Trevor has had the fun luck of attending a bunch of concerts around town with our friend Jim, a parent from Shelby's school, who is the local newspapers' music critic. He's seen the Killers, George Strait, the Lumineers, Boyz II Men/98 Degrees/NKOTB (you read that one right! SO jealous!), and even an early screening of the Hobbit. So back in the spring Trevor asked me if there was anyone that I would love to see in concert and I said Bruno Mars. I love him and his music. And so for our anniversary in May, Trevor surprised me with tickets for his concert in San Jose in July! I was SO EXCITED! It was a long wait and totally worth it. The show exceeded my expectations and it was a night I'll never forget! A few nights after this show Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake performed at Candlestick...but I definitely think I made the right decision with Bruno Mars, because at the VMA's last Sunday when Justin performed for 15 minutes and reunited Nsync it sure felt like I went to his concert!
Okay...back to our epic date night.
The warm up act was Ellie Goulding. I love her songs, though as the opening act she didn't get a big stage or any pyrotechnics or even that many cheers! But I still liked hearing her sing live. And check her out in the San Jose Sharks jersey! Of course my favorite thing about her is that she was the only singer asked to perform at Kate and William's reception. :) We have the same taste in music Kate, let's be friends!
The show started 45 minutes late and I was getting so antsy! Start the party!
It definitely built the anticipation of the sold out crowd!
We made sure to pick up some ear plugs, since Trevor is a seasoned concert goer now, and they really helped. I like his music but not enough to damage my hearing! I couldn't believe how loud it was! Even with the ear plugs you could still hear every word and note but the bonus was there was no ringing in our ears afterwards!
The show was AMAZING! Bruno was entertaining, funny, and pitch perfect.
Here's what he played on July 25 at the SAP Center in San Jose:
1. "Moonshine"
2. "Natalie"
3. "Treasure"
4."Money (That's What I Want) / "Billionaire"
5."Show Me"
6. "Our First Time"
7. "Marry You"
8. "If I Knew"/"It Will Rain"
9. "Runaway Baby"
10. "Nothin' on You"
11. "When I Was Your Man"
12. "Grenade"
13. "Just the Way You Are"
Encore:
14. "Locked Out of Heaven"
15. "Gorilla"
He performed Gorilla on the MTV Video Music Awards the exact same way as he performed it at his concert with the lights and stage set up and graphics and everything, except of course live is even better!
We spotted our friend Jim the critic as we were hustling back to our cars. After attending concerts with him Trevor knew the inside scoop on the best (free!) parking spots so we ended up parking right next to each other. We chatted about what his review would be the next day and I confessed that it was only the second concert of my life, the other one was an American Idol concert when I was way prego with Shelby. It was the year of David Archuleta and Brooke White! (in other words the BEST year of AI) So in his review he gave us a little shout out. :) It was interesting to talk to him because he is not a fan of Bruno Mars' music at all, but as a critic he said the show was perfect and as a performer and hit maker Bruno is awesome. During the concert he texted Trevor and said that "Bruno Mars makes me want to hurt kittens." LOL! It would be hard to have to listen to music you don't like as your job! Hahaha!
Here's his articles that were online and ready for the printed newspaper by 3 in the morning!
He's got a crazy job!
Harrington: Bruno Mars' 5 worst and 5 best hits
Bruno Mars is a hit machine. He keeps cranking out hit after hit. Not all of them are good -- and here are the worst:
1. "The Lazy Song" -- I'm willing to exercise, if it means I don't have to hear this song again.
2. "Billionaire" -- How much would it cost to get radio stations to stop playing this song?
3. "When I Was Your Man" -- Mars says it's hard to sing this song. Ironically, it's also hard to listen to.
4. "Grenade" -- A song with this title should be more explosive, no?
5. "Marry You" -- OK, so I just made the thousands of couples who've used this as a wedding dance tune mad. My apologies.
Here are his best:
1. "Nothin' on You" -- It's a solid collaboration with B.o.B.
2. "Mirror" -- OK, so I like just about anything with Lil Wayne on it.
3. "Just the Way You Are" -- The song is pretty amazing. Just the way it is.
4. "Locked Out of Heaven" -- Not quite heavenly, but still a decent tune.
5. "Moonshine" -- Is it intoxicating? No. But it delivers a pretty good buzz.
Follow Jim Harrington at http://twitter.com/jimthecritic.
And here is the review of the concert itself:
Bruno Mars is in "the zone."
He's flying in rarefied air, in the same space where elite athletes like LeBron James and Serena Williams travel. Only his success doesn't translate to championship trophies. It's told on the Billboard charts.
Not even three years into his solo career, the 27-year-old Hawaiian is turning out smash pop singles at a mind-boggling pace. It's like Creedence Clearwater Revival in the late '60s, Elton John in the early '70s and Mariah Carey throughout the '90s. Even Mars' mediocre offerings -- of which there are plenty -- shoot up the charts.
It's no wonder that Mars' current Moonshine Jungle Tour is one of the year's hottest treks. It packed the recently renamed SAP Center (formerly the HP Pavilion) in San Jose to capacity on Thursday night.
It was a solid outing for the multiplatinum star, whose skills onstage might even surpass what he shows in the studio. He's an old-school entertainer, borrowing from the best -- Michael Jackson, James Brown, Al Green -- and ignoring the rest.
His greatest challenge onstage, ironically, is his own songbook. Sure, it's chock full of hits. It's also rather tepid, full of tunes that make Hootie and the Blowfish come across like Slayer. Music for the American Idol era. Mars' ability to incorporate different musical styles and still wind up with a homogeneous sound intended for mass consumption is nothing short of astounding.
Although the songs were sometimes bland and boring, Mars' performance of them sure wasn't. Kicking off with an energetic version of "Moonshine," Mars worked hard for fans' money throughout the approximately 100-minute concert.
The show was short on special effects, at least until the confetti-drenched, pyrotechnics-fueled ending. Yet, Mars didn't really need them. His remarkable star power -- the kind that can elicit squeals from the crowd with a simple hand gesture -- was more than enough to light up the hockey arena as he rolled through tracks from his two studio albums (2010's "Doo-Wops and Hooligans" and 2012's "Unorthodox Jukebox") as well as other material.
When he wasn't leading his top-notch band, which boasted a mighty three-piece horn section, Mars did a fine job engaging the crowd with funny stage banter and time-honored tricks of the trade. He gave the crowd a lesson in "R&B 101," teaching us the importance of hollering "damn" onstage, and tried to convince the crowd to put down their smart phones for the evening.
"We came here to get y'all shaking and dancing. You can't really do that if you're videotaping," said Mars, likely hoping to avoid being the subject of thousands of new blurry videos on YouTube and out-of-focus pictures on Instagram. "Put the cameras away. Tonight is for us and only us."
The funniest moment of the night came when he tried to find a woman in the crowd to serenade. There were, of course, several willing volunteers, but Mars was looking for one who wouldn't get him in trouble.
"Looks like you've got a big ol' boyfriend," he said to one volunteer. "I don't know if I want to (expletive) with that."
He drew the main set to a close by playing four straight No. 1 hits — "Nothin' on You," "When I Was Your Man," "Grenade" and "Just the Way You Are." For the encore, he rolled out another chart-topper, "Locked Out of Heaven."
After all that, he still didn't get around to playing all his No. 1 hits. For an artist with only two full-length solo albums to his credit, that's truly amazing.
Also, besides it being only my second concert, it was the FIRST night I've spent away from my children. Once I spent a night away from Shelby but I was 9 months pregnant with Cora, so I don't think it counts! And technically I did spent nights away from Shelby when I had a c-section with Cora...but those don't count either! It was weird, I totally still woke up early! The girls did great and clearly Grandma has no end of fun toys, especially bath toys! They made her sleep with them in their room at her house, but Grandma didn't mind! I hope! :) Thanks Mom and Dad!
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