I'm a Gig Whore
I haven't looked forward to a gig this much in a long time, and for me, that's saying a lot. When I moved from Boston to Sydney, I knew I was never going to miss out on the music I love. Pretty much everyone I need to see and hear passes through Syd at some point. This city is never short on great gigs - fabulous local, national, and international acts play here all the time. And let's be honest - I'm a gig whore. I've been to too many shows to count and I've witnessed and reviewed some amazing bands and artists over the last several years. I've had more musical orgasms at gigs than I have ever thought possible. I've lost myself and found myself at the same shows. But let's get one thing straight: I'm not a groupie - I'm just a wannabe songwriter looking for some inspiration. And I'm always looking for musicians to steal away for my imaginary band.

I'm Also a Selfish Bastard
In any case, I found plenty of inspiration at Sydney's Metro Theatre on July 6th. I always try not to have too many expectations though. As everyone knows, many CDs sound great but then the live performances can't live up to the studio production. And what I find happening even more often lately is that a band or artist will blow me away in a live performance, but their recordings just can't even begin to capture what I know they can do live. The latter is way more impressive of course, but I'm selfish dammit, and I want to have my cake and eat it too. If that artist/band can't come over and play for me live in my living room every night, well, what good are they to me? I need a CD too! I need the CDs to tie me over until I can see them play live next, when I can't sleep at night, when I need something to chair-dance to at work, and when I need to remember why I keep writing my own shitty little songs - because I just love music. Period.

Forget Ritalin, I Take Mraz Nearly Every Day

The Official Mrazcot of Newmoanyeah

I had originally intended to write a dual/duel review of Jason Mraz concerts with Lori. She caught him downunder and I caught him down in Rhode Island (with staffers Lisa and Kerry). After reading Lori's "half" of the article, I thought, "Y'know... that was pre-tty damn thorough." I think I'll just touch upon how kick-ass the show here was, and then ramble on a bit about how we're declaring Jason as the Official Mrazcot of Newmoanyeah (whether he likes it or not). Anyhoo, as you know, a few months back I became obsessed with Waiting for My Rocket to Come and began converting Newmoanyeah staffers, friends, and total strangers to the joy that is Jason Mraz. Tragically, I only discovered Mraz mere weeks after he had just performed in Boston. Fortunately, Mraz has been touring to the point of madness and swung through New England again. Jason played to a great crowd at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel in Providence, RI. Though somewhat short, the set managed to mix a fantastic blend of album and unreleased tracks. I was as psyched to hear "You and I Both" and "Tonight, Not Again" as I was to hear "Unfold" and "Sleeping to Dream." The only of my favorites that wasn't played was "Dreamlife Rand McNally" (which I hope Lori appreciates that she got to hear at her show!!!). While the entire show was incredible, there were two moments that stuck out to me. The first was "I'll Do Anything" -- Jason mixed in Bob Marley's "Three Birds" (instead of "One Love" which I think he does more frequently) AND Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful". The second was Jason's ramble equating freedom and being yourself with being a dork. The combination of those two moments seemed an extraordinary embodiment of everything Newmoanyeah. Humorous randomness and pure dorkiness Vulcan mind-melded to a loose flap of pop-culture like a colorful ouchless Scooby Doo band-aid. In closing, the whole Official Mrazcot of Newmoanyeah thing is basically our way of saying, "Thanks, Jason." -- Stephen Lin, Overfiend Editor

I have a very short attention span for CDs these days. I need to flip back and forth between them. I very rarely am able to sit through an entire CD anymore unless I make myself. Yes, I know I am not alone. This is why God created playlists and back in the good ol' days, mixed tapes. (Oh the memories!) Usually I listen to half the songs on a CD, then start craving something else, then come back later and listen to the rest of the album. I would really like to listen to something all the way through though, and I hoped my ADD would improve as I got older, but so far I can't say that it has. However, every now and then some CD breaks through my ADD and I crave it all the time. The last CD to do this was Sydney band Gelbison's gorgeous recent album 1704. I tried to listen to other CDs, and I did, but damn if I didn't always come running home to Gelbison. Yum.

But my current obsession is definitely Jason Mraz's Waiting for My Rocket to Come. Thanks to a couple friends in the U.S. who clued me into him, I went to www.jasonmraz.com to check out his website and listen to some songs. I am pretty damn poor these days and CDs in Oz are pretty damn expensive, so I have to know what I'm getting into before I fork out the cash. I was immediately in love with Mraz's beautiful vocals and pretty and funky/folky/jazzy music and hilarious, smart and sexy lyrics. So, move over Harry, Jason is in town. (Yeah, I know, I'm fickle.)

Peer Pressure
I have a regular gigging buddy named Gavin. Gavin trusts me. (The poor fool.) Every so often, I force him to go see bands/acts he's never seen or heard before, simply because I think he will dig them because I think they're so freaking cool. And Gavin ever so patiently obliges.

I purchased two tickets to see Jason Mraz ages ago and informed Gavin that he "pretty-pretty-please-with-a-cherry-on-top" had to come with me to see Mr. Mraz. Gavin said, "Um, who the hell is that?" and I said, "Trust me, Gavin. Just trust me." I even I vowed I would not ask for money back on his ticket unless he was a satisfied customer. Yes, I really was that confident and that cocky to offer a money-back guarantee.

Gavin always says that I have never let him down when it comes to picking red hot gigs and I was not about to start with this show. I have a hardcore reputation to uphold, after all.

Primal Scream
Right from the beginning the ladies were a-screamin'. The friendly looking boy in the red baseball cap was more than welcome at the Metro. Mraz and band were an intimate 3-piece with a huge sound. It was 'just' acoustic guitar, percussion, and bass, you know, the usual, but the performance was bigger and fuller and more inspired than I've heard on stage at the Metro in ages. And you know what they say about boys with big vocal cords, don't ya? They've got big, um, errrr... voices.

And Here's Where I Actually Start Talking About the Gig Itself
The boys started by gently busting into "Curbside Prophet," which made the audience very very happy. If you own Waiting for My Rocket to Come please don't be content to just listen to it 18 hours a day I like do (hey, a girl's gotta sleep). Please, for the love of everything that's good and musical and holy, go see Mraz & Gang if they're playing anywhere even remotely near you. The live performance is quite different from the recorded album and if I could go see a live show once a week, I would be such a happy camper. I'd be dragging unsuspecting friends along with me, left and right.

The show Sydney got was absolutely splendid. Don't get me wrong - the album kicks major ass, I mean, I don't get obsessed with anything less than fabulous, but witnessing the energy, cheekiness, impressive improv, and re-arrangement of Mraz's songs live is exhilarating. It's like getting to see a very talented band and a beloved comedy act for the price of one. You just can't get the full experience on the album (as great as it is.) So my point is? Buy the album and get your ass to a show. Do it! Do it now! *Whip cracking*

I could tell you a little bit about what happened during every single song in Mraz's set that night, but you really don't have that kind of time on your hands, especially after my 900+word self-indulgent intro, so I'll just pass on some highlights:

Retrospective Stageside Prophecies

• Flex that Improv Music Muscle
  "I'll Do Anything" is one of my favourite tracks off of Waiting for My Rocket to Come and it was freaking wonderful live. This night's version included some of "Don't Let It Bring you Down." It was just the beginning of a 2.5+ our performance that would swim gracefully between Mraz songs and popular pieces of 'covers,' showing off the band members' flexibility, humour, and general radness. (Um, sorry, I don't know what's come over me, but I haven't used 'rad' or any variation of since I was eight. I apologise.)

• Brotherly Love
  The hilarious teasing relationship between Mraz and his percussion king, Toca Rivera. Teddy bear Rivera (as I like to call him) picked up some sort of toy that drew plenty of attention from the audience. To be honest, I couldn't figure out what the hell it was. It looked like a cross between a clown and a mythological kiddie statue from where I was. I'm not sure if it's a toy that Rivera takes to every gig, perhaps as a good luck charm, or if he sleeps with it every night like a blankie, or if a fan had just given it to him that night. But not to be outdone, Mraz peered around the stage floor for a stuffed toy a fan had given it to him. He picked up an adorable stuffed puppy and put it on his guitar and said to Rivera, "Who's got the cuter toy now?"

• Awestruck Tendencies
  Something that really didn't wear off all night was Jason Mraz's constant vibes of being totally comfortable and happy on stage and his continual awe of actually being there playing for us. Towards the beginning of the night he told us, "I woke up this morning and I laughed aloud. I thought, 'I'm playing in Sydney... that's just crazy!'" Towards the end of the night, Mraz had another awestruck moment, telling us something to the effect of, "When I was a kid, well, it's not like I had people lining up to sit with me at the lunch table. So to see this many women here tonight, well, the kid inside of me is just saying "YES!"

• Little Boy Tourist
  Mraz told us that he climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge the day before. "I got to wear the suit - it's pretty hot." (Hot as in 'sexy,' not hot as in temperature.) Okay, you're just going to have to trust me that this was really funny. (Or actually, I may have to post the photo of me wearing the suit that they make you wear while climbing the Harbour Bridge. It is probably the most un-sexy thing you could wear. It is impossible to feel attractive wearing this thing, but hey, you really should be focusing on the amazing view and watching your step, rather than trying to flirt or find a date, so it's all for the best.) Jason also shared tales of Toca desperately wanting to bungy jump off the bridge throughout the climb, but the poor fella's dream didn't come true.

• Little Boy Tourist II: Mraz is a What?
  One thing I love about Sydney fans is that they love to give their perfomers shit - even when they really dig them. Mraz admitted to the audience that women watching was one of his favourite tourist activities in Sydney. "I've been doing a lot of sight seeing. I've seen a lot of beautiful women. Maybe it's something in the water or maybe it's the lack of ozone that creates a beautiful species of women. I don't know how you guys do it." This provoked a lot of laughs and "awwws" from the crowd. Then all of a sudden, a girl yelled out, "You're a SLUT!" This drew even more laughter from the audience. Mraz looked a tad surprised. "What? I'm a slut??? I wish!" Mraz couldn't have asked for better material, really, and he incorporated the line, "She calls me a slut" in his next song.

• The Games We Play
  Audience participation isn't always all it's cracked up to be. For instance, I'll never forget the night I saw my beloved Pearl Jam live for the first time and the guy next to me was singing along to the songs so loudly, in his own so-not-cute tone deaf way, that I could barely hear Eddie Vedder at all. I was thinking, "Dude! I did not drop a chunk of change on this show to hear YOU sing Pearl Jam songs! Eddie's got a microphone and mofo-speakers and audio engineers and I still can't hear him over you! What the hell?" Similarly, on this night, I was standing awfully close to this bizarre man who kept making the same loud attempts at pseudo Jason Mraz scatting and vocal acrobatics during every song (whether or not it actually fit the song), and also in between songs. It seemed to make him happy, though, and since I could actually move away from him, it was all good.

  It got better, though, when Mraz invited the audience to play a little game with him. He would sing some basic "don don do dee do" type things and then we were encouraged to mimic him. Not to brag, but we, as an audience, did pretty damn well. Mraz kept coming up with longer and slightly more complex variations, and we kept up, for the most part. I think we all knew what was coming, but we still couldn't wait. The game ended, of course, with Mraz doing this "impossibly" long and very impressive variation and calmly said, "And now you!" Little show off! ;-)

• Come Aboard, We've Been Expecting You
  I'm telling you, not many people can turn one of the cheesiest TV show themes ever into a really sexy song, but Mraz did it, aided by his musical partners in crime. The intro to the beautiful "Sleep All Day" was the hot range-flexing rendition of "The Love Boat." Two thumbs up indeed.

• Lovely
  True to the word that's sung the most in this song, "Tonight, Not Again" was lovely. That really is the best adjective to describe it. It does help that it is a kick-ass song to begin with, but it just builds up to the point where, you just have to start dancing, regardless if you normally dance in public. Warning: If you try to suppress the dancer within, you'll probably go nuts and start breakdancing or something. So don't fight it, just go with it.

• The Remedy
  Mraz's hit single is practically unrecognisable in concert. I know this because not too long after the show, I played nearly the entire Waiting for My Rocket To Come album for Gavin, in his car, and I skipped to "The Remedy" and said, "This is the one you would have most likely heard on the radio." Gavin said he hadn't and I asked if remembered it from the show and he was said, "They played this at the show?" Exactly. The album version is totally contagious and pop-sweet, but if you've never heard any other songs, and are worried that this is the only good song on the album, don't worry - it definitely isn't. "The Remedy" is a great track, but you'll find lots of tracks on the album that kick its ass, so don't worry about being disappointed by the rest of the album. The live version of "The Remedy" that we were treated to was very mellow and more folky and very well done, which was no surprise considering how well these guys change genres.

• Bring Me Didgi Boy!
  Okay, all during the night, we kept hearing people in the audience scream, "Didgi Boy! Didgi Boy!" At first I thought there were a couple incredibly drunk and/or stupid people in the crowd. But the calls for "Didgi Boy" kept getting louder and more insistent and I started to feel like there was a big inside jokers party going on and I wasn't invited. Gavin tapped me on the shoulder and asked, "What's up with 'Didgi Boy?'" and I had to admit I had no idea. After "The Remedy," Mraz took pity on the confused souls in the crowd and proclaimed, "Bring me Didgi Boy!" The audience cheered heartily. A husky guy with what sounded like a Scottish (?) accent got up on stage. A lot of people seemed to know who he was. Apparently he was "Didgi Boy." Mraz and crew were very familiar with Didgi Boy, who obviously had played on stage with them before, though I'm dying to know how he first got on stage to begin with. I'm sure it's a great story. Anyhoo, I can only assume Didgi Boy earned his nickname by doing vocal impressions of a didgeridoo. Didgi Boy was directed to a microphone and began 'didgeridooing' into it while the Mraz boys started playing "Bille Jean." It was a highly bizarre and enjoyable experience. Didgi Boy played for a fair while and at one point, he looked at Jason and asked, "Should I go now?" Mraz replied, "Fuck no, you're staying!" And I swear to you, Didgi Boy absolutely glowed. Hell, I glowed for him. Good onya, Didgi Boy! And so, on stage, the happy foursome of percussion, acoustic guitar, acoustic bass, and didgeridoo sound effects, played their little hearts out.

• The Boy's Gone, The Boy's Back
  After the obligatory cheering, clapping, hooting and hollering for an encore, Mraz came back on stage on his own to perform the understated and gorgeous "The Boy's Gone," with just his voice and acoustic guitar. It was so mesmerizing I think I forgot to breathe every now and then. It was during this song that Gavin whispered in my ear that this was just the kind of song he absolutely loved. Needless to say, at this point I was pretty damn sure Gavin would not be taking me up on my "money back guarantee."

• What the hell was encore #2?
  If anyone reading this (ha! As if any of you have made it this far!) knows what the name of this second song was, I'd love to know. Mraz announced that it was an old song that he hadn't played in ages and I think it started with something about "the eye of the storm." Some people in the crowd cheered, as if in recognition, and Jason showed mock-disdain and said, "Yeah right, like you know it!"

• Song for Toca
  Mraz made up a song on the spot for Toca, which was pretty hilarious, but I'll be damned if I can read any of my notes about the lyrics. At this point, we were all believers in Mraz and Crew's improv talent, so this was just icing. And of course, Toca Rivera himself had plenty of funny stuff to add to this song. Mraz sang something about Rivera having balls and Toca chimed in with, "Yeah, big, black, and salty balls!" Yes, it was too much information, but it was wonderfully hysterical, especially when Toca said, "I can't believe I just said that!" Then we were told the story of the time Jason was singing about Toca at a show (in the U.S., I'm guessing) and he started singing Toca's phone number to the audience, and it really was Toca's real phone number. Cheeky bastard! Anyway, Jason and Toca sang us Toca's phone number too, (well Toca did when he didn't forget what it was!) but in the interest of privacy, I decided not to jot it down. ;-)

• The Real Encore (As If Anyone Is Still Reading This)
  Okay, if any masochists are still reading my rambling re-cap, I'll try to speed things up. The last bit of the show rocked. We were treated to the kick-ass "Dream Life Of Rand McNally" and "You & I" with wonderful bits of "On My Way," "Gots to Be Startin' Somethin,'" "It's Getting Hot in Here," etc mixed in. Despite having incorporated other tracks into his own songs many times during the night, the flawless flowing of one song into the next never stopped being impressive. The boys looked like they weren't even trying (yeah, I'm jealous) - it all felt and looked natural. They played for nearly 3 hours and looked like they could have gone for another 3. If only! (See? I really wasn't lying when I said I was selfish!)

• Maybe there's still time...
  Another self-indulgent aside: I read somewhere that Mr. Mraz is just my age and that he didn't pick up the guitar until he was 19. Hot damn, that's when I started taking guitar lessons. If only I had practiced as hard as Jason. However, even if I practiced till my fingers bled, I'd still be lacking his amazing vocal range. I'm so jealous I could weep, but I'm inspired too.

• Shiny Happy People in a Band
  I think I may have actually matured because I've recently realized I am finally over angst. I'm not over angsty music, don't get me wrong. I can still put on music I adored in the early 90s and still love it, but I'm over the angst on stage. It's so nice to see musicians looking all mellow and relaxed and having so much fun. A lot of bands still look very intense, angry, serious, or maybe even bored. There's nothing wrong with that, but I'm over it. When you finally see people looking genuinely happy and grateful and psyched to be there, it's pretty sexy. And of course the fact that all three of them are fantastic musicians helped too. If you think that scat-happy people and ferocious freestyling doesn't impress you much, you will be begging for more after seeing Jason Mraz.

On the web: A review and set list of the show Lori attended (thanks, Mrazmerized.com!)
Also on the web: A review and set list of the show Steve attended (thanks again, Mrazmerized.com!)