Melanie Chui
Have you ever been to a concert where you were completely blown away by the passion, talent and performance of the artist? I did, when I attended Jason Mraz’s concert over at the Molson Amphitheatre on August 15. I made it on time for the start of the opening act. A band named G. Love & Special Sauce. Their music was a little bit on the repetitive side and even though it was fun and upbeat, it did not make you want to get up off your seat. Instead, everyone just went on their hand held devices to keep themselves busy until the main act came on stage.
Between the opening act and the main act, I looked around me and noticed the crowd, Jason Mraz has a huge mixed fan based. His fans range from really young children to older 50-60 year olds. All were clearly huge fans as a standing ovation erupted when Jason hit the stage.
He came out in his signature fedora, and started the show with “Ray of Sunshine” off his latest “We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things” album. The crowd knew every single word as he sang and played his guitar. His music consists of a combination of jazz and Caribbean sounding music. When he played and sang his hit song “The Remedy” off of his 2002 album “Waiting for my Rocket to Come” the crowd went nuts. Jason is not only a great singer and songwriter, he’s also a class act performer. He sings and performs each concert like it was his first and last. He is so passionate with his music and his fans, that he bleeds the music he sings through his pores. As a more recent fan myself, I now can see the difference between a regular concert and a Jason Mraz show. He puts a live concert on a whole other level. Even his facial expressions show how much passion he has in his music. Jason also has tons of fun with the audience. He captivates us with his music, and in the way he makes the audience interact with the show and interact with each other. Many times throughout his show he interrupted by asking us to introduce ourselves to our neighbours, shake hands…etc. He encouraged us to stand up, dance and even taught us some dance moves.
At the mid-point of the show, he started to sing a song and K’naan and Garrett Dutton of G. Love & Special Sauce came out and did a rapping/blues number. It was both incredibly entertaining and fun.
Jason Mraz’s show was constantly surprising and not predictable like a regular concert. At one point, he sang a song and in the chorus, he used his falsetto and he almost sounded like a lady opera singer. I even had to double check to see if a lady had come on stage and made that sound. I was shocked when I saw that it was Jason.
Near the end of his show, he performed his current radio hit “I’m Yours.” The crowd got off their seats and belted every word with him. He was truly proud and thanked Canadians for being such die-hard fans. He ended his set with a Caribbean classic “Three Little Birds,” a Bob Marley cover.
When he cleared the stage, the crowd obviously started stomping on their feet and pleaded for an encore. To everyone’s surprise, Jason and his bongo player, set up a mini stage in the middle of the Molson Amphitheatre, in between the 200 and 300 section. Immediately everyone got up and stood on their chairs to turn around to see his close encounter performance. Cameras started to flash uncontrollably and people were just in shock. Jason invited a Canadian female performer to sing his hit “Lucky” (originally sung with Colbie Caillat). It was sung beautifully. He then continued and sung a couple more songs, before taking back on the stage to perform his second encore. All together this was by far the most entertaining, and musically inspiring concert I have been to all year. Jason Mraz is a true talent. I can’t wait till he comes back again. I wouldn’t miss his show for the world!
Toronto was only his 3rd stop on his North American tour. He continues to tour around Canada and the US until October 10, 2009 where he ends in Los Angeles. Please visit his website for more information.
Above image courtesy of writer
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