Jason Mraz - If It Kills Me @ Troubadour, LA
(you can skip to 1:29 where song starts)
Jason Mraz - A Beautiful Mess @ Highline Ballroom, NYC
This past Monday, I was able to score some last-minute tickets to a Jason Mraz concert show at the Highline ballroom. Although it was a sold out show, I read on the venue website that they would have a limited amount of tickets available at the door. When I got to the venue, the line was already a block long, and I was thinking to myself: NOT A CHANCE! Stubbornly, I waited in line, as my rabid fan syndrome took over, and once it was triggered, my cold and impatience shields turned on. I was a party of one for tonight, which was fine considering that the reason I have been able to see so many wonderful artists over the years have been my flexibility and lack of productive guilt (i.e., What productive thing could I be doing instead of this concert?). Can I coin the term "soulful production" or is that a bit too unambitious?
Anyhow, the wait was a bit trying and I kept thinking about my hunger intermittently, only to move a few yards closer to the doors every couple minutes. By the time I got to the ticket booth, I was excited but skeptical, and those two emotions wrestled unknowingly before they sent neural signals to my brain and back down to my vocal cords. I muttered a dry, yelp to the man working the ticket booth: "Do you have one ticket at the door?". At first, his arms were akimbo, and with some magical relaxation of his shoulders, he lifted his right arm and pointed upstairs. Relief washed over me. In an instant, the evening bodysuit bestowed upon me by the cold had dissipated, leaving a thawing and bouncy me to stumble two-steps at a time up the dark doorway.
A genial ticketseller named Gina sold me a ticket, and just like that, I was enmeshed amongst the billowing crowds of high school girls, media sorts and conspicuous business professionals.
What ensued after my semi-harrowing ticket adventure was cakework and artwork. A young magician dazzled the crowd as much with his tricks as his mastery over trendy allusions. Mr. Mraz finally showed up, emerging from the magician's tent trick.
Never having seen him perform, I was unsure what to expect. He mixed up his setlist with some oldies, new songs, and crafty wordplay. I enjoyed his jammy stuff, but was left thinking that I really wondered how Dave Matthews would do this. Yes, Jason Mraz is one talented guy and his versatility is boundless, but I'm mesmerized most of all by his "acoustic ballad" sound. I don't like to pigeonhole artists as a fan, but although his upbeat stuff won't cause me to change the radio dial, his slow, intimate deliveries will resolutely spur me to hit repeat. The night ended gorgeously with an expected "You and I Both," but I can see the following two songs as worthy of that mantle in the future. They are "If It Kills Me" and "A Beautiful Mess," and you can buy a wonderful EP from Itunes called "We Sing" that also features all these songs live along with the lovely "I'm Yours" and catchy "Live High." 4 dollars = what a steal!
His new album is out in May.
In the meantime, enjoy those two videos above.
Jason Mraz - You and I Both
Jason Mraz - I'm Yours
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