Life > April 17, 2008

By Caroline Edgeton | Staff writer

As the semester is coming to an end, final projects and exams are looming around the corner and bring mountains (and mountains) of stress upon all of our shoulders.

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Though the university’s student body is under ridiculous amounts of pressure at the moment, we were all given the chance to unwind with a beyond energetic performance. To tie up our “rescheduled” Springfest festivities, Jason Mraz took the stage at Wait Chapel on April 16 with magician Justin Kredible, indie-folk groupThe Makepeace Brothers and rapper Bushwalla as a part of his “Music, Magic, and Make Peace” tour. Let’s just say this concert was absolutely worth waiting for.

Bringing the audience immediately to their feet upon his initial stage appearance, Jason Mraz performed an upbeat and harmonious concert for everyone to enjoy and remember. Filling the room with insane amounts of energy, you really did not see anybody standing still. To be honest, I don’t think it was humanly possible to do so. Performing mostly new music, Mraz did not fail to satisfy everyone’s desire for him to sing a few older tunes that many know from his two studio released albums Waiting for My Rocket to Come and Mr. A-Z. I will say, the new music is definitely worth checking out. Some songs are about love while others are free-styled stories about a friend who smoked it up while attending college in “Cannabis Country.”

Receiving much acclaim for his 2002 debut album, Waiting for My Rocket to Come “skyrocketed” him to fame and car stereos rapidly.

With his smooth and impressive falsetto voice, “The Remedy (I Won’t Worry)” became Mraz’s first single.

Interestingly enough, this song never gets old for anybody. Though he performed it in a different manner than what we’re used to from the album, everybody was in all smiles when he sang the first lyrics. Also performing “There’s No Stopping Us” and “You and I Both” from Rocket in the encore, all of his old listeners (myself included) were very happy. He also sang the fairly popular song “Geek in the Pink” from Mr. A-Z, which certainly kept audience members in tune with the older Mraz melodies. His new studio album, though, We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things is set to come out on May 13.

This multi-instrumental musician and songwriter hailing from Mechanicsville, Va., began his career in New York at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy during a brief study in musical theatre. Not attending for very long, Mraz moved to San Diego to begin a music career and, indeed, received what he wanted.

He was quickly picked up by Elektra Records and began recording his first album. Not long after, he was the opening act for many famous musicians such as The Rolling Stones, Alanis Morissette and the Dave Matthews Band.

Though Jason Mraz was clearly the star of the evening’s performance, the opening acts were just as praise worthy. Justin Kredible, a magician who introduced and emceed the show, fully entertained the audience with his youthful humor ranging from “that’s what she said” jokes to corny puns that we all love to make when given the right opportunity (admit it, they’re fun!).

Receiving popularity from his appearances on The Rachel Ray Show, The Today Show, The Dennis Miller Show and MTV’s Room 401, his mix of comedy and skilled magic tricks definitely keep audiences amused to the utmost degree. Even though many from the university may not have heard of this very funny magic man, he has obtained plenty of attention from other universities all around the country. In 2007, Campus Activities Magazine named him “Entertainer of the Year,” which certainly boosted his well-deserved public recognition even more. After watching magical illusions and laughing hysterically, the audience was prepared for a fun-filled evening. The first opening musical act was band from Ithaca, N.Y., known as The Makepeace Brothers. Their music provided an interesting contrast to the Mraz music we were all expecting to hear. Performing a more folk style type of music, it opposed the pop/folk/jazz/hip-hop style that Mraz’s music entails. The mellow songs were enjoyable to watch and listen to; I recommend downloading the song “Caroline” not because I’m being biased, but because it is a very good song.

This talented group should certainly be well noted. Not to mention, they are all fairly attractive.

The group has been touring with Mraz since the beginning of the month, making their name appear in all sorts of venues. In addition to the musical talents of The Makepeace Brothers, singer/rapper Bushwalla brought a whole new level of energy to the stage. This quirky but extremely gifted musician has a presence that is unlike any other.

Once more, we were given with a subtle contrast to the music we all paid to go see. Before singing anything, he opened his portion of the evening with beat boxing that quickly turned into a dance-worthy number. The rest of his songs were all rhythmically and lyrically entertaining. His style and humor made his contribution to the night undoubtedly a highlight. Bushwalla known Mraz since his time at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy.

There, the two immediately became friends and roommates while also collaborating their similar interests in music and performing. One can definitely see the bond between the two of them while on stage for they seem to truly be in tune with each other’s music styles to a T.

While Bushwalla was performing, Mraz played the tambourine, ukulele and other various instruments while sporting a fake mustache, sunglasses and referring to himself as Enrique. They are both very funny together, as well. What made this concert different from many shows I have gone to in the past is the fact that all three musical performers would sing songs together.

“It was so cool how they all united to make this show work,” Freshman Cara Phillips said. “It wasn’t like we came to watch two separate acts then Jason Mraz. We actually came to watch a concert where all the musical acts came together to give us a really good show.”

Hopefully, we will be seeing more Springfest performances of similarly high qualilty in the future. The entire evening from start to finish was full of energy, humor, amusement and unquestionable talent. This was definitely not your typical study break.