Singer: Jason Mraz

Date: 15 October 2008.

Venue: Massey Hall, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Reviewed By: Victoria Asikis (Toronto Correspondent)

If there were ever a serious embodiment for the label ‘a perfect man’, one would be hard pressed to find a name fitting towards it. If you do happen to be a lucky lad or lady on the prowl for that Cosmopolitan-created perfect man, look no further than singer Jason Mraz.

Mraz was in town on September the 15^th for his huge North American fall tour with special guest and ex-Damien Rice song partner Lisa Hannigan. Hannigan opened the show along with her other band mates and got the evening going on a soft note. Many people are admittedly not huge fans of folk music, myself included, so Hannigans’ audience response was not the best one. When addressing the audience, Hannigan spoke tremendously softly, making it hard to understand what she was saying. Mix a very heavy Irish accent into the mix and she was essentially not possible to comprehend! Nevertheless, Hannigan proved to be both a talented singer and talented musician, both singing and playing an instrument consisting of a piano and an accordion.   

The real star of the night, however, was the man leading the tour, none other than the loved and appreciated Jason Mraz. Mraz is a rare commodity to the world of music and the world of media exposure; unlike most artists, who cringe at the thought of music downloading and photo-taking at concerts, Mraz embraces it, endorses it, and encourages it. For Jason, any way of telling the world about music is a good way, whether that is downloading a CD instead of buying it or snapping a photo at a concert and putting it on your MySpace. There was even a rolling script on the large back screens of the stage showing concert goers a website we could send our concert photos to.

Jason sang the majority of his songs from his latest album entitled ‘We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things’. Songs from other albums were also included in the set, but the tunes were predominantly taken from his newest release. With upbeat tunes like ‘I’m Yours’ to more melodious tunes like ‘Beautiful Mess’, Jason without doubt left goose bumps on all arms in the house.

Mraz proved to be anything but just a singer; he played both the acoustic guitar and the ukulele, embraced the audience with comical comments and endless expressions of love for his fans, and wore his quintessential brimmed hat the entire time. The audience could not help but feel like that venue, that time, that day, and that place were the most important things to happen to Mraz; he made us feel like Toronto was THE place to be. He got the audience on their feet and even taught them a small jive to follow along to while he performed his single ‘The Dynamo of Volition’.

Mraz even went so far as to include Hannigan when he performed his single ‘Lucky’, originally recorded with best friend Colbie Caillat. The duet was sung beautifully, and the chemistry between the two seemed anything but staged. There was even a point when his three brass instrument players disappeared suddenly off the stage and re-appeared on the balcony of Massey Hall to finish off the song, leaving audience members screaming at the top of their lungs and pouring out their support for Jason and his entire band; if that does not leave a mark on the performing world, I do not know what does! Massey Hall being a small venue, Mraz shied away from using huge production effects and kept things simple, with differently shaped screens and multi-coloured lights. No lasers, no explosions, and no set-changes, Jason stuck to the basics and did it flawlessly!

Flashing his support for Presidential candidate Barack Obama and encouraging the effects of a healthy lifestyle (he revealed to be drinking tea while performing) Jason Mraz both captivated and awed the entire audience! Performing the steamy track ‘Butterfly’ during his encore and staying barefoot the whole concert, it became known how truly hard it is not to fall in love with him! If some in the audience entered the concert as quasi-fans, they certainly left as diehard fans!