Jason Mraz w/ G. Love, K'Naan, Bushwalla

Uptown Amphitheatre/Fillmore

July 28, 2009

Photos coming soon!

The Deal: Jason Mraz and G. Love move outdoor show at Uptown Amphitheatre into The Fillmore after heavy downpour.

The Good: The concert was supposed to happen at the Uptown Amphitheatre, but rain came pouring down part-way through K'Naan's set. As people scrambled for shelter from the thunderstorm, a stage was slowly put together inside the neighboring Fillmore. Though roughly 4,000 tickets were sold for the show, only 2,000 would get into The Fillmore — a lot of people left in the rain and 1,800 stuck around. I also heard that lawn ticket holders were told they could not get into The Fillmore. What those in attendance got was a 45-minute, solo acoustic set by G. Love and a nearly two-hour acoustic, full-band set by Mraz. (Mraz was only scheduled for an hour and 15 minutes for outside, but I guess the three-hour wait was worth it for those who remained.)

G. Love remained seated and alone on stage for his set that included a few requests. He also told the crowd that "the rain sucked. We'll be back to play a full show as soon as we can." He incorporated a good bit of crowd participation during "Baby's Got Sauce" and "Who's Got the Weed."

Mraz hit the stage with his full band for a long set that ended around 1 a.m. The singer/songwriter clearly was having a good time and extended some of the songs into short jammy/jazzy moments. The stage cleared for him to perform "The Sunshine Song" on his own and he was joined by G. Love and Bushwalla for "Curbside Prophet." He thanked the crowd for sticking around and paused for a moment to let neighbors thank each other for being a part of the night.

After being joined by Alysse of Cafe Gratitude for Lucky, he performed a two-song encore — "Fall Through Glass" with Bushwalla and "Butterfly."

The Bad: The rain. Thousands of concert-goers braved massive thunderstorms in the hopes the show would go on... and wound up leaving. It's hard to blame the bands — with all of that heavy rain soaking speakers and equipment, no one was there to see a musician get electrocuted. It's the chance you take with an outdoor venue. On clear nights, it's a fantastic place to see a show. Mraz has rescheduled the show for those who didn't get to see the acoustic performance for Sept. 10 at the Uptown Amphitheatre.

The Verdict: G. Love and Mraz could have packed up and left, but thanks go to the performers and crew for getting everything set up at The Fillmore and to the crowd for sticking around and remaining orderly inside and outside both venues. It wound up being a great performance by both musicians that those in attendance felt lucky to witness.

G. Love setlist

Still hangin' round

Fresh lila

Sunshine

Dirty booty call

Fixing to die

When we meet again

Sauce

Breaking down

Cold Beverages

Jason Mraz setlist

Reggaedy (Remedy)

Dynamo of Volition

Unfold

Beautiful Mess

The Only Live You Can Save

Pain & Joy > Live High

Abso-Zero

Life is Wonderful

Anything You Want

The Sunshine Song

You and I Both/Sleeping to Dream

Curbside Prophet (with G. Love and Bushwalla)

Traveler

Make it Mine

Lucky (with Alysse)

I'm Yours

Encore

Glass

Butterfly