show began with “Last Train Home” and “Shot In The Dark,” two of eight songs from John’s 2021 album, Sob Rock, played in Albany. The LP was also represented by performances of “Shouldn’t Matter But It Does,” “I Guess I Just Feel Like,” “Carry Me Away,” “Wild Blue,” “All I Want Is To Be With You” and “New Light.”

The guitarist and his band treated fans in Albany to five songs off 2017’s The Search For Everything as “Helpless,” “In The Blood,” “Love On The Weekend,” “Moving On And Getting Over” and “Rosie” made last night’s setlist. “Helpless” saw Phillinganes utilize a Keytar to the delight of the crowd. Mayer did include some older material in the show, including a full-band “Your Body Is A Wonderland.”

Additionally, the Connecticut native led his group through “I Don’t Trust Myself (With Loving You),” “Slow Dancing In A Burning Room,” “Stop This Train” and “Waiting On The World To Change” from 2006’s Continuum as well as the title track off 2012’s Born And Raised and Battle Studies standout “Who Says.” Meanwhile, David Ryan Harris stepped into the spotlight towards the end of the evening to perform a bit of Prince’s “The Beautiful Ones.”

John Mayer concluded his main set in Albany with “Gravity” from his John Mayer Trio days. The song turned into a big singalong ahead of a triumphant solo from Mayer. The band returned to the stage to encore with the aforementioned “Born And Raised” and “New Light.” Next up for the guitarist is a concert in Philadelphia tonight.

Watch fan-shot video footage from last night’s concert and stream an audience recording of the full show taped by Claude Sawyer below: