American singer-songwriter Jason Mraz, accompanied by percussionist Noel “Toca” Rivera, serenaded thousands of his Filipino fans in a special acoustic concert on Sunday. Photo by Kris Rocha for Dayly Entertainment
MANILA, Philippines — American singer-songwriter Jason Mraz regaled a capacity crowd of screaming fans at his concert Sunday night (October 30) at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Sporting long hair, a Van Dyke beard and t-shirt emblazoned with “Peace,” the Virginia-born Mraz – whose grandfather is of Czech descent – was in turn overwhelmed at the wild, grand reception he got from his Filipino fans.
Playing with a setup of acoustic guitars and accompanied by his lone backup, Noel “Toca” Rivera on percussion, Mraz performed songs from his three studio albums – 2002’s “Waiting for My Rocket to Come,” 2005’s “Mr. A-Z,” 2008’s “We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.”
He spiced up his original “If It Kills Me” with a snippet from The Beatles’ “Across the Universe,” as well as a cover of the pop standard “Fly Me to the Moon,” and interspersed his own tune, “The Remedy,” with Oasis’ “Wonderwall.”
The audience couldn’t get enough of listening to the heartwarming appeal of Mraz’s songs which included “The Woman I Love,” “A Beautiful Mess,” “You and I Both” and his biggest hit thus far, “I’m Yours.” The acoustic, reggae-inflected song, which peaked at No. 6 and spent 76 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, has been famously covered by Taylor Swift and Bruno Mars in their respective concerts also at the Big Dome.
Jason Mraz was overwhelmed by the warm reception he received from his Filipino fans during his concert at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday. Photo by Kris Rocha for Dayly Entertainment
Overall the atmosphere was marked by free-flowing positive vibes which, some members in the audience said, was like “getting high without drugs.”
The concert, which came on the heels of simultaneous (and expensive) shows of the Black Eyed Peas (BEP) and David Foster and Friends, was remarkable for its reasonably-priced tickets. If the promoters of BEP and Foster suffered from the prohibitive production costs of their artists, the people who brought in Mraz (Dayly Entertainment) probably made a good profit.