George Washington University's Smith Center light-rocked to its fullest extent during a Ben Folds and Jason Mraz double-headliner concert Friday night.
The basketball arena transformed to fit a full stage as college students packed both the floor and the bleachers. Loyalties were immediately noticeable as swarms of both Folds and Mraz T-shirts adorned much of the crowd.
GW's co-ed a cappella group The Vibes opened the show with three songs, including a Ben Folds cover. Folds then took the stage to thunderous applause and wasted no time as he immediately hit the piano.
From start to finish, Folds took little time to talk and played song after song, barely waiting for clapping to finish before launching into another piece. Folds started off the show by playing a new '80s-sounding song entitled "Way to Normal," named the same as his latest album.
Though Folds played new songs, he catered to those who knew him best, playing many old tunes of both his own and from his previous group, Ben Folds Five. Favorites like "Brick" and "Army" were met by a sea of cell phone lights in the audience waving in rhythmic unison. "Zak and Sara" was met with jumping up and down throughout the crowd as people rocked out to the upbeat tune.
Folds showed off his musical talent and ingenuity as he explained to the audience how to give his trusted piano a different sound and proceeded to put Altoid cans in between some of the strings. By adding the distorter pedal, Folds created a clanky, old-fashioned player - piano jingle that was met with hoots and faces of shock as concertgoers marveled at the unique sound.
Folds closed his portion of the show with a rousing rendition of "Rockin' the Suburbs," standing on top of his piano while creating a sing-a-long with audience members.
After a quick set change, Jason Mraz took the stage and was met with high-pitched screams from the audience. Mraz launched immediately into "Make it Mine" off of his newest album, "We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things."
Not forgetting about those that had followed him since his first big hit in 2003, Mraz next played "The Remedy (I Won't Worry)" before transitioning it into a sing-a-long round with the girls of the audience singing the title lyric of the song mixed with the boys singing Oasis' "Wonderwall."
Chatting with the audience in between songs, Mraz talked about Valentine's Day and was met with laughter as he encouraged concertgoers to "privately love" themselves on the special day. He then launched into one of his old, cheeky songs "Clockwatching," joking with the audience in between the not-so-subtle lyrics - after singing the line, "So what if a two-pump chump can't last, who knew I'd come so fast," he turned to the audience and said, "Right, fellas?" and was met with roars of applause.
Continuing his interaction with the crowd, Mraz also dedicated a love song from one audience member to another before playing his haunting piece, "A Beautiful Mess." He also made audience members stand up and gave them specific dance moves to do during his fast-paced "Dynamo of Volition."
Though Mraz played songs from all over his discography, the current hit "I'm Yours" was met with the greatest audience reaction. Within the first few opening notes, concertgoers were singing louder than Mraz, making it sound more like a newer intense, upbeat version of "Kumbaya" than a song currently gracing the top of the charts.
Brought back onstage by a chanting and seat-stomping encore, Mraz played "No Stopping Us" as he took Polaroids of all the members of his band as well as himself and threw them into the crowd. He then took a picture of the audience for himself and stuffed it in his back pocket. Mraz closed the show with his overtly sexual "Butterfly" as audience members stood and danced.
Folds and Mraz mixed different components of their respective piano and guitar-driven music to put on a unique show that was able to please fans of any type of music, ranging from slow ballads to light rock tunes to hip-hop infused raps.
You can reach this staff writer at cmoore@theeagleonline.com.
