While the focus of this blog is the music scene in the 757, I am going to review the Jason Mraz show that was at the Ntelos Wireless Pavilion in Portsmouth on Sunday, September 25. Jason Mraz is from Mechanicsville, Virginia and while that is not in the 757 area code, I think it is important to occasionally include bands and artists from the Richmond area since that is our "sister music scene." This is why I'm considering Jason Mraz a local artist from the Richmond area.
Jason Mraz is one of my favorite singer/songwriter type of artist. His bluesy, soulful sound mixed with his pop/acoustic style is undeniably magic. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about his live performance. He sounded great. His band was awesome. He definitely was feeding the crowd. BUT (and it's a big but) most of what he sang was brand new songs that were not even available on an album yet. In his encore he included hits like 'I'm Yours' and 'Butterfly' and in his set he sang 'The Remedy,' but those were the only well-known songs that he sang (and he sang 'Lucky' with Colbie Caillat). He completely omitted well-known songs like 'Geek in the Pink,' 'Sleeping to Dream,' 'Curbside Prophet,' 'You and I Both,' 'If It Kills Me,' and others from his first 3 albums. At ticket prices being just shy of $50 and only having one opener, I (along with others whom I talked with) felt a bit ripped off.
I can completely understand an artist growing as a person and wanting to share their newest works with their fans, but an artist can never forget what got them in the spotlight in the first place. Honestly, fans don't want to hear all of your newest songs that aren't even on an album yet. They want to hear their favorite old familiar tune so they can sing and dance along (but not steal things...). I'm not saying his new stuff isn't great (it's really great for relaxing after a long day), however I was expecting to hear my favorite songs by Jason. Colbie Caillat on the other hand was great.
If you went to the concert please comment and tell me what you thought! Or if you just want to comment about Jason Mraz or give your thoughts, you are more than welcome to comment below too!
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