John Mayer at the Forum shot by Danielle Gornbein

The Fabulous Forum in Los Angeles just got more fabulous with a knock-out performance by John Mayer. But before we get into the panty-dropping croons of Mayer, things got rolling swiftly with Los Angeles’ very own LANY. Frontman, Paul Klein has the whole package. Let’s just say they’re the epitome of teenage nostalgia. I discovered this group back in August at Outside Lands, and seeing them open for John Mayer was incredible. They made it known that they were incredibly thankful to tour with one of the best songwriters of our generation. Paul even admitted to having one poster in his room growing up… one of John Mayer. Their dreamy instrumentals along with Klein’s glossy-pop meets R&B vocals give more than enough reason to get on your feet and dance. It’s unfortunately common for opening acts at large shows to go unnoticed, but this was not at all the case with LANY.

The 9 o’ clock hour came before fans even had another chance to think. Accompanied by his seven-piece band, John Mayer made it on stage as the applauses for him was almost deafening. The current tour is in support of his recently released seventh record, The Search For Everything. It appeared the show was going to be sorted out in chapters, with the first being “Chapter 1: Full Band.” Kicking the set off with the song “Belief” off my personal favorite record of his, Continuum. It was certainly nice to hear an old familiar song at the very start of Mayer’s set, considering it is a tour supporting new music. He carried on to pleasure the crowd with a few new songs off his latest LP: “Helpless,” “Love on The Weekend,” and “Moving On and Getting Over.” There was no question of what kind of evening we were in for with one of the most talented guitarists and songwriters owning the stage for the night.

John Mayer at the Forum shot by Danielle Gornbein

Chapter 2 began, guiding way for Mayer to play some of fan favorites such as “Dreaming With a Broken Heart,” and his nearly perfect cover of Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin.” Needless to say it was pretty magical, especially with some really stellar projections behind him, displaying gorgeous mountaintops and cherry blossom trees. I give a big thumbs up to to his tour’s creative director on those beautiful projections. Visually pleasing is just a bonus when you have John Mayer acoustically performing these incredible tracks from his career.

Chapter 3 was killer! The John Mayer Trio made a comeback. Comprised of drummer, Steve Jordan, bassist Pino Palladino, and of course Mayer, they wooed the Forum with their mad skills. I’d say there was for sure this unmatched energy between the trio on stage, simply sharing their love for their craft.

Chapter 4 brought the reprise of Mayer’s full band for even more jams, and an incredible surprise by musician, Ryan Adams! Mayer brought Adams out to share a bromance on Adams’ “Come Pick Me Up”. The crowd went wild as these songwriters took off and Mayer continued to steal the limelight with his added guitar riffs.

Mayer and his band wrapped up their set with the well-known song, “Gravity,” off 2006’s Continuum. Boy what a night it was. Of course the band encored and Mayer gave his final graces with hits, “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room” and “Waiting on the World to Change.” You can still catch John Mayer’s The Search For Everything Tour this summer at the Hollywood Bowl, Honda Center, and then wrapping up for us back at the Forum.

Words & Photography: Danielle Gornbein