Nonsensical Insense

Ok… so I’m a week late. Or more. Oh well.

So, last Sunday (the… 8th?) I went with a few friends to see Jason Mraz at Festival Pier in Philadelphia. Let me be perfectly straight with this one. I dislike concerts where I have to stand the entire show because I’m in a mob of people who are all trying to push their ways to the front. Seriously, just let me enjoy the show. Getting closer to the stage is only going to put you closer to the stage. You aren’t going to touch a band member or anything. Unless of course the band member lets you.

Anyway, Festival Pier, at first glance, looked like a parking lot for the tent that was setup about halfway back from the stage, to the right when you’re looking at the stage. Or, maybe it was for all of the food vendors (read: beer) that lined the back wall of the place. Not entirely sure, but you definitely knew where the stage was when you walked in, because there was this HUGE mass of people just sort of standing at the stage. We hadn’t had dinner, so we went to one of the vendors and got 2 chicken strips, some boring fries, and water for about $11.50. I think the best part of that was the water. Let it be said (because it’s never been said before) that you should never buy food at a concert venue. Expensive!

For the Gratitude Café tour, Jason Mraz had his good friend (and tour buddy from last year) Bushwalla act as the MC/Ringleader of the show. I wasn’t sure what to expect, as I’d heard of him once. but he was hilarious, and was well worth the extra 5 minutes that he spent introducing acts. (We’ll get back to him in a few here.) The first performer was a guy named K’naan, who was born in Somalia and did some interesting hip-hop/R&B music. I doubt the audience got his lyrics (he actually had some thought in them), but the music was really good. After about a 20 minute set, K’naan had to leave for the next group to setup. Next up was G. Love and Special Sauce. However… things got a little fun.

The weather forecast was for really big thunderstorms (technical terminology). With lightning. Now, let’s be real. If you’re expecting to have thunderstorms in an open area and you want to have a concert, chances are you should be ready for them. However, after K’naan, Bushwalla got on stage and informed the crowd that they would have to move into the tent until the crew had set up for a storm. :: sigh :: So, we all (the four of us, at least) climbed into the tent with a mass of people, and just started to stand there. Well, first we noticed the merch table. The one thing I do at every concert, or, try to do at every concert, is to get a t-shirt that has the tour info on it. I succeeded. That actually sounds a lot more lame once I typed it out. Nevertheless… I’ll just continue.

While we were in the tent, we happened to be lucky enough to be standing by a tent (yes, a tent inside of the tent) where, who should come out with a guitar but… Bushwalla! He decided that since we were stuck inside, he was going to give us a free… well, not free, but unplanned, impromptu performance. He came out with his Taylor and played about 6 or 7 acoustic songs, while taking requests from the audience, which was about 20 or so people all crowded around. It was pretty hard to hear, as we were in a tent with somewhere around 1,000 other people, and Bushwalla wasn’t amplified or anything, but we definitely did get a good show. Whereas sometimes his words weren’t the best, and his voice wasn’t entirely on key (or maybe it was? Couldn’t hear the guitar), Bushwalla definitely knows how to command a crowd. That impromptu performance, even with the girl who screeched every single song (she was horribly off tune), definitely made the concert wholly worthwhile. I was even ready for it to downpour!

About an hour after K’naan ended his set, Bushwalla returned to the stage and announced the next opener, G. Love and Special Sauce. Now, about 6 or 7 years ago, I was entirely stupid when it came to popular music, and some (most?) would say I still am. I hate to say it, but for anyone who knows the song “Milk & Cereal” by these guys… well… I still don’t know it. Which is a real letdown, because my compatriots were really hoping for G. Love to play it. To make things worse, G. Love and Special Sauce are a fantastic jam band. In fact, they were fantastically good at jamming. Boringly fantastic. I’ve never been so mind-numbingly bored while music was playing at a concert. The number of times songs could have ended, or should have ended was astounding. Nothing more to say there. Bushwalla finally (felt like a few years) came on stage to announce the next performer, the one we were all waiting for.

The thing with Jason Mraz is that he has so many songs, but chances are that you don’t know a quarter of them. He spent the first 6ish years of his career (correct me if I’m wrong) out in California playing with Toca and Adam King, frequenting a place called Java Joe’s. I was really hoping to hear some of these old gems that really made up the sound of his first album, Waiting for My Rocket to Come. As with my last concert post, I won’t delve too deeply into the set list, but I will hit upon some of the tracks that I really liked. Or didn’t like, whatever suits my fancy.
Jason’s set started, probably, about an hour and a half later than scheduled, so I think that was part of the somewhat rushed atmosphere of the show. Jason walked out with his guitar and starting singing a song that none of us knew, so I just so happened to write down the lyric I felt would best give me the song title. Apparently I was right. It was a happy little tune, very fitting of the feel of his last album, We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. He then started in with the full band, playing songs off of the aforementioned title. The breakdown of songs to albums goes something like this. 3 from his first commercial release, 1 from his second commercial release, 8 from his most recent release, 4 songs that were on EPs or unreleased, and 1 Bushwalla song.

All in all, it was a fantastic set. Definitely worth the wait, and definitely worth standing the whole time. The encore was fun, because there was a huge delay, long enough for us to worry that he wasn’t going to give an encore, before he came back on stage. Well, not exactly on stage. About halfway back was the soundbooth tent, and that’s where Jason et al rejoined the audience for an acoustic performance. They played the first song as an acoustic band, then the horns, drummer, and keyboardist left the stage, leaving Jason and Toca to play a song. On stage, the band started up a jam, giving Jason and Toca a chance to get back on stage to end the show.

Great show, worth the money. Check out the setlist after the break.

Ray of Sunshine (?)
Make It Mine
Coyotes
Anything You Want (?) >
Curbside Prophet
Man Gave Names to All the Animals >
Live High
Who Needs Shelter
The Remedy (I Won’t Worry)
Dynamo of Volition
Beautiful Mess
I’m Yours

Encore

Never Too Late (?)
Lucky
Geek in the Pink
70s Dance Jam
Bushwalla Song – Fall Through Glass
Butterfly