Review: John Mayer at Vector Arena

It's been just over three years since we were last visited by John Mayer.

For many fans it was difficult to contain the excitement - though because he attracts that much more mature an audience than another visiting pop star, I did not see any hyperventilations.

There were plenty of shrieks though, and the odd shameless decree of love in the silent spaces.

I went into last night's concert thinking, yes, there's obviously a large difference between Justin Bieber and John - one's voice has broken, one hasn't - but otherwise they have several similarities; they are ladies' men, polarise opinion on their talent and I personally struggle to see what it is about them that makes women swoon.

But I changed my mind seeing Mr Suave Modern Blues Man live.

Firstly, it was his snazzy checkered pants matching his various guitars that melted my preconceptions, then it was his splash of stand-up comedy, "who would win a fight between Rocky and The Karate Kid? John Mayer", and then it was his blues leg wiggle during the encore.

For the most part, Mayer didn't need to so much as stand in the spotlight to impress his (surprisingly diverse) crowd.

They wanted to sway and sing along - and between ensuring they had plenty of souvenirs on their digital cameras, they did; especially to hits Heartbreak Warfare, bad-boy new single Who Says and the encore ballad Gravity.

Mayer dropped the thick sound of his five-piece band plus back-up divas for an acoustic solo version of No Such Thing - while the guitar was somewhat lost in space, the lyrics weren't as the audience crooned along.

The band was fantastic though, and drummer Keith Carlock's solo echoed like rhythmic fireworks - in fact it made the concert.

Some fans were left muttering that their hero didn't sing hit singles Say What You Need to Say and Your Body's A Wonderland but those singing away outside the arena after the concert seemed more in love than ever - "musical napalm" one big fan said, referencing a controversial comment the star made earlier this year.