Thus, Mraz's concert Thursday night at Alumni Hall provided the perfect excuse to roll my eyes while secretly taking pleasure in the catchy, funky pop that comprises his eclectic appeal.
Sporting a "Dartmouth Surfing" t-shirt and a bizarre fuzzy brown headband, Mraz proved himself to be a very charismatic, audience-friendly performer.
He kept the show lively, cracking jokes, responding to every lovestruck or obnoxious shout-out from the crowd, and making clever comments to the audience and his dreadlocks-wearing percussionist, Toka Rivera.
One such semi-witty remark came in the form of a shout out to concert-goers.
"Thanks for having me here. And thanks for keeping it fresh. You're never just old Hampshire. You're always keeping it New Hampshire."
His songs ranged from tender love ballads with only delicate acoustic guitar accompaniment that showcased his vocal range ("You and I Both," "Life is Wonderful") to bouncy, funk-influenced jams where Mraz was accompanied by jazz saxophones, trumpets and trombones ("Geek in the Pink").
Mraz's transition from a syncopated "I'm Yours" into Bob Marley's reggae classic "Three Little Birds" revealed that his musical roots run deeper than vapid commercial radio dribble.
His song "Cannabis College," although a crowd-pleaser, felt almost phoney. Of course college students will approve of a song containing lyrics about "THC Ph. D's" and "GPAs at 4.20," but as one '11 audience member noted, "It's like he's pretending to be a true smoker."
Most disappointing was the absence of "Remedy" from the set list, one of the few songs audience members would have recognized, in favor of new songs from hisnext album.
Mraz's performance did bring a somewhat pleasant surprise -- actual musical ability. His voice sounded clear over a vast range, from moody low tones to sweet falsetto, adapting to the various genres that encompass his music.
His guitar work was also a cut above the rest, approaching the likes of fellow artist John Mayer.
Mraz possessed a certain unassuming presence, which was made most apparent by his comfort on stage; bobbing along to the funk rock that he was playing, doing the "robot," scatting, and at one point even doing a snowman impression.
His songs are characterized by a modern, eccentric mixture of rap and singing to an often catchy, upbeat melody, with witty rhyming lyrics and wordplay.
By far the highlight of the concert, and certainly the most impressive moment, occurred when Mraz broke a string on his guitar and after calling up a volunteer from the audience, Joanne Nurse '11, he devised a game to occupy the time it would take to change it. Nurse recorded random phrases from the audience, ranging from the silly ("jelly beans") to the obvious ("Superman that ho") to the pretentious ("drowning in a wheat silo"). After the repair was done, he proceeded to create a song incorporating all of these fragments, making up rhymes to lead into each phrase on the spot, and weaving a semi-coherent tale through all of them.
Despite hints from his tour staff that he should pack up early due to overnight travel plans, Mraz insisted that he play until the very end of his allotted time, and even stayed after the concert to meet the members of Programming Board who had arranged for his appearance at Dartmouth.
The opportunity for Mraz to play in Hanover came only a few weeks ago when the artist's representatives contacted Programming Board to offer a discounted concert while Mraz is on tour promoting his third studio album, We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things, due out May 20.
Although Mraz proved himself to put on an entertaining show, opener Billy Corbett '10 of the Dartmouth Cords definitely gave Mraz a run for his money. Corbett's breathy vocals on his own personal compositions and on Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing" made quite an impression on the audience -- even without a record deal and a pair of strategically stylish geek-chic glassess.
