Mraz. Shell. May 2

It is always interesting to me to be a part of an artist's transitional crowd. Jason is now much larger than what he was a handful of years back, and worlds away from his coffeehouse acoustic origins. This crowd was largely reflective of his recent hit, I'm Yours, and also the tastes of the dominant island music radio formats here, which play local, poppy simplified reggae. Thus, the vast majority of the crowd consisted of average fans (who maybe knew I'm Yours and The Remedy max) and outnumbered the hardcores by multiples of 5-to-1 or more.

I thought it made for a unique dynamic where everyone went berzerk during I'm Yours, and otherwise sat on their hands through most of the show -- soaking in the music or chatting very loudly or our new favorite, copiously texting by cell phone light. It was obvious that Mraz converted a number of the unfamiliar with his undeniably enjoyable stage presence, performance, and vocal skills, but -- it was just one of those shows where nearly everyone came to see "I'm Yours" and that's about it. That's unfortunate because I thought Mraz and his full band put on quite the show, very solid, very entertaining.

Unlike his 2005 appearance at the Hawaii Theatre, Mraz performed with his full band. Yes, including Toca and Gnomie. However, no Bill Bell on lead guitar. When Mraz performs with the full band, the dynamic on some of his hits switches from being more intimate, to being more lively and energetic. There were quite a bit of impromptu jams and clever segues into cover songs, such as the clever incorporation of Wonderwall into The Remedy.

This show demonstrated that Mraz continues to be a very clever artist, and the more contemporary jazzy aspects of his new songs will bring him a new audience -- and perhaps he can transcend his indie "coffee shop" vibe and the "oversell on pop" knock on his career thus far. Perhaps one of the challenges he faces is that I'm Yours, his huge hit, is very different than the material on We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things, so avoiding "one-hit wonder" status in the mind of his new fans may be difficult.

But perhaps that's really not the point, for another night with Mraz, he was a very entertaining performer. His songs took on new life with the inclusion of the full band. Moreover, his harmonies with Toca, really add a lot to such songs as Not So Usual, 1000 Things, the new one Live High, and I'm Yours.

One of the surprisingly entertaining aspects of the night was the surprise inclusion of the Grooveline Horns from Austin. Those three formed a really grooving horn section, and they actually came out into our section to play the horn outro of Live High. I don't know, I guess I like music with horns, and show my true colors as a EW&F, Chicago, or Dan fan -- the horn solos added a lot, where typically Bill would be adding a guitar solo.

Yes, I am a Jason Mraz fan. If you have the opportunity to see him on tour, you are likely in for a very entertaining night -- or you may be converted into one of the believers, the hardcore. I marvel at how he has finally broken through. When people in my office are buying and talking about his new album, he has permeated the awareness of the larger mainstream, believe me.

Another entertaining night, felt like we got our money's worth. For SD and I, it now comes down to seeing his rarities performed live -- like 0% Interest or Dream Life of Rand McInally. Oh well, maybe next time ...

Setlist
Rocket Man (cover, orig. Elton John) (solo acoustic Jason)
The Remedy
Make It Mine
Dynamo
Bella Luna
Dramatica Mujer (Not So Usual)
If It Kills Me
Fly Me to the Moon (cover, orig. Tony Bennett)
1000 Things
Live High
Only Human
I'm Yours
---------- Encore:
Geek in the Pink
No Stopping Us
You and I Both (solo Jason acoustic)