Singer/songwriter Jason Mraz played a show packed with heart and soul in Cincinnati last Wednesday, a performance superior to his appearance at Ohio University in October.
Thankfully, this time around in the city's Taft Theatre he didn't have to share the spotlight with Michelle Branch, who played her guitar and hit all her notes but just didn't reach the caliber of Mraz's performance.
The show, part of Mraz's new and aptly named Tour of the Curbside Prophets
featured the acoustic stylings of Makana and Raúl Midón, accompanied by DJ Bob Necksnapp and percussionist Jennifer Lowe. These performers also proved much better company than his former tour-mate --the opening acts that so many people usually skip out on only heightened the quality of the show.
Native Hawaiian Makana played a Hawaiian guitar style called slack-key in which one person plays melody, rhythm and bass on one guitar. On The Poi Song Makana not only demonstrated this technique but went over the top as he used his forearm and pulled his leg around to slide down the frets.
Midón played his guitar more like a drum, hands flashing back and forth to create sounds with the effect of a full band. In addition to this musical miracle, Midón also introduced a horn section in his act, with his mouth. And it wasn't your little brother pretending to play the trumpet; it sounded amazingly real.
At about 9:15 p.m., Mraz finally made his way onstage, and the crowd, unbelievably, stayed in their seats. Everyone was finally forced to his or her feet for a double dose of the radio-friendly The Remedy and You and I Both. Mraz played tunes from both his Waiting for My Rocket to Come album and an album he recorded live.
Lowe's smooth beats were the backbone of a wrenching rendition of The Boy's Gone. The understated percussionist had rather large shoes to fill, with the noticeable absence of Mraz's pal and band-mate, percussionist Toca Rivera. In the singing-talking style that Mraz does so well, he explained that Rivera was back at home getting ready for a baby.
But Lowe did not disappoint as she hung out in the background with her drums, grooving to the beat and keeping everybody swaying in their shoes.
Mraz made his way through old favorites such as Right Kind of Phrase
during which he called on the audience members to scat with him --the same routine he did while performing at OU. This time, however, crowd participation was respectable, considering people had paid $30 for the express purpose of scatting with Mraz.
Mraz even got to try out his Tony Danza impression when an audience member yelled above the noise to ask him who the boy is in The Boy's Gone.
I thought you were asking 'Who's the Boss?' Mraz joked. Hey
Angela!
After Tony Danza, how can the night go wrong? The Curbside Prophets even hung around after the show to sign autographs for the lucky few that were aggressive enough to push their way through to the front of the line.
The only downer of the whole show was the incompetent staffing at the Taft Theatre. Two rows of folding chairs were placed in the orchestra pit in the wrong order by said incompetent staff. When happy concert-goers were made unhappy because they couldn't sit with their friends, the staff made everybody else get up and move from the seats they had been sitting in for two hours.
In spite of the staff's best efforts to ruin the show, Mraz and his compatriots introduced new artists and new sounds in an eclectic showcase of singing and songwriting talent.
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Magen Howard
