By Erin Crofchick
Staff Writer
Jason Mraz started his world tour in mid-August at the Waikiki Shell in Honolulu, Hawaii. Scranton, Pennsylvania is now lucky enough to encounter this pop-rock idol at the Scranton Cultural Center on October 8 where he will be performing works from his latest album, ‘We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things’. This album includes the song, ‘I’m Yours’ which has been hitting up the charts on the radio since the start of summer.
Mraz is known as being a very captivating performer, and is able to reach out and connect with his audiences at every show. One of the many things that help them love Mraz is the fact that he takes their song requests and plays them on the spot. This shows how talented he is in being able to just play from memory, or make up a melody on the spot to satisfy his audience. This allows him to reach out on a more personal level, and is obvious that he wants to involve his fans.
On stage, Jason Mraz appears as a casual, laid-back person who is just there to entertain through his melodic music. Along with his laid-back attitude comes the most unique vocals and impressive range that differs so much from other entertainers. Mraz has been noted by several newspapers as a natural singer who can blow the crowd away with his ability to scat and freestyle like no one else. Mraz is able to promote individuality and carefree sense through his lyrics.
Not only is he a fantastic singer, but he has also proved to be a very talented, rhythmic song-writer, where he has blown people away with his smooth lyrics. During his concerts, he likes to inform his audiences of the reasons behind the majority of the songs he writes. One very famous piece that audiences often request is, ‘The Dream of Rand McNally.’ However, Mraz refuses to play this tune until the war is over. He stated once that, once the war was finished, Rand would then tell of his new adventures of the war that he just went through.
His style of music is a mix between jazz, folk, and pop, so this genre has a wide range of admirers from all ages. Another refreshing bit is the fact that Mraz is even better in concert than he is on his CD’s. It’s admirable that a performer is so soulful on a CD, and it’s even better when he out does them by putting his whole heart into the performance. It’s very hard for an entertainer to be better live than on their CD, and anyone who has seen him could vouch that he has certainly achieved that honor.
So if you’re looking for a mellow concert where you can just kick back and relax, come join Jason Mraz at the Cultural Center, and prepare to be amazed by this talented performer.