John Mayer plays Sommet after interview controversy

Words and the things John Mayer does with them have earned him a place in the hearts of countless teenage girls over the past decade or so. They’ve also gotten him into trouble along the way, as introspective, imagery-laden lyrics turn into uncomfortable, sometimes offensive ramblings from a musician trying a little bit too hard to be what he calls “clever.”

Mayer played a concert at the Sommet Center Feb. 10, hours after his controversial Playboy Magazine interview broke in the media.  As song after song started and finished, some wondered if he would address the flap at all.

Regardless, he played a smart set, sticking to the high points of his somewhat disappointing 2009 release “Battle Studies,” and quickly hitting the old favorites, like “No Such Thing” and “Bigger Than My Body.”

Opening with “Heartbreak Warfare,” Mayer segued into the blues heavy “Crossroads,” a Robert Johnson cover featured on “Battle Studies.” This was interesting because the song is not really representative of the pop-tinged tunes that fill most of the album. It was refreshing to hear it so prominently placed in the set because “Crossroads” feels like the direction Mayer should have taken after 2006’s Continuum, instead of backtracking into pop.

Throughout the show, Mayer seemed muted, personality-wise, saying little beyond hammy “thankyouverymuch”’s and one brief shot at relationship advice. Clearly there was something occupying him.

The high point of the evening, was definitely his blazing performance of “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room.”  Flames whipped across the giant background screen, the band glowed in red light, smoke slowly consumed the stage, and Mayer’s intense, skilled, mournful guitar playing truly scorched the Sommet. The performance was undeniably the best of the night.

At the end came “Gravity,” off  “Continuum.” Mayer, encircled by mini spotlights sang “just keep me where the light is” and then with a cracking voice, offered his apologies to the fans and his band, saying that in “the quest to be clever,” he “completely forgot about the people that [he] love[s] and the people that love [him].”

Sincere? Self-serving? Either way the apology itself was classic Mayer, down to the his last line on the subject before launching into more pained guitar playing.

“My name is John Mayer and I’m going to figure that out.”  More introspection and vaguely poetic phrasing? We wouldn’t expect anything else.