Hi. I’m back. Nice to see you again.

Where was I? Lots of places. In two weeks I hit London, Munich, Salzburg, Cologne and Brussles, then flew out of Frankfurt. I came back physically exhausted, but emotionally refreshed. It’s nice to get a little distance from your normal life every now and then.

Looks like Jason was also busy travelling around while I was away. I have some of his blogs and news to catch up on. I’d also love to hear how the free San Diego show was from anyone who was there.

Unlike my trip to New Zealand earlier this year, I didn’t hear “I’m Yours” in every cafe, souvenir shop and taxi. I didn’t hear it even once, actually. I did see a poster for Raphael Saadiq in London, which was a nice reminder of last month’s show in Murphys, but nothing with Mraz on it.

Near the end of my trip, I enjoyed an afternoon at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne. I was a little bummed about having to pack up and come home soon, so I was doing my best to make the most of each day, despite my blisters and sore back (I really need to learn to pack lighter).

In the museum gift shop, I was picking out a few postcards when I saw this little orange book. The cover said “Gratitude: A Journal“. I guess gratitude is a hot commodity right now. I didn’t buy it – I figure I can be grateful for free, or at least for less than $15 – but it was a good reminder to be happy for the vacation time I had rather than annoyed that I didn’t have more.

I’m also grateful for the 12 pounds of chocolate I brought home from Belgium, as are my coworkers.

Dear x-ray machine, pretend you don’t know me so well,
Lisa

I’m sure there are plenty of Jason Mraz fans in Germany, and everywhere else in Europe, but I’ll get to find out for myself when I go on vacation next week. Yay for not being at work!

I leave on Wednesday and get to spend four days in London with a friend of mine before heading on to Munich, Salzberg, Cologne, Berlin and maybe a couple of places in between. If anyone has recommendations of places to go, things to see or places to stay, please let me know.

I’m still listening to a lot of Paolo Nutini, so I’ll leave you with some “Alloway Grove“.

However much you want me, I’ll make you want me more,
Lisa

Tonight, Thursday, September 17, 2009, Jason is going to be on LA Ink. You can see him getting his most recent tattoo. To be honest, I probably won’t watch this because needles freak me out. If someone else wants to watch and give me the gist of it, that would be great.

Something I can, and have watched, is Jason singing with Rufus, the puppet on “Pancake Mountain”. I’ve never heard of the show before, but it looks interesting. They’ve had some big acts perform for them and I could spend a lot of time on YouTube watching all the clips. But I won’t, because I’m at work, and that would be irresponsible.

It’s not a love song,
Lisa

Jason Mraz: Live from Earth

In the latest email there were two exciting bits of news:

1. “Our last act of gratitude will be a tour-ending show in San Diego on October 11 and… it’s going to be FREE!! Yes, FREE!! We are working with our friends at LiveNation and Ticketmaster on the best way to distribute the tickets, so that all our fans will get a chance at a seat and so that the scalpers don’t hold hostage over our true fans!

We will provide you with all the details next week… but we wanted to make sure you heard it from us first.”

Cool. Of course, it just figures that I’ll be out of the country, so I’ll miss this show and the one in Berkeley, but hopefully some of you will get to these shows and let me know how they go.

2. We are pleased to announce that Jason’s upcoming CD/DVD Jason Mraz’s Beautiful Mess – Live On Earth is now available for pre-sale in the Jason Mraz Online Store! Go here to see the world premier of the trailer!

As long as the DVD isn’t edited to be as choppy as the trailer, I’m very excited about this.

Sunny Side Up, (I’m still listening to a lot of Paolo Nutini.)
Lisa

A friend of mine called me up last Friday to see if I wanted to go to a Paolo Nutini concert in Oakland on Saturday. I’d heard the name before but didn’t really know anything about him. My friend swore he was my type though, “young, English and kind of like Jason Mraz” so I said I’d go.

Turns out Mr. Nutini is Scottish, not English, but he is young and I think if you like Mraz, you’ll probably like him too. He’s a little bit folk, a little bit swing, a little bit Dixieland, a little bit soul… there’s really no one way to describe him. He’s also got a sort of raspy thing going, like James Morrison. I’ll bet they’d be fun to see together.

Watch Paolo Nutini sing “Loving You”

Or, watch Paolo Nutini sing “Rewind”

Jungle Book fan? Check out his cover of “I Wanna Be Like You”

The direct connection from Mraz to Nutini was the opening act on Saturday. I walked in and though, “Gee, that blonde looks familiar. And there’s something in her whiny little girl voice that I’ve found annoying before.” It was Anya Marina, who I saw at Jason’s show in Jacksonville last December. I don’t get her, but she seemed to have a few fans up near the stage.

Mostly I just thought it waw funny how I can tie so many things back to Mraz, even when I’m not trying. Or maybe I can tie everything back to Scotland. Ever since David Tennant became Doctor Who, sexy Scottish men seem to be everywhere.

Just give me some candy,
Lisa

This is a neat little tidbit:

In addition to the Black Eyed Peas making Billboard Hot 100 history last week, Jason Mraz did, as well, when “I’m Yours” logged a chart-best 70th week, passing the 69-week stay of LeAnn Rimes’ “How Do I Live.”

Going forward, the record for longest Hot 100 chart life will continue to be re-written as long as “I’m Yours” remains on the list, and that could be for awhile. This week, the song, a lofty No. 2 on Adult Contemporary, ranks at No. 32 on the Hot 100 in its record-extending 71st chart week.

Photo: Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle

On the way to the Ironstone Ampitheater this weekend, my friend said she was worried that Jason was getting too popular. I said I never worried about that, because no matter how many times “I’m Yours” is on the radio, people still don’t know who sings it, or what other stuff he sings. She didn’t seem too sure about that, so I had a good laugh when I read the review of Outside Lands in today’s SF Chronicle:

“Looking at the masses aimlessly wandering through at the second annual Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival in Golden Gate Park over the weekend, it seemed like there were few acts on the bill anyone actually felt they had to see.

Dave Matthews Band? “Sure, they’re all right.” Incubus? “Oh yeah, that one song was pretty cool.” Jason Mraz? “Who’s that again?”"

Exactly.

One of these things is not like the others. One of these things is too cool to belong. Ok, two things. Chris Isaak is still hot.

The Ironstone Amphitheater is in Murphys, CA, not too far from Yosemite. I grew up in the Bay Area, lived here most of my life, and had never heard of Murphys until this show came up. The drive was long and curvy, but worth it, as the venue was really cozy and beautiful.

This is probably the oldest crowd I’ve ever seen at a Jason Mraz concert. My guess is that a lot of locals get season’s tickets for the Ironstone and just see everyone who performs there, even if they don’t know who they are (there aren’t a whole lot of other music venues in the area, if you’re looking for live entertainment).

The Ironstone is also hosting Chris Isaak, Crosby, Stills & Nash and Lynyrd Skynyrd in the next few weeks, so you get the idea that this isn’t going to be like the crazy, energetic crowd that Jason gets at San Diego State, for example.

First up for the evening was Trevor Jackson, age 13. He did a quick tribute to Michael Jackson. Not bad, but I wouldn’t ask Simon Cowell for his opinion just yet.

Next up, Bushwalla! Not to perform, but to MC, and to let us know that the crowd reeked of sexy energy. It’s always good to see him, but I would have been happier if he’d belted out a few tunes before introducing Raphael Saadiq.

This is where I admit that I’d never heard of Raphael Saadiq before. I had no idea what to expect, and even after he was done, I still had trouble figuring him out. He started out his set with a doo wop vibe, him and his whole band in suits and ties and choreographed 60s dance moves.

But then the set got funkier, the jacket and tie came off, and at one point I thought they were going to dive into some metal, with headbanging and everything. Then he ended sounding like Smokey Robinson and Usher’s hybrid clone.

Overall, he was impressive and I enjoyed him. You can get a taste of Raphael with this clip of him at Outside Lands this weekend.

Ha! I just saw this on YouTube: “Raphael Saadiq rose to prominence in the late ’80’s/early ’90’s as the lead vocalist and bass player in r&b group TONY! TONI! TONE!” I didn’t know that. That’s awesome! I wonder if he ever performs “It Never Rains In Southern California”.

Bushwalla came out to introduce his best friend, the guy he met in New York 15 years ago, Jason Mraz. And clean-shaven, Paul McCartney-esque Jason did this:

1. Make it Mine – At the end of this, Jason welcomed us to “two hours from anywhere” and thanked those of us who made the commute. It really was out in the sticks.
2. Love Love Love / Anything You Want (or whatever it’s called)
3. Coyotes - Yes! I’ve never heard this live before and it was incredible, a real highlight of the evening.
4. Who Needs Shelter – I love when Jason gets old school. The only downside is that it made me want to hear “Galaxy” and “Running” and other older songs that he doesn’t do much anymore.
5. Love for a Child
6. Remedy – An updated, reggae version. Makes sense that after performing a song for so many years you do something different with it to keep it fresh.
7. Summer Breeze
8. Live High
9. Not So Usual
10. Dynamo of Volition
11. Beautiful Mess
12. I’m Yours -> Three Little Birds

Encore

13. Musical interlude from the Superband (dubbed Frog Jumping Jubilee tonight, in honor of the surrounding Calaveras County – read your Mark Twain), including a little “Charlie’s Angels” theme song
14. Fall Through Glass – With Bushwalla. Woo hoo! I just wish he’d hung out and done “Acoustic Rhymer” or another song too.
15. All Night Long
16. Butterfly

I’m going to see Mraz tonight at the Ironstone Amphitheater. Can’t believe the show snuck up on me like this – seems like it was months away when I bought the tickets.

I’m not going to Outside Lands this weekend, but we may be able to catch some of the show. A friend sent me this:

Dave Matthews Band will be headlining the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival in San Francisco, CA on Saturday, August 29th. If you are unable to attend the festival, you can still catch DMB’s set on YouTube! This marks the first live-streamed music concert event for the video sharing site and will be available on a YouTube channel built specifically for the festival which runs Aug. 28-30. DMB’s performance will be streamed at www.youtube.com/outsidelands along with the sets of many other artists performing at this year’s festival. Following the show you’ll be able to check out archived videos from the festival as well.

Maybe Jason will be one of the many other artists. If not, check out some James Morrison. He’s good too.

Just saw an interesting article in the SF Chronicle that pointed to this earlier article in the East Bay Express. It talks about the Café Gratitude that Mraz fans have heard so much about, and its strange, possibly cult-like work environment.

I’ll let you read it and decide for yourself whether it sounds healthy or not, but my vote is no. Healthy is giving people options and allowing them to make their own decisions. Telling them to do it your way or else they’re fired or demoted sounds like bullying, no matter how good your intentions are.

(Of course, this assumes “your way” is something other than the basics. The basics being things like washing your hands before touching food, or not grabbing your assistant’s ass, or not operating a forklift while drunk, or not lying on your taxes. Those ways are acceptable to enforce. It’s the give-up-your-own-beliefs-and-accept-ours-and-hey-hand-over-some-money-
too-while-you’re-at-it ways that I find a little suspect.)

Up, up, up and away,
Lisa