Cambridge is delightful, and this afternoon I watched the punters (!!) float on the river Cam from my wee balcony. (Oh, Romeo….) There were people in hats
picnicking sur l'herbe - much like that painting I saw at the Courtauld Institute on Sunday ( 'cept the girl had clothes on…). I highly
recommend getting lost on foot in this town, with its old walls and lumpy alley-ways, and little moats for sewers. These make it easy to picture the plague
flowing through the ditches by torchlight to carry off the best minds of some medieval generation. It's romantic in its own twisted way, despite the urge
to shout "Bring out your dead!"as an homage to Monty Python.
Aaaaaanywho, there was also a Mraz show.
Despite my fear I might just be having acid flashbacks from April, the Makepeace Brothers were, in fact, entertaining the line outside before doors. I didn't keep great notes, sadly:
I don't remember what
Caroline
Please Believe Me
El Pastel
Something else I can't remember right now
Hero
Treat Her Right (I think)
(enter Mraz)
La da da
The Boogie Song
An improv ditty, featuring Toca & Mraz
Inside, the opening act was Gideon Cohn (sp?) , who is scary at first, but more fun than you can shake a stick at. Think Bushwalla meets Two Spot Gobi meets game show theme songs.
Setlist:
Jason enters, humming along with Hall & Oates's "Baby Come Back". He's brought a fan to share with the crowd.
Tonight, Not Again (with Baby Come Back insert)
A get-used-to-the-place improv
The Remedy (w/ bass + In the Future + Wonderwall)
Mraz introduces his superband, Lavese Las Manos & His Orchestra
Live High, with the horns on the barriers
Only Human
Dramatica Mujer (Not So Spanish, really)
Mraz introduces his superband, Jesus Party Band
Bella Luna (w/ bass and trombone solos)
Summer Breeze
If It Kills Me
Cannabis College (by request)
Exeunt Leroys
Beautiful Mess (w/ Toca), which will make you appreciate the silence of the crowd
1000 Things (w/ Toca), and one of the better performances of this song I've ever heard
Dynamo of Volition. See, now - THIS is why it's better if you all do the dance, too. It's less embarrassing for me. I'm just sayin'...
Make It Mine
Mraz introduces his superband, Ian Sheridan and the Shots (at least that's what I think he said…)
Papillon (You've Got It All), dedicated to the Frenchies. ohgoodlordinheaven,thehorns!
=========================== Encore, aka A brief interlude during which the crowd wonders aloud when he'll play I'm Yours =========================
Crane (shit yeah)
I'm Yours, w/ Paul (y'all), the winner of the I'm Yours contest - bebo, was it? You GO, Paul! Also featuring 3 Little Birds (none of whom can whistle and smile at the same time).
No Stopping Us, packed full of:
--A snippet of We're in This Love Together (at least, J and Toca are….)
--The Ode to Invisible Gum
--An operatic moment
--The Toca Cabana Theme Song
--6 Claires doing hair
Really, really weird crowd. The bookish blokes here in Cambridge, it seems, are super-attentive, very enthusiastic, and stock-still. The setlist started with a run of mid-tempo stuff. Mraz himself woke up some time during Cannabis College, cleared his throat and turned in a fantastic performance for the rest of the night. Besides that, the sound was quirky, the lights were wretched, and whoever designed those barriers to be slanted at the back was a sadist.
It was a great. fuckin'. time.
FINALLY got to say hello to Anna and her friend Scott after the show, and Damien too -- all too briefly, though. Best surprise of the night: MILAD! I had no idea he would be at the show, and I was sooooo psyched to see him, and meet a few of his friends. Somehow I toddled off without getting a hug goodbye though.
Good news: Milad travels very much like Bruski -- with bounding good humor and a tendency toward weird but wonderful adventures.
Aaaaaanywho, there was also a Mraz show.
Despite my fear I might just be having acid flashbacks from April, the Makepeace Brothers were, in fact, entertaining the line outside before doors. I didn't keep great notes, sadly:
I don't remember what
Caroline
Please Believe Me
El Pastel
Something else I can't remember right now
Hero
Treat Her Right (I think)
(enter Mraz)
La da da
The Boogie Song
An improv ditty, featuring Toca & Mraz
Inside, the opening act was Gideon Cohn (sp?) , who is scary at first, but more fun than you can shake a stick at. Think Bushwalla meets Two Spot Gobi meets game show theme songs.
Setlist:
Jason enters, humming along with Hall & Oates's "Baby Come Back". He's brought a fan to share with the crowd.
Tonight, Not Again (with Baby Come Back insert)
A get-used-to-the-place improv
The Remedy (w/ bass + In the Future + Wonderwall)
Mraz introduces his superband, Lavese Las Manos & His Orchestra
Live High, with the horns on the barriers
Only Human
Dramatica Mujer (Not So Spanish, really)
Mraz introduces his superband, Jesus Party Band
Bella Luna (w/ bass and trombone solos)
Summer Breeze
If It Kills Me
Cannabis College (by request)
Exeunt Leroys
Beautiful Mess (w/ Toca), which will make you appreciate the silence of the crowd
1000 Things (w/ Toca), and one of the better performances of this song I've ever heard
Dynamo of Volition. See, now - THIS is why it's better if you all do the dance, too. It's less embarrassing for me. I'm just sayin'...
Make It Mine
Mraz introduces his superband, Ian Sheridan and the Shots (at least that's what I think he said…)
Papillon (You've Got It All), dedicated to the Frenchies. ohgoodlordinheaven,thehorns!
=========================== Encore, aka A brief interlude during which the crowd wonders aloud when he'll play I'm Yours =========================
Crane (shit yeah)
I'm Yours, w/ Paul (y'all), the winner of the I'm Yours contest - bebo, was it? You GO, Paul! Also featuring 3 Little Birds (none of whom can whistle and smile at the same time).
No Stopping Us, packed full of:
--A snippet of We're in This Love Together (at least, J and Toca are….)
--The Ode to Invisible Gum
--An operatic moment
--The Toca Cabana Theme Song
--6 Claires doing hair
Really, really weird crowd. The bookish blokes here in Cambridge, it seems, are super-attentive, very enthusiastic, and stock-still. The setlist started with a run of mid-tempo stuff. Mraz himself woke up some time during Cannabis College, cleared his throat and turned in a fantastic performance for the rest of the night. Besides that, the sound was quirky, the lights were wretched, and whoever designed those barriers to be slanted at the back was a sadist.
It was a great. fuckin'. time.
FINALLY got to say hello to Anna and her friend Scott after the show, and Damien too -- all too briefly, though. Best surprise of the night: MILAD! I had no idea he would be at the show, and I was sooooo psyched to see him, and meet a few of his friends. Somehow I toddled off without getting a hug goodbye though.
Good news: Milad travels very much like Bruski -- with bounding good humor and a tendency toward weird but wonderful adventures.
