Jason Mraz's Beautiful Mess - Live on Earth CD/DVD set, which was released on November 10, was recorded in Chicago in August 2009 during Mraz's Gratitude Cafe Tour. In this live recording, Mraz's vocals are impeccable as he sings the majority of songs from his latest album, We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things, including his mega-hit "I'm Yours". Mraz's vocal range can be appreciated much more by listening to the CD without the distractions of the fast-paced edits on the DVD.
One of the bonuses of going to see Mraz in concert is that he almost always surprises the audience by performing a new cover song or a new unreleased song that he's written. While I have seen Mraz perform a great version of Lionel Richie's "All Night Long" before as well as the unreleased "Anything You Want", I had never heard him sing the "Sunshine Song", which to me is worth the price of the CD/DVD.
And even on the DVD, Mraz still finds a way to surprise the viewers. After the final song in the encore of "Butterfly", Mraz takes to the stage by himself to sing an acoustic version of "The Boy's Gone." Come to find after the song is over, the camera pans out to the audience which is empty! Even the Chicago audience didn't see this one.
The DVD also includes two bonus videos: Un Beau Desordre, which means "A Beautiful Mess" in French, which is a parody of Mraz acting like a superstar diva, and We Sing. We Dance. We Make Videos. which offers a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Mraz's three most recent music videos for "I'm Yours", "Make It Mine" and "Lucky". While the interview with director, Darren Doane, proves to be interesting and insightful, it seems maybe the actual conversation about the music videos with Jason and Darren could have been done in a more formal setting instead of both of them staring into a camera hooked onto the top of their computer.
Another bonus of going to see Jason Mraz live (at least for the female fans) is watching him dance spontaneously to his own music. Through the expressions on his face and the movement of his hips, you can tell that Mraz really feels the music and expresses it throughout his body.
However, I felt that the DVD edited some of this movement out. There's one segment in "The Remedy" (a re-vamped reggae version) where Jason rotates his hips, reminiscent of a young Elvis Presley, and surprisingly, Mraz gets censored on his own DVD! The camera cuts away from Mraz's gyrations just like Ed Sullivan censored Elvis' pelvis back in the 1950s. (Maybe they need a female in the editing room next time!)
Beautiful Mess - Live on Earth is a great souvenir for those fans who have seen Jason Mraz live. And if you've never had the privilege to see Mr. A-Z in person, you're in for a treat!
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