John Mayer had a sold-out Bridgestone Arena show on Thursday night in Music City.
But the greatest surprise for the Nashville audience was the unexpected entry of Chris Stapleton.
Well, this was enough for the crowd to witness the popular country icon and acclaimed rock guitarist perform together. But, some more exciting developments awaited the fans!
How Both Prepared for the surprise
Mayer also gave a glimpse of their discussion. He had asked Chris on whose songs they should perform. And Chris said that they should “just write a song and play it.”
This challenge was accepted by the singer, and hence, Stapleton joined Mayer in his 26-song set for the untitled track. It was a soft piece of pop-rock that had Stapleton on the second verse and chorus. The duo wrote the track on Wednesday when Mayer took a day off from his summer tour.
They were backed by an eight-piece band. Mayer opened the show by performing on his 2006 track “Belief,” then jumped to 2017’s otherwise modest “Changing.” The crowd cheered for him before Stapleton’s appearance crushed a take on the song “Helpless.”
Mayer balanced this with the tracks to backseat romance that has helped him define his career. These include 2017’s soothing “Love on the Weekend,” the warming “Something Like Olivia,” and “In Your Atmosphere.”
He treated the audience to select covers, earning an ovation for a take on Tom Petty’s anthemic “Free Fallin’.”
The show wrapped up with a two-song encore, 2006’s “Gravity” and the disco-inspired single, “New Light.”
John Mayer released his first Extended Play; Inside Wanted Out on September 24, 1999. His next two albums Room for Squares (2001) and Heavier Things (2003) did well commercially and achieved the multi-platinum status. He was awarded the Grammy Award in 2003 for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for the single “Your Body Is a Wonderland.”