#JohnMayerJakarta

It's crazy how someone could turn your whole life upside down.

Oh, no. This is not a love story. It's not about falling in love with people you can't have either (well, maybe in a way it is, but no). It's about me going to John Mayer's concert and how I haven't been able to fully move on. Yes, even until two weeks later as I'm writing this down.

I never really talked about it here, but here we go: I love John Mayer. SO MUCH??! I love his music, his extraordinary song-writing skill, his incredible guitar playing—I just love him. Period. I know there are many people out there who despise him because of some things he did in the past. But, guys, he's changed. A LOT. He knows he made mistakes, he learned his lessons, and he's more than willing to make amends. Through his interview with Billboard in 2015, he even admitted that now he's a "recovered ego addict". He's matured.

It was 2009 when I first listened to John Mayer's music. I was reading Sitta Karina's novel called Titanium, in which she mentioned John Mayer quite a lot. At the time I didn't really know who John Mayer is. Well, I'd heard his name before, I knew he was a singer, but that's it. The more I read Titanium, the more I intrigued I was to learn more about him. I was just curious. And the next thing I knew I found myself listening to all of his albums. The more I listened to his songs, the more I liked him. See, many people praise John Mayer because of his incredible guitar-playing. Yeah, he is. But more people should also know that he's an extraordinary songs-writer too! I can't tell you how MUCH his lyrics have helped me get through a lot of things in life.

Clarity was the first John Mayer's song I listened to, but it was actually Stop This Train that made me fall in love with him. Until today, no song could make me feel so understood the way Stop This Train does. See, my whole life I've been scared of getting older. I still am, but this song ensures me that things will be okay eventually. Basically, in this song, John talks about getting older and how we can't turn back the time. The lyrics were so well-written it's like he saw the hearts of people and read their inquiring thoughts. I love this song so much there were times when I couldn't stop watching John's Rock in Rio 2013 performance on YouTube. Stop This Train was on the setlist. When the audience started singing along with him, I swear to God it gave me chills. I remember thinking and talking to myself, when will I get the chance to experience such a magical moment?

Well, after years and years of waiting, my dream finally came true.

John Mayer came to Indonesia on April 5th, 2019. I had the opportunity to go. Words can't express how lucky and grateful I was. The whole experience felt very surreal. I arrived at the venue at around 02:00 PM to exchange my e-ticket with a wristband. Then I walked to a hotel nearby, which I had booked beforehand. I wasn't alone by the way; I was with Bida, one of my best friends since college. Unfortunately, the check-in process at the hotel took longer than I had anticipated. We managed to head back to the venue at around 04:00 PM and boy the queue to the entrance gate was insane. However, we didn't get to come inside the hall until 06:00 PM. And the show itself wouldn't start until 08:00 PM. Sure, there were a lot of waitings, but that's okay.

I was worried I wouldn't get a good spot. See, I bought the Premium Festival ticket, which means there were no seats. But praise the Lord I got a pretty good view to the stage even though I wasn't in the front row. Once Bida and I were sure about our spot, we sat down and wait and wait and wait. To be honest I got a bit sleepy waiting for the concert to start. But as the light went down right at 08:00 PM and the intro of Belief started playing, oh my God it felt like I was awakened immediately. All I could hear was people screaming at the top of their lungs. Then the lights started to slowly come back on and there John Clayton Mayer was.

Me? I was dead from happiness.

He performed 25 songs that were divided into two sets. The entire performance was so, so beautiful but I'm just gonna share some of the highlights that linger in my mind the most:

I GUESS I JUST FEEL LIKE

John played this song right after Queen of California. I don't really know how to explain it but he and the band did this thing where they played the outro of Queen of California, but then it slowly turned into the intro of I Guess I Just Feel Like. It was just so amazing to see. Besides, this song has heartfelt lyrics that hit a little too close to home. My heart was so full.

CHANGING

Compared to some other songs in The Search for Everything album, Changing is considered less popular. That's why I was surprised when the crowd sang the first verse perfectly. I still remember how John's face lit up as soon as the crowd started to sing along with him. Before continuing to the second verse, he slightly shook his head in disbelief and smiled. It almost seemed like he didn't expect that to happen. Well, I didn't either, but I was glad it did.

EDGE OF DESIRE

Ah, this song. This brutal, heart-crushing, pain-inducing song. Earlier that day, John made a vote on his Instagram Stories. He asked us to choose between Edge of Desire and Dreaming with a Broken Heart. Obviously, this song won by 51% votes. What's funny is that right before he played Edge of Desire, he teased us with a bit melody of Dreaming with a Broken Heart, and then he burst into laughter. What a dork.

Of course, I laughed seeing John laughed. But my laughter quickly turned into a quiet sobbing because... God, I never thought that seeing the live performance of Edge of Desire would make me that emotional. It was too heart-wrenching you could practically feel the pain through its music and lyrics. I'm even pretty sure I choked up, especially during the part of John's guitar solo.

IN YOUR ATMOSPHERE

To me, this particular song plays a huge role in making #JohnMayerJakarta concert a memorable one. In Your Atmosphere has never been officially released, but it has become quite popular since John performed it for the first time at the L.A. Live Nokia Theatre in 2007. And note this: he always performs it in acoustic. And that's what he also did at his concert in Jakarta two weeks ago.

When the intro started playing, I was like, "Is he really playing In Your Atmosphere? Oh my God, yes he is. YES. HE. IS!!!" One time John said on Twitter that he has a plan to record this song in a studio and officially release it. I was so excited to know that. But after seeing it live, even if the plan goes another way, I won't mind at all because the original version—with only an acoustic guitar as its instrument—already sounds beautiful and very heartfelt.

IF I EVER GET AROUND TO LIVING

Out of all songs John performed that day, this one caught me off guard the most. Since this was the first time John had a concert in Indonesia, I expected he would play his most popular songs so I kinda had a low expectation on the setlist. Meanwhile, If I Ever Get Around to Living was like a rare item slash a hidden gem from the Born and Raised album. It was a very nice surprise to see it being played at the Jakarta concert.

STOP THIS TRAIN

I don't even know how to start with this one. To be honest I didn't let myself hope for Stop This Train to be included to the setlist. I didn't want to get disappointed. And for a second I thought John really wouldn't play this song because it wasn't played until near the end of the second set. I remember talking to myself, "I guess there will be no Stop This Train tonight."

But then John did it. As soon as the intro started playing, I couldn't stop saying, "Oh my God oh my God oh my God oh my God OH MY GOD." I didn't even realize I was crying, my tears just came running down my cheeks. I took a moment in the middle of the song to take things in, to capture it all and hold it dear to my heart.

The crowd was so loud during Stop This Train, the energy was insane. To quote David Ryan Harris on his Instagram post, we were like a choir that sang lead. There was a part when John let us sing on our own and I swear to God I had goosebumps. After the song ended, John gave us air kisses and said, "I love you, thank you for that." My God, it was the best.

GRAVITY

Okay, I have a little confession: I used to think that Gravity was overrated. It's not that Gravity isn't great, it's just there are more songs of John Mayer's that I think are better. But my opinion changed after that night, how magical it was to see this song being played live. I totally understood the hype now. I got it why many people love this song.

Gravity was the only song in which John used his Fender Stratocaster. As soon as he slung that guitar, I just knew something good was about to happen. And, boy, was it. John and the band played Gravity as the last part of the encore. During this song, all lights in the hall were off and we all turned our flashlights on instead. It was so beautiful I cried.

The guitar solo was also undoubtedly incredible. I was speechless I didn't know how to react, so most of the time I just stuttered. It was as if John saved the best for last. And I'm glad he did because I'm sure the encore wouldn't be as epic as it was if he didn't play Gravity.

So, that's it. That night was the happiest I have ever been. After the show ended, Bida and I had a little meet up with Julek, our dear college friend who also came to the concert. We couldn't stop talking about the concert because HOW COULD WE? It was THAT good. I'm grateful Bida and Julek were there to make the night even more memorable.

Thank you, Mr. John Clayton Mayer, for coming to Indonesia. Thank you for giving me the best night of my life. Thank you for the perfect setlist (kinda hoped you would play more of your older songs, but that's alright). Thank you for the incredible performance. Thank you for being so lovely. Thank you for making many people's dream come true, including mine. Even after two weeks later I still feel like crying when watching videos of your concert in Jakarta. I hope you had as much fun as we did. Please come back soon!