I am not a diehard Jason Mraz fan. In fact, I only know most of his older music, like -- you guessed it -- "The Remedy." When I found out I actually had a ticket to the concert, I frantically searched for any songs that I could get my hands on from his new album "Mr. A-Z."
I missed the O.A.R. concert two weeks ago. I could not scrape up the needed dough to attend the Stones concert. And, if it had not been for a little luck, my procrastination skills would have left me without a ticket to Jason Mraz's concert last Friday. Third time is a charm I guess, and I finally made it to the concert, albeit 30 minutes late because of an intramural football game.
When I finally arrived, I knew it was going to be a great concert from about three blocks away when I heard the crowd screaming in anticipation of the man himself, Jason Mraz. As I neared the Downtown Mall, I met with many eager fans, listening to the concert from outside the fences.
If you have not been to a concert in the new Charlottesville Pavilion, you need to go. Yes, it is some sort of huge concrete jungle with some random seating in the middle, but it was perfect for such a large crowd last Friday. There was an impermeable wall of University students all jamming in unison to Mraz's performance. Once I made my way through the mass of people, I had a perfect view of Mraz and his band. My only regret is I missed the opener, Raul Midon, a very talented, fascinating, blind guitarist who can straight up rock out. His reappearance, in a duet with Mraz later in the concert, blew me away.
For so many reasons, Mraz's performance was amazing. He is a crowd-pleaser, and whenever he interjected comments about Charlottesville and the University into his songs, the crowd went wild. The man is talkative, too. Mraz was a comedian between songs, telling stories about getting lost in Charlottesville and "leaf peeping." Mraz seemed to genuinely enjoy the concert himself, putting his heart and soul into everything he played.
Now, I think I was one of many concert-goers who came to the concert with little knowledge of his new music. This was okay though, because I was able to sing along to a few classics like "The Remedy" and "Curbside Prophet." Even though I could not sing along to his new repertoire, it was an excellent mix of love songs and rock that revved up the crowd. If there is one thing that separates Mraz from all the others, it is his free-styling ability. He has an unparalleled voice, and the only reason you would not be able to understand the words that are coming out of his mouth is because he is speaking faster than you can comprehend. The combination of his artistic abilities with his affinity to perform made this Friday-night concert one to remember.
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