RALEIGH — John Mayer and Train gave Triangle residents a dose of upbeat summer fun Saturday evening, despite scattered rain showers over the area.

Concert-goers, many clad in ponchos, packed Walnut Creek, as Train opened the show with brisk, funky rock that brightened the mood like a ray of sunlight from the band’s native San Francisco.

The group bobbed and swayed through its set, with each member strutting around. Lead singer Patrick Monahan proved particularly rambunctious, taking several fans onstage for a sing-along and wandering through the ground floor for those he couldn’t fit. Upbeat tunes such as “Hey, Soul Sister” and “Parachutes“ seemed at odds with the gray skies.

Darkness fell by the end of Train’s set, but the warmth generated by the band’s exuberance remained.

Mayer’s song arrangements went beyond the simple but catchy pop rock that is his bread and butter the second he kicked things off with “Vultures.” Indulging his blues influences, Mayer spent the performance backed by complex drum solos, brass instruments and his own oft-praised guitar talent.

The longer cuts of many staple Mayer songs fit the open air setting well, the songs expanding in size to reach the outer edges of seating. Trombone and saxophone solos on “Vultures” gave the song a smooth jazz feel, while “Waiting on the World to Change” featured such a colossal rhythm it sounded like a single heartbeat pulsing through the audience.

“Humidity makes the air more conducive to music, to funk, to love,” Mayer said.

The ringing notes of “Gravity” hung in the summer air. “Who Says” came peppered with local allusions to Raleigh and Cary. Closing with “Half of My Heart” and its country twang, Mayer snuck in covers of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” and Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin,’” too.

“Great times are short,” Mayer told the crowd. “When a moment is good, enjoy every minute of it.”

Judging by the crowd’s reaction, they did just that.

mark.hensch@newsobserver.com or 919-829-8903