State Theatre, Sydney
Saturday December 6th, 2014 :
A warm Saturday evening in Sydney, the beautiful and majestic State Theatre, and Jason Mraz… could it get any better? Most gigs you go to you expect to see the headliner post opening act, well not in this case. I had deliberately got there early to catch the opener and I am glad I did. Mraz appeared wearing jeans, a casual shirt and trade mark hat, and introduced the support.
Raining Jane were more than a support. Apart from being a multi-talented quartet of female musicians, they have also worked extensively on Mraz’s current album, Yes!, and would also join him as his band for the entire evening. The quartet consisting of Mai Bloomfield on cello, Becky Gebhardt on bass, Chaska Potter on guitar and mandolin and Mona Tavakoli on percussion, performed a collection of songs to warm up the hot house before Mraz came back to join them on stage. It all worked very well and the lack of a break between bands kept the audience tempo high.
Opening with ‘A Beautiful Mess’ from the 2008 album, We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things, Mraz took the audience on a tour of his music and of the world. The show spanned almost two hours, and was separated into two parts with an intermission. Mraz cruised through his five-album resume giving the audience a sampler of all courses.
Mraz’s commitment to life and the environment is unquestionable. He sings with passion whilst managing to not take himself to serious. At one point he told the audience, “I try to paint myself into a corner of positivism. I don’t wake up under a rainbow! And I am still searching to find the end of one”. After spending an hour with Mraz you realise that you have full permission to join him on his magical journey.
Another impressive aspect of Mraz’s presence is his almost pitch perfect voice. In the theatre environment it was truly beautiful. There was clapping in ‘Back to the Earth’, a great version of the Seals and Crofts classic, ‘Make It Mine’ which took me straight to the crashing waves of a beach some distance from the theatre. Perhaps the most impressive show of ability was Mraz’s almost operatic voice for ‘Mr Curiosity’, a song from the 2005 release, Mr A-Z.
Mraz and Raining Jane are (dare I say it) soul sisters, with Mraz himself confessing he had “Always wanted to join and all girl band” whilst striking a pose for the audience. Throughout the gig their musical connection was obvious to even the most detached eye, a true fan would call it deep.
As quick as he came, this music troubadour was into his encore of ‘I Won’t Give Up’ complete with a young fan joining him on stage. Jason Mraz left me feeling full and content, a sincerely entertaining artist, the complete package.
Set list
A Beautiful Mess, Lucky , Sweet Dreams, Dynamo of volition, I Take the Music , Hello, You Beautiful Thing , Long Drive, Make It Mine, Quiet, The Remedy (I Won’t Worry), 3 Things, Back to the Earth, Mr Curiosity, Bottom of the Sea
Intermission / Inner-mission
Browntown (Raining Jane cover), 93 Million Miles, Love Someone, Only Human, Shine, I’m yours
Encore
I Won’t Give Up
Photographer and Reviewer: David Jackson
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