Marguerite Alberts, staff writer
Jason Mraz rocked the stage and charmed the crowd at the Hollywood Bowl on the night of Friday, Oct. 10, after Christina Perri played to a very welcoming crowd as the opening act.
Her seductive tones flowed throughout the crowd. Perri was an interesting choice to open for Mraz because the two artists’ styles are very different. Not only does Perri play a soft rock in contrast to Mraz’s acoustic alternative pop, the style of their lyrics; Perri’s are far heavier.
Despite being in the nosebleed seats, the acoustics of the Hollywood Bowl made it seem no different than sitting up front. The only problem was the inability to clearly see the musicians on stage.
The show truly began when the man everyone came to see walked on stage, Jason Mraz. Mraz definitely has stage presence as he often engaged the crowd with jokes, breathing exercises and songs that included call and response. During his more well known songs like “I’m Yours,” “Lucky,” and “I Won’t Give Up,” the crowd was singing every line alongside Mraz.
One can not doubt that Mraz is a charming dork. With lyrics like “You must be keepin’ secret weapons in your fanny pack” and dance moves like the ones he did during his song “Butterfly,” you can’t help but to love the musician. Mraz shook his hips and his head on stage, while playing his guitar. Surprise guest Sexy Sax Man came on stage playing “Careless Whisper.” Despite the shock, Mraz quickly joined him and the two rocked out to the song by George Michael.
As a whole the technical aspects were rather beautiful as the pictures emphasized the main points of the lyrics.The graphics, shown in three panels behind the band, ranged from cartoons to photographs that aptly helped the audience to visualize Mraz’s lyrics. The best graphics were played during Mraz’s song, “Butterfly.” It showed trees made with hearts and many butterflies that were individually colored. It was clear that a lot of thought was put into the creative graphics. The lighting, clearly deliberately designed, helped to set the tone of the songs by use of bright colors for upbeat songs and cooler colors for slow ones. The only song where the lighting was too much was during the song, “Plane,” where it was far too bright and rather blinding.
For future Hollywood Bowl customers, get tickets earlier in order to get better seats. Other than that, the Bowl is a great place to see Mraz and any other performances held there.