John Mayer says acoustic tour has shown him “the next steps in my life and in my career”

John Mayer recently completed the first leg of his solo acoustic tour, and he’s returned a changed man. He took to Instagram to explain how deeply the tour and his fans’ reaction to it have affected him as a person.

“When I had the idea to embark on a solo tour, I was thinking about the technical aspect of it; how to pull off a show where it was just me up there,” he wrote. “What I didn’t – and couldn’t – factor in was how the audience would add a kind of magic I’d never experienced before.”

He explained the shows were so special because the set list was just a sketch, and he kept an open mind and stayed vulnerable. Then, he let “the people in the room steer the night.” As a result, he said, “The best version of the show would emerge.”

“This tour has changed me. It’s changed my view of my own work, stripping it of its former metrics as songs released on albums and taking on new life as an expression of something we all feel together,” he continued.

“I have been stunned by what can happen when the moment is right for something, when the intention is pure, and when 15,000 people bring their hearts and souls in the room, seemingly to say ‘if you open yours we’ll open ours.’”

John, who plans to return to the road this fall, concluded, “Regardless of what the musical arrangement on stage will be down the line, there is no turning back now. Thank you for showing me the next steps in my life and in my career… a tour! A tour did this. Thank you, I love you, and I hope I see you again soon.”