My Mraz concert experience :)

Wow, so it's been kind of a looooong time since I've written here! Forgive me if I ramble, but I intend on including every detail! (No matter how ridiculous!) First I'd just like to say that I'm unbelievably grateful that I made it through the entire show. I didn't have to leave early, or move back to lawn seats due to noise. And I was relatively pain free for most of the show! Thank heavens for pain killers! Let me explain. I found out I needed sinus surgery and they wanted to do it as soon as possible because of the amount of pain it's causing me. But recovery time would have meant I would miss Mraz, so I told them hell no, give me pain killers I'm NOT missing this! So it's scheduled for October 5th. Once we found this out, my mother wrote a letter to all the contacts on Mraz's website to try and see if he would give me a shout-out, or if we could say a quick hello. It included the story of how I wouldn't go to the ER after coughing up blood until I pre-ordered LIAFLW so it would be signed. It's a pretty cute letter, and I love my mom for trying hard to surprise me. Obviously we never heard back. Lol. But I give her an A for effort! Days before the show we had discussed what we would do if I couldn't make it through the show. We would try lawn seats, and if that didn't work my mom and I would go out to the parking lot to listen while my brother and cousin stayed inside. I almost had to go in for surgery and miss it completely because the pain got so bad I couldn't move. But thankfully I caught a break on concert day and made it!! And it was worth all the hell I've been putting up with all month! Especially considering I saved all of my money for the past year for these tickets. The tour dates were announced the day of my last surgery, so when they went on sale I went to the Wal-Mart ticketmaster store all doped up on pain meds, in my pajama's, on a motor scooter cart to get the damn tickets! So I knew there was no waaaay I was missing it! So we were all getting ready and I asked my brother if he wanted to borrow my fedora, expecting a big fat "Are you crazy?" But he said yes and thank you and wore it all night! I was the proudest big sister EVER! So we were cranking my big stack of Mraz CD's in the car and my brother, mom and I were totally rocking out and getting all giddy discussing what we would love him to play the most. We picked up my cousin, and her and I started gushing over the last time we saw him (3 YEARS AGO!) and I was so excited and happy I was literally holding back tears the entire time. Silly, I know. So we're at the venue and I'm literally bouncing in line. I look to my cousin and say "We're in the same town as JASON MRAZ!" So of course she laughs at me and calls me crazy. They start letting people in and my heart is racing! And then, WE'RE IN! Again, I'm almost in tears. But those start to subside when we get to the merch booth and serious decision making has to happen! ;) The whole time we're walking around, I'm humming, smiling like a fool, (probably appear a tad bit loony but I couldn't possibly care!) And I was hunting for one of my nurses who went, and the Chaplain from the hospital who was at the last Mraz concert I went to! Never did find them. We get to our seats and I am bouncing. AGAIN. And I'm just going on and on about how excited I am and I'm counting down the minutes and I'm even annoyed at myself just by typing this. Lol. Almost crying, again. And I hear a voice. "What's up Chicago!!!!" And I think to myself "That sounds like, Jason! Couldn't be. The big band never introduces the opening act." And before I know it he's on the stage. I'm still trying to figure out who it is. It takes the reaction of the crowd for me to get it. "HOLY CRAP IT'S JASON! HE'S RIGHT THERE! IT'S ACTUALLY HIM!" And I get kooky looks from my cousin and mom as if to say "DUH!" So he's introducing Christina Perri, in khaki shorts, fedora, and knee high tube socks, and he just starts doing the robot and before I know it, he's gone. Christina Perri comes out, thanks Jason and compliments his socks. She was pretty damn good! So she's gone, and I'm about ready to cry again because HOLY COW JASON MRAZ COMES OUT IN JUST 1 HOUR! They're setting up his stage, and time is surprisingly flying by. Before I know it, the lights are off, the crowd goes crazy, and I just lose my mind. Silently. I didn't scream, or cry, or anything. I just stood there quietly clapping like a stupid seal, with a smile that made my face ache. He comes out and says "LET'S MAKE SOME ILLI-NOISE!!!" I hear the horns, I look to my mom, and then he plays Everything Is Sound. The second my mom and I heard that song, we said, at the same time, "I hope he opens with this!" So we hug, and we're both almost brought to tears, but we're to excited and busy singing to actually cry. And from then on, I was gone. He played Won't You Be My Neighbor, which made me giggle. Before playing "This Is What Our Love Looks Like" he says "This one's for, Tina!" and I turn to my cousin and inform her "That's just code for, Dahlia". So I get another crazy looks. He played Plane and I was in a trance. That song is SO powerful and he puts EVERYTHING into it! During "You Did It" I was an absolute spaz. I was bouncing in my chair to the point where I have bruises on my legs, clapping, and singing EVERY word! My family didn't watch the show, they were watching me. They were impressed I knew all the words, but they're still giving me a hard time for the bouncing. Oh well! He started playing the guitar a little bit, and I look to my mom and say "If this is A Beautiful Mess, you better give me every tissue you have stashed in your purse" and right after that, he starts it. I immediately start sobbing, all until he messes up the words and then I get confused, he gets confused, and asks to go backwards, and thanks us for our forgiveness. Such a cool dude. I'm Yours came on and was of course deafening. He comes back out for All Dialed In and Distance, which was OUTSTANDING! And then, I Won't Give Up. I'm surprised I held it together for that one. And then it was over. I was singing the whole way out, despite my mom, brother and cousin mocking me for the loon I was during the show. It was the best night of my life. I still can't believe I was lucky enough to go, and make it through the entire show. I hope he doesn't stay away for another 3 years. But I almost feel that's what made this so special. So there it is. My incredibly long and detailed Mraz concert experience :)