Mraz Article: San Diego Union-Tribune

Just found this new interview. It was in Sunday’s San Diego Union-Tribune. Nothing earth-shattering in the article, unless the news that Jason Mraz keeps his awards in his bathroom is something that will keep you up at night.

Keep an eye out for more pre-Grammy articles about Jason. It’s almost like people know who he is now. Crazy, hmm?

Review: Mraz at San Diego State, October 31, 2008

Here’s the set list. I just flew back to SF and will add more details after a good night of sleep.

1. Make it Mine
2. Clockwatching
3. Peg (Steely Dan cover)
4. Music to Watch Girls By
5. If It Kills Me
6. Mary Jane (Rick James cover)
7. Remedy -> Wonderwall
8. Only Human
9. A Beautiful Mess
10. Bella Luna
11. Live High (with special guests, Voices of Prayze)
12. Oh Happy Day (with Voices of Prayze)
13. Dynamo of Volition
14. I’m Yours -> Three Little Birds
Encore
15. Lucky (with Lisa Hannagan)
16. Build Me Up Buttercup
17. No Stopping Us -> Invisible Gum bit -> Copacabana/Toca Rivera
18. Butterfly

Update 11/3/08: Ok, I’m ready to try and make sense of the notes I scribbled in the dark during the show.

• Halloween show! Many people in the crowd were in costume, including one very tall man in a huge Donald Duck costume. I was a little disappointed that Jason didn’t show up in something wild, but he did comment on the costumes he saw, noting that people took advantage of the holiday to dress as anything naughty: naughty maid, naughty UPS driver, naughty meter reader, whatever.

• Lisa Hannigan and her entire band did dress up as spiders, and she was adorable, waving all her arms around in a spidery way. I only got there in time to catch her last two songs, but she sounded as adorable as she looked with her Irish Bjork sound.

• What’s with the Xbox commercials?

• Love the pre-show, get-the-crowd-hyped-up, intro film of Mraz doing karaoke (Take On Me, Young Folk, Stand By Me, Bust a Move, In Bloom, Release Me). The pre-show stuff gets better every year, from the weird helicopter noises he had around 2003 to the time-lapse video of him standing on a street corner around 2004 (?), to the magic and mayhem he had earlier this year. Which reminds me…

• I miss Bushwalla.

• Having the nine women of the Voices of Prayze join him was a very cool treat. They’re based in San Diego and only did two shows with him that I know of (this one and LA the next night), and they added a sort of ecstatic, joyful mood to the songs they did. I imagine this is what the congregation in Jason’s mind sounds like all the time. It’s nice to get to share it with him.

• Clockwatching. Hell yeah.

• Ian Sheridan took off his pants. I’d like to just leave it at that, but you probably want more details. It was when the band came back for the encore. They were all wearing huge sombreros (is there any other kind?), and a few had bolero jackets as well. Ian had the hat and the jacket, and his tidy whities. That was it. It was either very brave of him, or the result of a Halloween bet. Good thing it was a warm evening.

What did I forget? Leave me a comment and let me know.

Buttercup, don’t break my heart,
Lisa

Couch-Surfing Mraz Fan Seeks A… Uh… Couch

San Diego: A city full of couches.

Headlines are always the hardest part to write. This one made me think of, “Allow myself to introduce… myself.”

Here’s the deal. A while back I wrote about the guy who went around the world and made the video of himself dancing with all kinds of people in crazy locations. I thought it would be fun to do the same thing, minus the silly dancing (at least on camera) but with a Mraz theme.

I’m not going around the world, just yet, but a friend and I did get tickets for Jason’s shows in San Diego (on Halloween) and LA (Nov. 1st) and when the topic of where we should stay came up, I said, “Well, let’s ask the fans.”

So if anyone would like to offer a guest room, couch or floor to a couple of very well-mannered house guests, I would love to meet you. We can make a Mraz weekend out of it, see some of his San Diego sights, road trip up to LA, have a sort of Northern California – Southern California cultural exchange.

I’m also going to shows in Boston, Jacksonville, FL, and Seattle. And maybe Berkeley. I have friends to stay with in those places (and I swear, I’m not a groupie, I just had a lot of people I wanted to visit and the tour dates happened to fit in nicely with my travel dates), but if you want to have a drink, say hi and talk Mraz for a while, leave me a comment and I’ll be in touch.

In all kinds of weather we would share this common pleasure, (an oldie, but a goodie)
Lisa

Mraz. CD Signing. San Diego Best Buy. This Sunday.

And Mr. A-Z writes to us from his blog:

“This Sunday I’ll be in San Diego at the San Marcos Best Buy Store to sign copies of the San Diego Fire Relief CD. That’s this Sunday, March 30th, 2008 from 4-6pm. I’ll be the guy in the corner of the store wearing a hat, holding a Sharpee, and fighting some jet lag.”

If you make it there, get one for me too, please 🙂 I’ll make you cupcakes.

Jason Mraz Sings for Friends and Firemen

Jason Mraz (he’s so swell) has contributed to the San Diego 2007 Fire Relief album with his tune, “Silent Love Song” (I almost typed it as “Silent Love Snog” which would be both inaccurate and impossible to pull off.) The album also features some of our other friends, including Bushwalla, Gregory Page, and Tristan Prettyman. It’s good music for a good cause, so hop on over and pre-order it today. Or try to. The link didn’t work the last time I was there, but I’m sure they’re working on it.

Jason Mraz, Dusty But Safe in San Diego

As the fires in San Diego grew over the last few days I kept checking Jason’s blog for news on his house. The way he describes it I figured it was in a remote area, surrounded by highly flammable, woodsy scenery. Today, we get a little peace of mind as he writes that he’s ok (having just flown back from London), his cat is safe and sound, and for now, his home is still sturdy, if a bit ashen.

Since one of the things I have always appreciated about Jason Mraz is just how damn normal amd un-celebrity-like he is, I’m not sure why it tickles me to know that all he wanted out of his house were some Polaroids, surf equipment, and towels, or that he grabbed his little stuffed ducky friend. Probably because if someone gave me ten minutes to fill up my car with essentials, I would also grab my teddy and Spike the Rhino first, then the family photo albums (see how damn cute I was?). But then, who wouldn’t? Forget any of the pricey stuff, I want to save my childhood.

I imagine some people in his position would have called their assistant and had their entire house packed up while they stayed safe and clean in London, waiting for the unpleasantness to pass. They wouldn’t have wanted to get the smoke in their eyes, and the taste of soot in their throats, at least not unless they had photographers following them every step of the way to chronicle the trying ordeal for a full spread in People and a five-minute spot on TMZ.

But as always, Jason sees the big picture, and even keeps his sense of humor in tact:

My mates in London ask me how come I’m not on the list of celebrity evacuees. “I’ll get my publicist right on that.” I deadpan.

(Honestly? I was kind of checking the news for his name too, even though I know our Prophet doesn’t get the same press as Frasier.)

Fingers crossed.