Let's jump back a little bit to the month of March. I saw a few cool shows in March 2015, and I would like to tell you about them. First I went back to middle school for Jason Mraz. That streak then continues into freshman year for New Found Glory. Finally on to a tried and true legend, Stevie Wonder.
Jason Mraz 03/09/15 Stevens Auditorium
I have been a fan of Jason Mraz since Waiting for my Rocket to Come, but I haven't been a fan of everything he's done. His last album before the new one was Love is a Four Letter Word and I hated it. I even decided not to see him on the tour because all the material on it was from that album. This time he was playing in Ames on a tour from his newest album Yes. So I checked the setlist, and I listened to the new album. After being pleasantly surprised I decided I wanted to go. There was no opener and we got there a little bit late, so right as we walked in his back up band Raining Jane was playing without Jason Mraz. I got there and they gave a speech about how they met him at a festival and needed a change of underwear as he loved their set and wanted to record with them. Apparently it went well that he wanted them as his new band.
Jason Mraz performing The Remedy Live.
Right after that speech, out came Jason in his hat as typical. He was charming and started the show with a medley Rise/ Love Someone and Song For a Friend before playing a song that was written for a song writing challenge. That song was Dynamo of Volition, a fast and fun song like the old Jason I remember. The only downfall of the show is that it was one of the only fast songs played. Even The Remedy was changed and played in a slower way. The First half was a fun set of music mostly composed of music from We sing We Dance We Steal Things and Yes, with some Four letter word songs thrown in. The arrangements for the live show were set to string quartets with Jason singing and only a few full band songs. I was OK with that because they were beautifully performed and the second half would have the hits, and it did. The second half had them play I'm Yours, The Remedy, and I Won't Give Up. The show was beautiful and a lot of fun, but I have to admit that the lack of material from his first two albums, and a lack of fast paced songs was a disappointment. I loved what I heard and it was worth it, but his focus on new stuff and complete lack of old music was my biggest fear from the beginning. It's a different Jason from when I knew him, so go see him but keep that in mind.
New Found Glory 3/19/15 Wooly's
Going into this show I hadn't lightened to New Found Glory in a very long time, so for me this was a high school punk rock refresher course. The show had several openers some I loved, some I didn't care for, and New Found Glory. As New Found Glory later explained that was the nature of their fan base. They toured the world with ska bands, punk bands, hardcore bands, and emo bands. Their fan base was a melting pot of all of that put together. The first band was an acoustic duo in the style of Dashboard Confessional, a band I have never been that much of a fan of so I tuned it out and waited. For the next band everyone started to storm the stage to get a better view and I wasn't sure what to expect. What came next was nothing like the first band. A band called Turnstile took the stage and blew everyone away. They were like witnessing a young Black Flag live. I had never seen a band on the rise to what surly would be a long career, but this band is destined for it. They officially converted me. I bought their album and personally think it is the best hardcore album of 2015.
New Found Glory performing My Friends Over You live.
They took the stage with style at 9:30 on the nose. They played material from all of their albums including their debut. They started the show with Selfless and Resurrection from the new album Resurrection before diving into material from their other albums. The show was an hour and half and 21 songs. They ended the set with My Friends Over You from my favorite album Sticks and Stones. The encore was The Ballad For the Lost Romantics, The Story So Far, Intro, and ending the show with All Downhill From You. During the encore they blasted the crowd with a crap ton of confetti. The show was a blast from the past and a ton of fun.
Stevie Wonder 3/29/15 Target Center
Everyone has one of those shows that is like a pipe dream and a footnote on the bottom of a concert bucketlist. I have a few of them, but Stevie Wonder has always been one of them. I saw that he was playing in Minneapolis on a Sunday. I had been watching that show for a while, knowing full on that it was a terrible idea. However I knew that he doesn't tour very often and he is getting up there in age. I didn't want to miss my chance. This show was even more special because he was playing all of his monumental album Songs in the Key of Life. We got to the show and were very thankful for there being no opener and Stevie not coming on time, because the lines were insane and we didn't get into the show until 8:30
Stevie Wonder performing Superstition live.
He came on stage at around 8:40 and he gave his speech about how important tonight was because of how important this music was to many people. His band was the most elaborate thing I have ever seen. He had a horn section, back up singers galore, guitarists, bassists, organ players, piano players, drummers, and a string section local to Minneapolis. He played the entire album all the way through stopping several times to do bits, tell stories, jokes, and just in general be charming as hell. He did a bit where challenged the back up signers to a sing off and of course he won, but they sounded great and he won because they stopped out of respect. After the first half of his set he came back to do his second half and was greeted by the mayor who presented him with a plaque and a key to the city for his movements to equal rights, charities, and for helping create MLK day. They also official named March 29th Stevie Wonder day in Minneapolis.
He played all of the hits on the album like he hadn't aged a day; Sir Duke, As, and Isn't She Lovely sounded amazing like his voice hadn't aged a day. I could've listened to him all day, and we practically did. After he finished Songs in the Key of Life, he said that it was past his bed time and if we wanted more music that we would have to except him as his DJ alter ego DJ Tick Tick Boom because Stevie Wonder had left the building. For a while he played around with DJ things, before he launched into parts of songs starting with Part Time Lover and several others before launching into an amazing version of Higher Ground. After that he played Living in the City and ended the show with the obvious closer Superstition. This show was unbelievable on every level, a legend performing as a true legend. The band was awesome and full of experts, the bits and stories were great, and Stevie himself sounded as he always did. He blew the crowd away. The show was a marathon for both him and the audience lasting from 8:30 to midnight and 29 full songs. I am amazed he can do that. If you ever get the chance to see him, go!
No comments:
Post a Comment