Sydney Entertainment Centre
Tuesday March 26, 2013 :
To be totally honest, going to a Jason Mraz show isn’t my usual gig. I’m vaguely familiar with some of his stuff, and sure I’ve found myself singing along to his mellow pop anthem ‘I’m Yours’ if it happens to be playing on my car stereo, and had maybe heard one or two of his other songs on radio, but that’s about it really. Despite this I found myself part of the eclectic audience that packed out the Sydney Entertainment centre on a Tuesday night to see Mraz and his band on their Australian tour.
“Wassup friends,” Mraz greeted the crowd as he took the stage, “the theme of tonight’s show is love” he announced before launching into the funky soul filled love tune ‘Make it mine’. I was fascinated by how, during this song, all the members of Mraz’s 9-piece band just sort of wandered onto the stage and over to an instrument – it was played out almost as by accident. It wasn’t an accident though as every single member of the band played the instrument they had stumbled up to with great precision – it was an extremely tight band made up of drums, percussion, maracas, guitar, bass, horns and trumpets – even a flute got involved at one point, and they never missed a beat.
With a selection of older songs from 2008’s We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things record, Mraz also brought a few of his new songs to the stage which were very welcome. A lot of the new stuff moves away from Mraz’s usual poppy sounds and into a slightly more mature space of funk, soul, jazz and occasionally Mraz even offered up a slight country flavour.
True to his word, Mraz brought a lot of love to the show. Captivating the crowd with his soaring, honeyed pitch-perfect vocal range, I’m certain he melted some hearts as he guided the audience through his loved up set. Introducing the very romantic ‘The Woman I Love’, Mraz dedicated it to anyone in the crowd who were dragged to the show by the woman they love, or wanted to love. He was cheeky throughout often making jokes and playing up to the audience. The multi-coloured light show and backing band were great which added to the wonderful evening’s journey through song.
With musical interludes, saxophone solo’s, pitch perfect vocal work, violin breakdowns, the return of guest band, the Zac Brown Band who offered up a brilliant duet with Mraz, I found myself totally caught up in the show. All the songs were great – stand out’s included the obvious crowd pleaser ‘I’m Yours’ which saw the audience jump to their feet, the haunting ‘When We Die’, the funky upbeat and very cheeky ‘We f#@kin did it’ which showcased Mraz’s brilliant vocal play and pace, and a special Australian tribute as Mraz covered Aussie legend’s Crowded House ‘Don’t Dream it’s Over’.
Concluding the show with his latest hit ‘I Won’t Give Up’, the bare foot poet reminded the audience that we are loved and let us leave the place with a sense of real satisfaction. He definitely made a fan out of me.
Reviewer: Mark Henderson
Photographer: David Youdell
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