Current mood:	working
Current music:	Jason Mraz - "Sleep All Day"
Entry tags:	concert, mraz, music

Jason Mraz - The Orpheum Theatre, Boston MA 10/09/2005

"I love Boston, when I'm not in my car" ~Darek Fanton 10/09/2005



There's something to be said for keeping a streak alive, and my lifetime record of 0 for 600 in smooth trips to Boston was not "tarnished" this go-round. After an impromptu 15 minute tour of South Boston I made my way back to Government Center, through the Theater District and down to Brookline St. which would serve as homebase for my mother and I. After a night and day that included being locked out of our adopted apartment for the weekend and nearly getting themselves killed driving the wrong way up a one way street, my mother and her friend Judy welcomed me and slowly brought me down from my road rage (you can read more about the weekend from my mother's point of view and see some larger pictures here). We bid Judy adieu, and set out downtown to tourist it up. Following a meal of Italian Sausage and hot roast beef, a stop to watch some street performers dance it out "You Got Served" style, and being wholly unsuccessful in our search for juggling clubs, mom and I began our leisurely walk back to the theater.

Boston is a city that should be allowed to come to you. Our plans for the afternoon had consisted of being in Boston for a few hours before the show, and that's all we did. That's all you need to do. We saw all manner of odd looking people and encountered a number of fascinating situations including a double length commuter bus that was stuck in a sharp left turn position for fear of destroying a car that had parked too close to the intersection with all manner of people and police buzzing around looking perplexed about how to remedy the situation. Mom said "I love this city" about a hundred times, I rattled off about 40% of the new Dane Cook cd and we sat in the park for a while discussing my complete lack of a love life while watching the sea of humanity ebb and flow around us on a chilly but, thankfully, rain-free evening.

As we made our way to the theater, four girls in homemade t-shirts passed us. The backs of their shirts said "Geek in the Pink", the title of the second single from Mraz' new album and mom proceeded to start singing the song, something she would not stop doing until we parted ways the next day. We stood in line outside the theater for 10 minutes or so, talking far too loudly and laughing at just about everything. I also took this pretty decent picture of us with the Orpheum sign in the background:





Once we got inside we gathered with the throng around the merch table and I got a t-shirt which I'm sure most of you will see me sporting in the coming weeks. Under the words "I'm a" is a large picture of an old electric fan with a name badge on it that says "Mraz", wonderful in its witty simplicity.

I was well aware of the location of our seats and had been excited about sitting in the third row since I bought the tickets but before we could get to our positions we had to pass through three separate ticket checkpoint individuals. I suppose they do serve a purpose of keeping people out of seats that don't belong to them, but one would hope that the rightful asses for the seats would see to that themselves. Once at out designated locations we spent about 10 minutes just reflecting on our good fortune and rocking out, along with the nearby security guard, to the classic Aerosmith tracks that were playing. The seats began to fill, the anticipation built, and very promptly at 8pm, Carbon Leaf took the stage.

This being my first experience with Carbon Leaf aside from what I had heard about them via the internet, I really didn't know what to expect. I had read various articles on the band and was only aware that they had begun as a Celtic band in DC 12 or so years ago, and had since moved more toward the pop/rock genre. They opened with an a cappella hymn called "Glory Land". It was well done and set a nice tone for their mellow, Celtic infused set of only seven songs, the highlight of which being a song called "The Boxer", their biggest hit to date. I didn't manage to get a single decent picture of Carbon Leaf because I was still unclear about the camera policy and wasn't using my flash. They weren't an especially dynamic band anyway and I've heard that this particular set was especially mellow.

I sat and chatted with mom in the interim and we talked with Jo Anne, the woman who was sitting next to us who i'd "met" on the message board the week before after relaying my seat location. We talked about music and past concert experiences and after what seemed like a very brief pause in the action, the house lights dimmed again and Raul Midon was led to the mic.





I was very much looking forward to hearing Midon after clicking through his website and reading his bio. He began his set, without introduction, with a song called "Everybody", a jazzy, spirited track played with flamenco style picking and augmented by Midon slapping the strings every other beat, giving the audible illusion of a bass line. Blind from birth, Midon's skills on the guitar are matched by his vocal ability, including sporadic horn improvisations a-la Bobby Mcferrin. Raul Midon has to be seen and heard to be fully understood and I would very highly recommend checking him out on archive.org and then getting his cd and if at all possible seeing him live or on one of his more and more frequent television appearances. I found myself out of breath and with a perma-smile after his, far too short, set was over.

A few short minutes passed and the lights dimmed once again. The stage was set with only an electric piano on the right and and a mic stand in the middle as well as what looked like a makeshift street light set up directly in our sight line that was mercifully removed after the opening song. Halfway through the first number "Life is Wonderful", the rear curtain opened to reveal Jason's band consisting of drums, guitar, acoustic bass and the always present Toca Rivera on bongos and assorted percussion. Next came what Mraz has said is the best song he's every written, a melodic introspective piece called "Unfold" followed by one of his best known songs, "Curbside Prophet".





Dancing around the stage, jamming with the guitarist and flashing his signature goofy facial expressions, Mraz was energetic, charismatic and enthusiastic. "Clockwatching", "Bella Luna" and "Mr. Curiosity" three more songs from the new album, followed in quick succession. Much to my mothers delight, Mraz performed an operatic verse that appears on the album version of "Mr. Curiosity", demonstrating a bravery and faith in his talent that main stream artists seldom exhibit.





Mraz teamed up with the Musicares foundation and ebay to auction off tickets on the stage to every stop on this tour. Each show the winner gets to sit on the side of the stage, help Mraz change guitars and request a song. The winner requested "After an Afternoon" one of Mraz' older love songs, and the band did a great job on it, much to the excitement of the unsuspecting crowd.

In what would prove to be a highlight of the show for me, Jason brought Raul Midon back out for a duet that appears on Midon's Album State of Mind. The upbeat tune called "Keep on Hoping" was played by Midon while Jason sat on the monitor in front of him, sit-down-dancing and belting out his parts. It was a great way to work in something of an intermission for the band while keeping the audience more than entertained.





Toca and the bassist Ian then joined Mraz on stage to play his newest song "I'm Yours" which doesn't appear on the new album but has non the less become a fan favorite. "Please Don't Tell Her", "You and I Both" and "The Remedy" followed and the band left the stage briefly before the encore of "Plane" and "Geek in the Pink". The performance of "Plane" was wonderfully paired down and simple, with Mraz sitting on the monitor playing and singing.





The only song conspicuously absent from the set was "Wordplay" the current single from Mr. A-Z. My mom was especially disappointed being that it has become her favorite song but as I explained to her, she might not be such a fan if she had to play it nearly every day for 8 months strait on tv and radio. I didn't miss it and was just as happy to see the new single "Geek in the Pink" played, having read about Mraz' aggravation with having to play "Wordplay", a song he never wished to be released as a single. It was a great night, made even more special by being able to share it with my mother. After many years of talking about it, this was our first "real" concert experience together, saving us, if nothing else, a long phone conversation to rehash the details.





More Pictures Here