Jason Mraz - I'm Yours!!!

A couple of Wednesday's ago..okay, last month (I know, so behind on the blogging). I was at another concert. Janet, Lynn, and I went to see Jason Mraz at the Schintzer. It was a great show!

I admit that I'm not a huge fan of Jason Mraz, but I've liked what's been playing on the radio. This guy is a great performer and really engages the audience. Janet hooked us up with pretty darn good seats, on the floor in the center aisles.

Before the show started, they had this screen up that was encouraging people to take pictures and text them to a number and it would show up on the screen. So then people started just sending text messages and they were scrolling on the screen. Some were funny, others not. That was good entertainment before the show, it definitely set the tone for the remainder of the show..fun and quirky.

An Irish artist by the name of Lissa Hannigan opened for him. Different from what I normally listen to, very mellow, perhaps a little too mellow for me, because I was getting really sleepy. She did like a 30 minute set and then it was time for Jason.

He's really cute. I would not normally say this, but I think the hat and the somewhat scruffiness really go well together. He's got a great voice and I enjoyed all the different beats that came out of his mouth. He had this brass trio with him that were very good and entertaining.

I will admit that I was not familiar with majority of the stuff he played, but it all had great beats so it was easy to just jam along with him. He played "I'm Yours" and the crowd really got into it. He sang the song "Lucky" with Lissa Hannigan (originally sung with Colbie Caillet).

Overall, it was a good show. He had a great encore performance and he really made us clap! During the encore he was taking polaroids of all the band members as he introduced them and then flinging them into the crowds. I thought that was pretty neat. He made one girl happy who got to come on stage - it was her 21st b-day!

Anyway, he was the last concert for 2008 and it was a good way to go out. posted. whew!

Joshua Radin and Missy Higgins

It had been a while since I've been to a show and now it seems like I'm going to several all at once. I love it! There will be a couple of other posts.

Last week my friends (Janet and Lynn) and I went to see Missy Higgins and Joshua Radin at the Crystal. It was a great show! I'm a fairly new fan of Missy (thanks to Lynn!) and I've been listening to Joshua for a bit now, but just never had the opportunity to see him live.

The three of us met at a grocery store and I drove downtown. We parked our car in the garage adjacent to the Crystal and walked to Henry's for some dinner...I just have to say, I'm not a fan of Henry's. Their bar atmosphere may be good, but their dining experience was lacking. Our server was not very attentive and kind of slow. And how does a restaurant of that size run out of soup spoons? Anyway, sorry for the tangent..we had dinner and left to get in line for the show..only to our surprise, the line was already wrapping around the corner..so much for sitting in the balcony and relaxing! We get in line and already feel out of place. Everyone looked so young and then there we were (we aren't that old tho!).

It's been a while since I've been to the Crystal and I rediscovered that I like the venue. It's a great place for an intimate show. I ended up standing for most of the night, but that was ok. The wall and I became really good friends! I also realized that by 10pm, I was really getting tired! I'm a night owl, but it's different when you're not at home in your pj's...

Onto the show.

Joshua Radin opened and did a great job. He was really funny (and cute!) and told stories about what was inspiring him when he wrote his songs. I like it when artists talk to the audience like that. That guy has had a lot of ex-girlfriends! I was hoping he would play "Closer" but the songs that he did play were still good. He did a duet with Missy Higgins which was cool. I love the fact that these performers write their own songs. Unfortunately his performance was like 30 minutes..a little too short for me! Check him out at www.joshuaradin.com

Missy Higgins was up next. She's from Australia and has a cute little accent. She let like 40 minutes pass before she made it on stage (it was the longest wait ever). But she didn't disappoint. She too is a good performer and I liked her stage presence. She played songs from her first album, so I didn't know those, but she also played a lot from her current album. She saved her current radio hit "Where I Stood" till last, but it was worth it. She explained that she was anti 'encores', so once that song was over, so was the show. Check her out at www.missyhiggins.com

Then we had this incident with the parking garage door being closed. Lame.

Anyway, it was a great show and it made me realize how much I missed going to them.