Hundreds of University of South Carolina students were able to get a sneak peek of singer John Mayer’s upcoming tour during a surprise concert Tuesday night.

Mayer had been using the Carolina Coliseum, USC’s old basketball arena, to practice for his tour the past couple days and wanted to say thank you to the university. The space is commonly rented out for musicians such as Mayer to practice in.

For the days before the concert, students could hear the songs playing while they were in class, as classes are held underneath the coliseum. I definitely had trouble concentrating on doing an in-class assignment when I could hear John Mayer singing above my head.

Mayer sent out a mass tweet at 5:45 p.m. that read: “USC students: come watch us run the show tonight. Free.Tickets are at Russel House info desk. Show ID, get a tic. Tix 6pm, Doors 7.”

Students could pick up the free tickets by going to the student union and getting their USC ID swiped. Only the first 150 students in line got tickets for the event, but the security guards ended up letting around 300 extra students come in.

The gig was meant to be a dress rehearssal for Mayer’s tour. “Thank you for helping us out,” he said between songs, “This is the way you should rehearse a show.”

Mayer couldn’t resist doing our infamous cheer (When one person says GAME, you respond with COCKS for our mascot the Gamecocks) and started it up a couple times by shouting “Game!” He interacted with the crowd a lot and even told us about how the clothes he was wearing were moldy. Gross!

The concert was a good blend of his new and old albums. He kicked it off with “Heartbreak Warfare” and played other songs like “Vultures,” “Why Georgia,” “Assassin” and “Your Body is a Wonderland.” He even leaked the female response to his song with Taylor Swift, “Half of My Heart.”

For John Mayer fans this show is a must see. I enjoyed every second of it. The worldwide tour kicks off in Sunrise, Florida on Thursday and continues through the first week of June.