So yesterday concluded my week of adventure with a trip to see Jason Mraz in concert.
I had two tickets, so I took my sister. We got to the venue a four hours early because I had been there monday to see Ed Sheeran and it was PACKED. Admittedly, Jason Mraz does not have the same kind of following of pre-teens and obsessive fans that will wait all day, so four hours may have been a little unnecessary. But three or two hours was definitely completely fine. We were really close to the front of the line though, so it meant we got a really good place to stand in the theater (we were General Admission).
It was at the Wiltern and the way the wiltern is set up on the ground floor is that there is a VIP section which is right in front of the stage. You have to pay extra money to get to go in the VIP section. However, the rest of the floor is raised, pretty much the same level as the stage, and starts with a barrier maybe 15 feet from the stage. My sister and I were right there at the barrier, in the middle.
What was so great about the concert we went to was the fact that is was not part of his Love is a 4 letter word tour, it was just an additional acoustic show he decided to play. So there wasn't a set or any script or anything he had to stick to. and dear god that man can play. He told the audience that he and his band agreed not to rehearse anything for this show, so it was all made up on the spot. He even did a bit of free styling! it was totally adorable and amazing, and he is extremely funny and charismatic. some highlights include:
-noticing that he wasn't wearing any shoes at all throughout the entire performance
-his description of the green drink he had with him on stage: "i know what you're thinking, so yes, i am drinking unicorn tears. but don't worry, no unicorns were harmed in the procuring of this drink. we did not force sadness upon any unicorns, we just waited for them to produce them naturally. that sounded really creepy. it was fine until the end. then it sounded creepy."
- the stage was set up to look like a coffee shop with books and candles because he sent the theater a picture of his favorite cafe and asked if they could make it look like that. so adorable.
HE SANG A SONG TO ME. JASON MRAZ SANG SLEEPING TO DREAM TO ME. EYE CONTACT WAS MADE. AND HE POINTED AT ME. AND WINKED. AND KEPT EYE CONTACT THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE SONG.
i was in the lucky position of being just slightly to the right of center, and so he kept looking over and making eye contact with me. and the house lights kept turning on, so he could see my face clearly (plus even in the darkness i was only 15 feet away). so he sang all of sleeping to dream while looking at me, and then just glanced over a lot also. talk. about. swooning. i thought i might die.
however, i will say, a lot of his fans were really rude. Like, the people in line around me who were dedicated fans and had waited a long time were really nice, and i made a lot of friends. however, the people standing beside me during the concert? rude as hell. i had one girl continuously poke my in the back on purpose because she wanted me to move. she didn't say "hey could you please move" she just poked me over and over. how do i know she wanted me to move then? because i overheard her talking to her friend about how i wasn't moving and she wanted me to move and she felt like she should steal something from my bag as revenge. people also just shouted a lot and were pushing and shoving. like, I'm not a tall person. its pretty easy to see over me. especially if you're a grown man. so stop whining and trying to push me out of the way. seriously. you are much bigger than me. just stop.