the jason mraz gratitude cafe tour - koka booth @ cary, nc - july 29th, 2009
I don't even have a proper preface to this entry. Nothing would properly introduce how I felt on Wednesday night, so as for what I did: some of you already know this, but on the evening of the 29th I attended my first Jason Mraz concert. I've wanted to see him live for years, ever since 2005 when I really started getting into his music and who he was and how he sang. This was the first time he played near me, and I was able--finally--to snag tickets to go see him.
And I still can't believe it.
So. What follows is an account of Wednesday, July 29th, 2009.
PRE-CONCERT
Pre-concert festivities were a little hectic. I met up with Beth that day and got ready at her house, then we dropped off her little sister Kathleen and friend Nicole (they were Mraz-ing too) at their own little get-together. The sophomore (well, I guess they're juniors now, but whatever) get-together was right in Cary and SMACK next to Koka Booth at one of Kathleen's friend's houses. As soon as we got out of the car we could hear Mraz and the band warming up--drums, bass, muffled voices. And it was only 3:30.
After that was a quick lunch/dinner at Cinelli's, a nearby Italian place, with our group of Mrazites: Beth and I, Kristine and her sister Kate, and Gillian. We ate, la di da, and then Kate and Kristine went home to pick up a few things. The rest of us were going to head over to the venue to start lining up--it was 4 PM by this point, and the gates opened at 5; since we had lawn tickets we wanted to make sure we found good spots--but right when we were pulling out of the lot Gillian practically threw herself onto our car and said, "GUYS, I HAVE A FLAT TIRE."
Oh God. It wasn't just a flat tire--it was dead. The metal part was practically scraping against the asphalt and her huge truck was stuck in the middle of the driveway into Cinelli's. A couple of phone calls and expletives later ("FUCK, WHY DID THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN TODAY? FUCK THIS. FUCK THIS SHIT"), AAA was on their way over to fix the tire so that we could be on our way. And believe me, we wanted to be on our way that very second.
Gillian insisted that we go but there was no way in hell we were going to leave her behind and have her be late for that concert. AAA arrived in about 10 minutes and Gillian's mom pulled up right after that, and by then it was about 4:10. Well, the tire-changing took about fifteen minutes, but for some reason we got the chatty guy and he kept talking to Gillian and her mother about absolutely nothing. Meanwhile, Beth and I were in the car screaming NOOOOOO STOP TALKING NOOOOOOO, but since the windows were up it wasn't like they could hear our desperate pleas.
Eventually Chatty Man left and we followed Gillian and her mother to her dad's office, where they dropped off her 'fixed' car. And then--I swear to God--ONE OF HER DAD'S CO-WORKERS PULLED UP AND STARTED TO TALK TO GILLIAN. And Beth and I were sitting in our own car (with We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things blasting at top volume) banging our fists against the windows and yelling HOLY SHIT, YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS.
Gillian finally joined us at 4:35 ("Oh my God guys I am so sorry I am so so so sorry" "No, it's totally fine, Gilly, it's not like you punctured the tire yourself...NOW SHUT UP AND GET YOUR ASS IN THIS CAR") and Beth became a crazy speed demon. Of course--of course--we hit all the red lights on our way to Koka Booth, but we managed to get there before 5.
Thanks to Kathleen and her friends, who had been the first ones in line, and Kate and Kristine, we already had pretty decent spots on the lawn--near the middle and around the fourth row. The amount of placeholders for our group was a little scary: blankets, tarps, umbrellas (even one donated by a stranger; thank you!), but at least we were able to make it there in time. Dripping with sweat--damn you, North Carolina humidity!--but on time.
But it all turned out fine in the end, and we found out the next day that Gillian's tire had been punctured by what appeared to be a piece of turtle shell.
Gillian: BUT I LOVE TURTLES.
Me: You ran over a turtle and you didn't even realize it?
Gillian: I WOULD NEVER DO THAT!
Gillian's sister: Ha-ha, sis, you are a turtle killer.
THE CONCERT
The venue wasn't too crowded, but it filled up pretty nicely. The seats in front were actually not that full, but the lawn was comfortably packed. Later on, though, I noticed that all of the seats were full, so either people came late or I missed my chance to snag a free seat. But I'm betting that people just came late. :P
At 5-ish Bushwalla came out on stage and admitted that he didn't have any jokes (which was, in itself, funny). He also then told us all that G. Love & Special Sauce and K'naan were stuck in traffic and so the opening act that night was going to be totally spontaneous. At this point, Kristine, Beth, Gillian and I had to pee really badly so we made our way up the hill and were expecting Bushwalla to keep on talking, so we'd have time before anything really good happened (not that Bushwalla wasn't awesome).
BUT THEN.
Jason came out with his guitar to help Bushwalla with the improvised opening to the show, but since we were all up on the hill and couldn't see him we had no idea that he'd come out. But I heard everyone screaming, which made me curious and I started to head back. Kristine insisted that it was just G. Love, though.
"Relax, it's just G. Love," she kept saying, patting my arm. "Let's go pee."
"Uh, no," Beth said, and pointed. "I'm pretty sure that's Mraz."
Then Mraz started talking and fuck if my heart didn't explode right then and there. I don't know what I'd been expecting, but his voice--I'd only heard it on CDs and the television and the radio. But to hear it then, and know that he was really there, only some feet away from me, hit me really hard and it was all too, too much.
"HOLY SHIT, KRISTINE," I said, grabbing at her. I could barely breathe. "IT'S HIM IT'S HIM IT'S HIM."
"IT'S HIM IT'S HIM IT'S HIM," she echoed, and we practically flew down that hill together. And when I say we flew, I don't just mean we ran. We tore up that grass like no otha mothafucka.
Gillian and Beth, meanwhile, just kind of stood there. But they were only fans, and recent ones. Kristine and I were in love with him. Clearly, there is a huge difference.
We stopped running/flying near the lawn and there he was, on stage with his guitar, wearing a hot pink shirt with a rainbow that said 'Namaste' under it (though it took lots of pictures with Kristine's awesome zoom to figure that out). But we really, REALLY had to pee, so after we died a little on the inside we sprinted back up the hill and into the bathrooms. From there we proceeded to rip down one 8 x 11 Mraz ad each (it's really not much--you'll see the picture in my flickr set--but um, we were kind of...caught up in the moment). After we'd all met up again outside ("Seriously?" the other two said when we told them about our vandalizing the Koka Booth bathrooms. "Seriously, guys?"), we went back down to the lawn.
Toca was out then, so it was him, Mraz, and Bushwalla singing a song "about bugs." And hummingbirds. I swear I've heard it before but I can't remember what it's called, but it was really cute and I took about 34802938492840928 pictures...you know why. After the bug song they played Ghettoblaster, which I did not actually know was a song until I googled it two seconds ago. :) Then it was announced that G. Love was finally there, and the other three left the stage so the crew could set up for the real opening act.
I really liked G. Love & Special Sauce--I'd known about them before because my brother had a few of their songs, and I remember absolutely loving one of their live recordings but I'd lost it when Ginny, my pink iPod Mini, had a tiny crash and I couldn't find the song anymore. Our little group sat on the blanket/tarp for most of their act, taking pictures (of each other) and just enjoying the music, and then we decided to check out the merchandise.
The lines at the merchandise tent weren't that long...well, okay, the one we were in wasn't but the other two were packed. I ended up buying two shirts--one that Jason's worn before, with a man and woman whose heads make a music note (and it's made out of bamboo and SUPER soft) and a tour shirt with the dates and cities on the back. I also bought a pack of stickers and pins, which was a little expensive at $10, BUT I DIDN'T CARE. Oh, the things you do for the boys you love...Arashi goods, anyone?
After we'd all gotten shirts we went to the tent next door, which was the Gratitude Cafe tent, and checked out the self-esteem mirrors. I thought they were pretty cool--they were long, stand-up mirrors with a positive message written on top and you were made to stand in front of them, look yourself in the eye and read the words aloud. Kristine did most of them but she refused to say "I am perfect, whole, and complete" because she firmly believes that she is not perfect and that's what she likes the most about herself. Which works, so hey, why not. :)
We walked back to the lawn, sat around for a little bit more while G. Love was still on, and then Beth got thirsty so I went with her to get a lemonade. As we were coming back down the hill through a concrete walkway, I looked down for a second to see if I knew anybody sitting on the little wall in front of the lawn...............................
....................and I saw Toca.
I didn't really register that it was Toca at first because I am a general disbeliever and the glasses kind of threw me off, but I was so sure it was him all the same. He was just hanging out watching G. Love and I walked calmly past him, but as soon as we were out of his earshot I turned to Beth and said, "UM WE JUST PASSED TOCA."
She looked at me. "Who?"
So I explained to her who Toca was ("Jason's right-hand man," I said, and she just kind of nodded) and when we made it back to the tarp I had to tell Kristine and Gillian what had just happened (except, you know, nothing had really happened). Kristine, of course, was all for meeting him. She is that kind of girl. As soon as I said, "We just passed Toca sitting on the concrete," she picked up her bag and said "Let's go."
It was just the two of us because we are hardcore and perhaps crazy. First we just casually passed him because Kristine wanted to make sure it was him, and then we discussed what to do behind a tree. (I know. I know. Please stop looking at me like that.) In the end, we decided that he was 100% Toca Rivera (dot com) and that, because we were too scared to talk and also shaking, we were going to write down "Are you Toca" on an envelope and have him check the yes (or the no) box.
I didn't want to be all fangirly, honestly, because I was annoying myself with my stupid erratic heartbeat and little gasps of excitement, but IT WAS TOCA. He is like the jam in the peanut-butter Mraz sandwich. Anyway, so Kristine (armed with the "Are you Toca" envelope) and I walked back down to Toca.
We squatted down next to him. It was creepy--we were creepy.
"Hi," Kristine said, kind of breathlessly. It's a good thing she's so pretty. "So my friend and I have been wondering for the past five minutes--you're Toca, yes?"
Toca looked at us. Then he pointed to the woman next to him.
"No, she is," he said, and we laughed.
He ended up giving us an autograph, but Kristine handed him the envelope with the question on it to sign and he just kind of looked at it.
"Oh," I said, kicking in the damage control, "that was our backup plan, we were kind of nervous..."
"Where do you want me to sign it?" Toca asked, looking at the rest of the envelope like it was going to explode in his face.
"Anywhere," Kristine gushed. So he checked the 'yes' box and then signed his name underneath the question.
We babbled for a bit, and I can't remember anything we said to him except that we were so fucking nervous the entire time even though I didn't want to be. After Toca signed the envelope (which I got to keep!), Kristine pulled out her Mraz shirt and asked him to sign that. He did, with his own silver Sharpie, and Kristine has told me that she is never going to wash that shirt. Ever.
"Thanks," we gushed some more after he was finished. Fuck, fuck gushing. "Really, thank you!"
"No problem," Toca said, and waved.
Cloud nine? Oh yeah. We were practically setting up property on it.
Once we got back to the blanket and Kristine told everyone in a five-mile radius what we'd just been through, G. Love did one last song and we whooped and yelled and all that good stuff. A few sips of lemonade and complaints of why sweat is so gross later, Bushwalla came back out on stage.
He said some things. I have a really bad memory, guys. Something about his hopes for us, about the tour and that concert and joy.
Then he said something about how he hoped we love, or would come to love, Jason Mraz. And in what will be referred to from now on as my Moment of Fangirl Glory, I screamed--at the top of my lungs--"I DO!"
I ducked my head. The entire sophomore/junior group sitting next to us turned to stare at me. Beth, embarrassed, put her hand on my shoulder. Gillian, also embarrassed, told me to calm the hell down. And Kristine, who doesn't know the meaning of embarrassment, whooped with me. But you know, I couldn't help it! I really couldn't. So oh well.
There was a mention of a few girls in the seats with shirts on that said "I Love JM" and Kristine turned to me and said, "Oh hell no. That should have been us."
"We should be up there," I agreed solemnly.
Gillian looked at us. "For the love of all things good and holy," she said, "NO."
So Kristine and I pouted. But not for long, because Bushwalla told us to laugh, genuinely or not, for thirty seconds. He insisted that he was going to time us and held up his watch as proof. So we started 'laughing' and looking at each other and it got kind of funny, but mostly we were just wondering when we were going to be told to stop. My face was cramping. Hey, laughing on command is not an easy thing to do.
And then, just when I was hoping we only had a few more seconds left, Bushwalla (who was laughing with us) started stripping. Pants off, shirt thrown aside, the works.
He was wearing a yellow jumpsuit underneath his regular outfit, and the crowd was LOVING it, us included--but then he broke out the hula-hoop!
Genius, I tell you. Genius.
I can't remember what exactly Bushwalla said next, or even vaguely what he was talking about, but it was a little introduction to Jason. By then the sun was setting and it was getting a bit darker and Kristine and I were squirming. We wanted to get good, clear pictures before the venue got completely dark, because even with the lights on it was going to be hard once the sun went down completely.
But we didn't have to wait long, because the huge screen onstage flared up suddenly, and all I saw was the hot pink and the guitar and a wave but it was Jason and then Kristine screamed in my ear and I did the same. We turned to each other, speechless, and Beth and Gillian were clapping and screaming too and I couldn't believe it. He was here. I was there. It was real, and when he finally strummed his guitar and showed up on the screen, gigantic and grinning from ear to ear....oh.
I wanted to cry.
From then on I don't remember the order of things, just what happened, so here they are in list form!
1. Jason started off with The Remedy which just excited me even more (if that was possible). I'd heard that his recent set lists were mostly made up of songs from the new album, and while I love WSWDWST, I really wanted him to do old stuff too. I sang along to every single song that I knew, which was probably not a good thing in terms of the filming because you can hear me in the videos that I took, and I'm not exactly a songbird. Not even a chickadee. Still, you can hear him the best, which is all that matters.
He did a beautiful version of You and I Both with bits of Sleeping to Dream mixed in for one of his aunts. But when I say beautiful, I mean it with my whole heart. I won't even try to describe it after that because it wouldn't do much. I have a video, but again, you can hear me so I don't think I'll post it. :) The best line out of the whole medley was when he sang and with this silence brings a moral story--the entire lawn got so quiet and his voice during the word 'moral' just soared. Ahhh.
The rest of the set list (including the encore) looked like this, with some songs missing:
Make it Mine
Lucky (w/ Alysse, one of the managers from The Gratitude Cafe)
Coyotes (Kristine's favorite song--she had an attack. I know she did. And he also did the opera part, which made everyone freak out, and I was just standing there going "sdlkjfwlkjdliweufjiwh, HE DID IT, MY LIFE IS COMPLETE.")
Curbside Prophet/Gypsy MC (OH GOD SO ECSTATIC THAT HE PLAYED THIS. I knew all the words! To a rap! Oh happy day.)
Forecast (wasn't expecting this, but a nice surprise :D)
Live High
Life is Wonderful
I'm Yours (HUGE crowd involvement, everyone was singing the song and Jason was like, "Okay guys, I want you to sing SO loud that our neighbors hear us....we can only turn up the music a certain volume because of said neighbors, but you guys can sing as loud as you want to! Sing so loud they hear us in the INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION! SING!")
Life is Wonderful
A Beautiful Mess
Three Little Birds (Bob Marley cover)
All Night Long (Lionel Richie cover)
Butterfly (everyone was screaming for this song, so he saved it for last)
2. He also asked us the question of the day.
"What brings you joy?"
"You," Kristine said, and we high-fived.
3. There was a small talking part where he said that one of the reasons why he loves his job so much is because he has the best view in the world.
"You guys are like a big blanket," he said, and swept his arms out. "I just wanna pull you up over me and we can have a sleepover. You know what, the next tour is going to be called The Giant Lie-In. All the concerts will start at eleven in the morning and no one will have to go to work or go to school."
Then he asked all the short people to raise their hands and told us that we were part of the underworld.
I love this man.
4. We also had to give high-fives and hellos to the strangers around us and then burst into random bits of song to the same people. Best part was when the sophomore/junior group turned to serenade a woman sitting behind them and she just blankly stared back at them. :) The people around us were very friendly, though! But you'd expect that of a Mraz concert.
5. He started swaying to Coyotes and dancing and doing some very sexy things up onstage. I think he attempted to do some hip-shaking, but hell, it was good enough for us. *____* Also, seeing his fingers working the guitar and watching him get so into the song with his eyes shut tight? Perhaps one of the hottest things I have ever, ever seen.
6. And to top it all off--
Gillian, to me: You have the love-struck look about you.
To say that seeing Jason was magical would be insanely corny, but also true. I sang at the top of my lungs. I danced. I sang some more. I stood there while bits of my insides exploded and I slowly became a puddle of Mraz-love on that lawn. After we left I just wanted to do it over again, five times over, maybe six, seven, one hundred and five. It wasn't just him--it was the entire concert and the energy and vibe of the people there and the fact that the weather called for an absolute downpour, but it stayed starry and clear the entire night.
After the show we rolled up our enormous wet tarp (and by enormous I mean that we couldn't even fold it properly and in the end it looked like a huge body bag) and Kristine and I begged the rest of the group to wait for us while we tried to find Mraz. I'd heard and read of many successful 'I waited for Jason and he came out to greet us and stardust was in the air~' stories, pictures included, and I wanted to try and be one of them. I crossed my fingers, my toes, my imaginary split tongue.
Kristine and I waited by the side of the stage with a small crowd, but the Koka Booth people told us that we were wasting our time. Jason's family and other random backstage-pass people kept on moving forward but a chunk of us were left to crane our necks over the barely-three foot fence and say to each other, "Well, I met his drummer/bass player/Toca! Does that count?"
No. It didn't, sadly.
I sidled up behind Kristine, who was staring, wide-eyed, at the group of people already backstage.
"Are you praying?" I mumbled.
"Yes," she said. "No, I'm so fucking serious."
"Good," I replied. "Because I am too."
But we were forced to leave not even five minutes later. It was okay, though--I was still on a huge high. So I went to Gillian's on cloud nine (remember, we were setting up property there). And the next day I got a text message from Kristine that said, "Mraz was amazing!"
"Oh," I texted back, "I KNOW."
Oh, let us stay on our extremely inflated balloon of joy and happiness! We might need a pinch or seven in a few weeks' time, though, but for now we still have Mraz songs stuck in our jukebox minds. And it feels good.
THE END.
All pictures can be found here! There are no captions, though, so if you didn't read this you may wonder why there's a photo of an envelope that says 'Are you Toca? Yes, No' and also a picture of a man hula-hooping in a yellow jumpsuit. Just sayin'.
And I still can't believe it.
So. What follows is an account of Wednesday, July 29th, 2009.
PRE-CONCERT
Pre-concert festivities were a little hectic. I met up with Beth that day and got ready at her house, then we dropped off her little sister Kathleen and friend Nicole (they were Mraz-ing too) at their own little get-together. The sophomore (well, I guess they're juniors now, but whatever) get-together was right in Cary and SMACK next to Koka Booth at one of Kathleen's friend's houses. As soon as we got out of the car we could hear Mraz and the band warming up--drums, bass, muffled voices. And it was only 3:30.
After that was a quick lunch/dinner at Cinelli's, a nearby Italian place, with our group of Mrazites: Beth and I, Kristine and her sister Kate, and Gillian. We ate, la di da, and then Kate and Kristine went home to pick up a few things. The rest of us were going to head over to the venue to start lining up--it was 4 PM by this point, and the gates opened at 5; since we had lawn tickets we wanted to make sure we found good spots--but right when we were pulling out of the lot Gillian practically threw herself onto our car and said, "GUYS, I HAVE A FLAT TIRE."
Oh God. It wasn't just a flat tire--it was dead. The metal part was practically scraping against the asphalt and her huge truck was stuck in the middle of the driveway into Cinelli's. A couple of phone calls and expletives later ("FUCK, WHY DID THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN TODAY? FUCK THIS. FUCK THIS SHIT"), AAA was on their way over to fix the tire so that we could be on our way. And believe me, we wanted to be on our way that very second.
Gillian insisted that we go but there was no way in hell we were going to leave her behind and have her be late for that concert. AAA arrived in about 10 minutes and Gillian's mom pulled up right after that, and by then it was about 4:10. Well, the tire-changing took about fifteen minutes, but for some reason we got the chatty guy and he kept talking to Gillian and her mother about absolutely nothing. Meanwhile, Beth and I were in the car screaming NOOOOOO STOP TALKING NOOOOOOO, but since the windows were up it wasn't like they could hear our desperate pleas.
Eventually Chatty Man left and we followed Gillian and her mother to her dad's office, where they dropped off her 'fixed' car. And then--I swear to God--ONE OF HER DAD'S CO-WORKERS PULLED UP AND STARTED TO TALK TO GILLIAN. And Beth and I were sitting in our own car (with We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things blasting at top volume) banging our fists against the windows and yelling HOLY SHIT, YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS.
Gillian finally joined us at 4:35 ("Oh my God guys I am so sorry I am so so so sorry" "No, it's totally fine, Gilly, it's not like you punctured the tire yourself...NOW SHUT UP AND GET YOUR ASS IN THIS CAR") and Beth became a crazy speed demon. Of course--of course--we hit all the red lights on our way to Koka Booth, but we managed to get there before 5.
Thanks to Kathleen and her friends, who had been the first ones in line, and Kate and Kristine, we already had pretty decent spots on the lawn--near the middle and around the fourth row. The amount of placeholders for our group was a little scary: blankets, tarps, umbrellas (even one donated by a stranger; thank you!), but at least we were able to make it there in time. Dripping with sweat--damn you, North Carolina humidity!--but on time.
But it all turned out fine in the end, and we found out the next day that Gillian's tire had been punctured by what appeared to be a piece of turtle shell.
Gillian: BUT I LOVE TURTLES.
Me: You ran over a turtle and you didn't even realize it?
Gillian: I WOULD NEVER DO THAT!
Gillian's sister: Ha-ha, sis, you are a turtle killer.
THE CONCERT
The venue wasn't too crowded, but it filled up pretty nicely. The seats in front were actually not that full, but the lawn was comfortably packed. Later on, though, I noticed that all of the seats were full, so either people came late or I missed my chance to snag a free seat. But I'm betting that people just came late. :P
At 5-ish Bushwalla came out on stage and admitted that he didn't have any jokes (which was, in itself, funny). He also then told us all that G. Love & Special Sauce and K'naan were stuck in traffic and so the opening act that night was going to be totally spontaneous. At this point, Kristine, Beth, Gillian and I had to pee really badly so we made our way up the hill and were expecting Bushwalla to keep on talking, so we'd have time before anything really good happened (not that Bushwalla wasn't awesome).
BUT THEN.
Jason came out with his guitar to help Bushwalla with the improvised opening to the show, but since we were all up on the hill and couldn't see him we had no idea that he'd come out. But I heard everyone screaming, which made me curious and I started to head back. Kristine insisted that it was just G. Love, though.
"Relax, it's just G. Love," she kept saying, patting my arm. "Let's go pee."
"Uh, no," Beth said, and pointed. "I'm pretty sure that's Mraz."
Then Mraz started talking and fuck if my heart didn't explode right then and there. I don't know what I'd been expecting, but his voice--I'd only heard it on CDs and the television and the radio. But to hear it then, and know that he was really there, only some feet away from me, hit me really hard and it was all too, too much.
"HOLY SHIT, KRISTINE," I said, grabbing at her. I could barely breathe. "IT'S HIM IT'S HIM IT'S HIM."
"IT'S HIM IT'S HIM IT'S HIM," she echoed, and we practically flew down that hill together. And when I say we flew, I don't just mean we ran. We tore up that grass like no otha mothafucka.
Gillian and Beth, meanwhile, just kind of stood there. But they were only fans, and recent ones. Kristine and I were in love with him. Clearly, there is a huge difference.
We stopped running/flying near the lawn and there he was, on stage with his guitar, wearing a hot pink shirt with a rainbow that said 'Namaste' under it (though it took lots of pictures with Kristine's awesome zoom to figure that out). But we really, REALLY had to pee, so after we died a little on the inside we sprinted back up the hill and into the bathrooms. From there we proceeded to rip down one 8 x 11 Mraz ad each (it's really not much--you'll see the picture in my flickr set--but um, we were kind of...caught up in the moment). After we'd all met up again outside ("Seriously?" the other two said when we told them about our vandalizing the Koka Booth bathrooms. "Seriously, guys?"), we went back down to the lawn.
Toca was out then, so it was him, Mraz, and Bushwalla singing a song "about bugs." And hummingbirds. I swear I've heard it before but I can't remember what it's called, but it was really cute and I took about 34802938492840928 pictures...you know why. After the bug song they played Ghettoblaster, which I did not actually know was a song until I googled it two seconds ago. :) Then it was announced that G. Love was finally there, and the other three left the stage so the crew could set up for the real opening act.
I really liked G. Love & Special Sauce--I'd known about them before because my brother had a few of their songs, and I remember absolutely loving one of their live recordings but I'd lost it when Ginny, my pink iPod Mini, had a tiny crash and I couldn't find the song anymore. Our little group sat on the blanket/tarp for most of their act, taking pictures (of each other) and just enjoying the music, and then we decided to check out the merchandise.
The lines at the merchandise tent weren't that long...well, okay, the one we were in wasn't but the other two were packed. I ended up buying two shirts--one that Jason's worn before, with a man and woman whose heads make a music note (and it's made out of bamboo and SUPER soft) and a tour shirt with the dates and cities on the back. I also bought a pack of stickers and pins, which was a little expensive at $10, BUT I DIDN'T CARE. Oh, the things you do for the boys you love...Arashi goods, anyone?
After we'd all gotten shirts we went to the tent next door, which was the Gratitude Cafe tent, and checked out the self-esteem mirrors. I thought they were pretty cool--they were long, stand-up mirrors with a positive message written on top and you were made to stand in front of them, look yourself in the eye and read the words aloud. Kristine did most of them but she refused to say "I am perfect, whole, and complete" because she firmly believes that she is not perfect and that's what she likes the most about herself. Which works, so hey, why not. :)
We walked back to the lawn, sat around for a little bit more while G. Love was still on, and then Beth got thirsty so I went with her to get a lemonade. As we were coming back down the hill through a concrete walkway, I looked down for a second to see if I knew anybody sitting on the little wall in front of the lawn...............................
....................and I saw Toca.
I didn't really register that it was Toca at first because I am a general disbeliever and the glasses kind of threw me off, but I was so sure it was him all the same. He was just hanging out watching G. Love and I walked calmly past him, but as soon as we were out of his earshot I turned to Beth and said, "UM WE JUST PASSED TOCA."
She looked at me. "Who?"
So I explained to her who Toca was ("Jason's right-hand man," I said, and she just kind of nodded) and when we made it back to the tarp I had to tell Kristine and Gillian what had just happened (except, you know, nothing had really happened). Kristine, of course, was all for meeting him. She is that kind of girl. As soon as I said, "We just passed Toca sitting on the concrete," she picked up her bag and said "Let's go."
It was just the two of us because we are hardcore and perhaps crazy. First we just casually passed him because Kristine wanted to make sure it was him, and then we discussed what to do behind a tree. (I know. I know. Please stop looking at me like that.) In the end, we decided that he was 100% Toca Rivera (dot com) and that, because we were too scared to talk and also shaking, we were going to write down "Are you Toca" on an envelope and have him check the yes (or the no) box.
I didn't want to be all fangirly, honestly, because I was annoying myself with my stupid erratic heartbeat and little gasps of excitement, but IT WAS TOCA. He is like the jam in the peanut-butter Mraz sandwich. Anyway, so Kristine (armed with the "Are you Toca" envelope) and I walked back down to Toca.
We squatted down next to him. It was creepy--we were creepy.
"Hi," Kristine said, kind of breathlessly. It's a good thing she's so pretty. "So my friend and I have been wondering for the past five minutes--you're Toca, yes?"
Toca looked at us. Then he pointed to the woman next to him.
"No, she is," he said, and we laughed.
He ended up giving us an autograph, but Kristine handed him the envelope with the question on it to sign and he just kind of looked at it.
"Oh," I said, kicking in the damage control, "that was our backup plan, we were kind of nervous..."
"Where do you want me to sign it?" Toca asked, looking at the rest of the envelope like it was going to explode in his face.
"Anywhere," Kristine gushed. So he checked the 'yes' box and then signed his name underneath the question.
We babbled for a bit, and I can't remember anything we said to him except that we were so fucking nervous the entire time even though I didn't want to be. After Toca signed the envelope (which I got to keep!), Kristine pulled out her Mraz shirt and asked him to sign that. He did, with his own silver Sharpie, and Kristine has told me that she is never going to wash that shirt. Ever.
"Thanks," we gushed some more after he was finished. Fuck, fuck gushing. "Really, thank you!"
"No problem," Toca said, and waved.
Cloud nine? Oh yeah. We were practically setting up property on it.
Once we got back to the blanket and Kristine told everyone in a five-mile radius what we'd just been through, G. Love did one last song and we whooped and yelled and all that good stuff. A few sips of lemonade and complaints of why sweat is so gross later, Bushwalla came back out on stage.
He said some things. I have a really bad memory, guys. Something about his hopes for us, about the tour and that concert and joy.
Then he said something about how he hoped we love, or would come to love, Jason Mraz. And in what will be referred to from now on as my Moment of Fangirl Glory, I screamed--at the top of my lungs--"I DO!"
I ducked my head. The entire sophomore/junior group sitting next to us turned to stare at me. Beth, embarrassed, put her hand on my shoulder. Gillian, also embarrassed, told me to calm the hell down. And Kristine, who doesn't know the meaning of embarrassment, whooped with me. But you know, I couldn't help it! I really couldn't. So oh well.
There was a mention of a few girls in the seats with shirts on that said "I Love JM" and Kristine turned to me and said, "Oh hell no. That should have been us."
"We should be up there," I agreed solemnly.
Gillian looked at us. "For the love of all things good and holy," she said, "NO."
So Kristine and I pouted. But not for long, because Bushwalla told us to laugh, genuinely or not, for thirty seconds. He insisted that he was going to time us and held up his watch as proof. So we started 'laughing' and looking at each other and it got kind of funny, but mostly we were just wondering when we were going to be told to stop. My face was cramping. Hey, laughing on command is not an easy thing to do.
And then, just when I was hoping we only had a few more seconds left, Bushwalla (who was laughing with us) started stripping. Pants off, shirt thrown aside, the works.
He was wearing a yellow jumpsuit underneath his regular outfit, and the crowd was LOVING it, us included--but then he broke out the hula-hoop!
Genius, I tell you. Genius.
I can't remember what exactly Bushwalla said next, or even vaguely what he was talking about, but it was a little introduction to Jason. By then the sun was setting and it was getting a bit darker and Kristine and I were squirming. We wanted to get good, clear pictures before the venue got completely dark, because even with the lights on it was going to be hard once the sun went down completely.
But we didn't have to wait long, because the huge screen onstage flared up suddenly, and all I saw was the hot pink and the guitar and a wave but it was Jason and then Kristine screamed in my ear and I did the same. We turned to each other, speechless, and Beth and Gillian were clapping and screaming too and I couldn't believe it. He was here. I was there. It was real, and when he finally strummed his guitar and showed up on the screen, gigantic and grinning from ear to ear....oh.
I wanted to cry.
From then on I don't remember the order of things, just what happened, so here they are in list form!
1. Jason started off with The Remedy which just excited me even more (if that was possible). I'd heard that his recent set lists were mostly made up of songs from the new album, and while I love WSWDWST, I really wanted him to do old stuff too. I sang along to every single song that I knew, which was probably not a good thing in terms of the filming because you can hear me in the videos that I took, and I'm not exactly a songbird. Not even a chickadee. Still, you can hear him the best, which is all that matters.
He did a beautiful version of You and I Both with bits of Sleeping to Dream mixed in for one of his aunts. But when I say beautiful, I mean it with my whole heart. I won't even try to describe it after that because it wouldn't do much. I have a video, but again, you can hear me so I don't think I'll post it. :) The best line out of the whole medley was when he sang and with this silence brings a moral story--the entire lawn got so quiet and his voice during the word 'moral' just soared. Ahhh.
The rest of the set list (including the encore) looked like this, with some songs missing:
Make it Mine
Lucky (w/ Alysse, one of the managers from The Gratitude Cafe)
Coyotes (Kristine's favorite song--she had an attack. I know she did. And he also did the opera part, which made everyone freak out, and I was just standing there going "sdlkjfwlkjdliweufjiwh, HE DID IT, MY LIFE IS COMPLETE.")
Curbside Prophet/Gypsy MC (OH GOD SO ECSTATIC THAT HE PLAYED THIS. I knew all the words! To a rap! Oh happy day.)
Forecast (wasn't expecting this, but a nice surprise :D)
Live High
Life is Wonderful
I'm Yours (HUGE crowd involvement, everyone was singing the song and Jason was like, "Okay guys, I want you to sing SO loud that our neighbors hear us....we can only turn up the music a certain volume because of said neighbors, but you guys can sing as loud as you want to! Sing so loud they hear us in the INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION! SING!")
Life is Wonderful
A Beautiful Mess
Three Little Birds (Bob Marley cover)
All Night Long (Lionel Richie cover)
Butterfly (everyone was screaming for this song, so he saved it for last)
2. He also asked us the question of the day.
"What brings you joy?"
"You," Kristine said, and we high-fived.
3. There was a small talking part where he said that one of the reasons why he loves his job so much is because he has the best view in the world.
"You guys are like a big blanket," he said, and swept his arms out. "I just wanna pull you up over me and we can have a sleepover. You know what, the next tour is going to be called The Giant Lie-In. All the concerts will start at eleven in the morning and no one will have to go to work or go to school."
Then he asked all the short people to raise their hands and told us that we were part of the underworld.
I love this man.
4. We also had to give high-fives and hellos to the strangers around us and then burst into random bits of song to the same people. Best part was when the sophomore/junior group turned to serenade a woman sitting behind them and she just blankly stared back at them. :) The people around us were very friendly, though! But you'd expect that of a Mraz concert.
5. He started swaying to Coyotes and dancing and doing some very sexy things up onstage. I think he attempted to do some hip-shaking, but hell, it was good enough for us. *____* Also, seeing his fingers working the guitar and watching him get so into the song with his eyes shut tight? Perhaps one of the hottest things I have ever, ever seen.
6. And to top it all off--
Gillian, to me: You have the love-struck look about you.
To say that seeing Jason was magical would be insanely corny, but also true. I sang at the top of my lungs. I danced. I sang some more. I stood there while bits of my insides exploded and I slowly became a puddle of Mraz-love on that lawn. After we left I just wanted to do it over again, five times over, maybe six, seven, one hundred and five. It wasn't just him--it was the entire concert and the energy and vibe of the people there and the fact that the weather called for an absolute downpour, but it stayed starry and clear the entire night.
After the show we rolled up our enormous wet tarp (and by enormous I mean that we couldn't even fold it properly and in the end it looked like a huge body bag) and Kristine and I begged the rest of the group to wait for us while we tried to find Mraz. I'd heard and read of many successful 'I waited for Jason and he came out to greet us and stardust was in the air~' stories, pictures included, and I wanted to try and be one of them. I crossed my fingers, my toes, my imaginary split tongue.
Kristine and I waited by the side of the stage with a small crowd, but the Koka Booth people told us that we were wasting our time. Jason's family and other random backstage-pass people kept on moving forward but a chunk of us were left to crane our necks over the barely-three foot fence and say to each other, "Well, I met his drummer/bass player/Toca! Does that count?"
No. It didn't, sadly.
I sidled up behind Kristine, who was staring, wide-eyed, at the group of people already backstage.
"Are you praying?" I mumbled.
"Yes," she said. "No, I'm so fucking serious."
"Good," I replied. "Because I am too."
But we were forced to leave not even five minutes later. It was okay, though--I was still on a huge high. So I went to Gillian's on cloud nine (remember, we were setting up property there). And the next day I got a text message from Kristine that said, "Mraz was amazing!"
"Oh," I texted back, "I KNOW."
Oh, let us stay on our extremely inflated balloon of joy and happiness! We might need a pinch or seven in a few weeks' time, though, but for now we still have Mraz songs stuck in our jukebox minds. And it feels good.
THE END.
All pictures can be found here! There are no captions, though, so if you didn't read this you may wonder why there's a photo of an envelope that says 'Are you Toca? Yes, No' and also a picture of a man hula-hooping in a yellow jumpsuit. Just sayin'.