Hi. I'm Katie.

I have been a fan of Jason Mraz for about 7 years. I love his music. And when I say "I Love Jason Mraz" it is the understatement of a lifetime. His music has become a part of me and means more to me than any other music to date. The lyrics. The music. The performance. He is absolutely amazing.

The first time I saw him in concert was on 18 MAY 2006. It rocked my world. I had been to other shows before this one, of different bands and genres of course, but there is something about Jason Mraz that gets me like no other. His voice is so pure, his passion is so evident, and everything about everything he does is P-E-R-F-E-C-T. Or as close to it as you can get. At this show, he sang some of my most favorite songs... and when he finished his set off with a kickass encore of Song For A Friend, I was a very happy camper. That song is amazzzing.

Jason Mraz's Set List
The Boy is Gone
Childlike Wildlife 
Clockwatching
Did You Get My Message?
You and I Both
Bella Luna
Please Don’t Tell Her
Unfold (with Gypsy MC)
Better
Life is Wonderful
I’m Yours
Loving Cup
The Remedy <-- he sang the second verse in French :)
SPEECH! <-- most inspirational thing I've ever heard in my life!
Geek in the Pink
Song for a Friend

The second time I saw his show was on 24 MAY 2008. Yes, he went 2 years without coming to town, but it was definitely worth the wait. He sang my most favorite song [On Love, In Sadness] as well as a lot of the songs off his new record We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. I can't find the set list at the moment, but he had a nice long set that was f!@#ing amazing. It was so cool to see him again. At the end of the night I was so happy I could have died in peace.

The third time I was graced by his tremendous presence was yesterday! I was fortunate enough to attend the Gratitude Cafe Tour 2009 at the Freedom Hill Amphitheatre in Michigan. And it was the best show ever. I went with my sisters Anna and Jill, Anna's friend Emily, my BFF Grace, and [last but certainly not least] my best friend Logan... I could not have found a better group to go with. AND since we bought our pit tickets via super-presale, we got some line jump passes that got us in early... WE WERE FRONT ROW CENTER - RIGHT AGAINST THE BARRIER!! :) it was the most prime location for this concert experience.

First up was a guy named K'NAAN. He. Was. Awesome. What a way to start the show!! He has some of the coolest rhymes, some awesome beats, and as far Somalian-Canadian-Rapper-Musicians go, he is my absolute favorite. I strongly recommend checking out his music because it is extremely unique and lots of fun to experience. PLUS! the words he sings are full of meaning and history... they're not shit lyrics like some rappers are spitting out these days... they're real and tell his story.

Second was G. Love and his Special Sauce. It was a pretty rad set. When G. Love was sitting down and playing his acoustic guitar in the beginning, I felt like the band was detached from the crowd. But once he stood up and started jamming, everyone joined in the fun! The music was entertaining, and... MAN! CAN THAT GUY PLAY THE HARMONICA!! He was very talented and cool to watch.

All the while, Bushwalla was kindly hosting the show. He introduced K'NAAN with a lot of energy. Then played Ghetto Blaster before introducing G. Love. Finally he stripped down into a yellow jumpsuit with shinyyy green undies and hula hooped for the crowd as he introduced Mr. A-Z. That's when the party really started...

Jason Mraz is the epitome of a good show. He entertains the entire crowd and gives so much to each song... what more could a fan ask for? I'll tell you: as a fan, I cannot ask for anything more. I had such a great time watching the show. You have no idea how much I loved it!! So I'll try to explain with a few short stories.

I sang along to every word of every Jason Mraz song. And when I say "every" I mean it... the girls to my left only knew the words to I'm Yours and would stare at me every now and again in awe... I imagine they were thinking "wow. she's so cool. I wish I knew all these words." But they were probably just thinking "she's a crazy bitch. stop her. PLEASE." 

I ended up on the mega-screen in the back of the stage for a little bit. You see, there were camera-men video taping the entire show for the kiddies who couldn't see the stage as well as us up front... live footage, along with pre-created videos and images, showed up on the giant back-screen. There were a few occassions when the camera-dude would just stop right in front of me and video tape every second of my rocking out to whichever tune was being sung... you could say that I was "into the show." Haha, but I was so enthralled throughout the show that I hardly noticed when I was being video taped... I was so entranced by Jason Mraz and his bongo-ist Toca Rivera. I'd just notice every now and then when the camera was all up in my face. WOOHOO!

and omaigosh... as he sang A Beautiful Mess, I soaked up every word like a super-nerd seeing Star Wars for the first time. That song describes who I am. Out of every song I have ever heard in my entire life, that is the one I relate to word after word, note after note, time after time. I live it. I love it. I am thrilled to have seen it performed twice in my life because it means the world to me. As far as I'm concerned, that song is me. I would quote a few of the lines here, but I would just end up quoting the whole song... it really is THAT good.

So to watch my favorite musician right behind the barricade, front row and center, and to share every song with some of the people who mean the most to me... well... it just made the night that much better. I had a blast, to infinity and beyond.

Jason Mraz's Set List
Fun Fun Fun (cover)
The Remedy
Clockwatching
Make It Mine 
Love For A Child 
All My Love (written with the "Waylors"... not entirely sure what it was)
Live High
Coyotes
Curbside Prophet (with Gypsy MC)
Dynamo of Volition
A Beautiful Mess
I'm Yours / Every Little Thing is Gonna Be Alright (cover) 

ENCORE
Carry On 
Lucky
You And I Both
Butterfly 

Who: Me, my sisters, a few friends, a couple thousand people, great bands and some kickass tunes.
What: the Vans Warped Tour 2009
When: 31 JULY 2009
Where: Comerica Park in Detroit, MI
Why: it's my only reason for living ;)

Yesterday was the one day of summer I consider a "tradition." It's one of the coolest experiences for any fan of music. I've gone to the past few Warped Tours and it only took one for me to get completely hooked! An entire day of music performed by some of my favorite bands, some bands I've seen or always wanted to see, and some bands I've never heard of. What more could a fan ask for? So here is an overview of the funtasterrifically awesome day I was able to enjoy...

Scary Kids Scaring Kids
Snake Devil
The Deep End
Faces
I watched this whole set and it was the best start to a Warped Tour I can ever remember. SKSK really know how to rock out and I loved every second of their show. It was off the hook! As with some other sets, I was not able to write down the whole set list since I was more focused on jammin with everyone else in the crowd and saving myself from mosh pits.

Valencia
Better Be Prepared
Safe To Say
Holiday
The Closest I Am To Living Life On The Edge
Where Did You Go
The Space Between
I only saw the last song of this set since they were on at the same time as SKSK, but I got the set list from my older sister Anna who watched the whole thing :)

Big D And The Kids Table
I have no set list for this band because I don't really know any of their songs. BUT I still enjoyed their show. There is just something about Ska bands that is so much fun... probably the full band and the fans that dance their pants off :D

I took a little time here to walk the booths and check out the stands. I also met up with Olivia (http://elevenpasteleven.buzznet.com/) during this time too! She was so nice and it was so cool to meet another buzzy in person!!

Bayside
Carry On
The Walking Wounded
Duality
The Ghost of Saint Valentine
Blame It On Bad Luck
Devotion and Desire 
I didn't get the whole set list for this show because I was jamming along so hard I forgot to write it down... those are just the songs I can remember them playing. I have been a long-time listener of Bayside, but never had the chance to see them in concert. Let me tell you, it was worth the wait. THEY WERE AWESOME! And D&D is my favorite song, so the fact that they played it rocked my socks.

Innerpartysystem
No set list for this band either because I had never heard of them before. They had a really great sound and I loved their set, tho! So I will for sure check them out more sometime.

Less Than Jake
Ska! WOOHOO! This set was really entertaining and the guys in the band are very funny. They kept me extremely amused as I watched. Plus, there was a boxing ring located near the stage that was really interesting, too.

Breathe Carolina
These guys are funnn to watch. Kyle and David just rock out on stage and even though heavy screamo isn't my favvvorite genre ever, I still enjoyed what they brought to the table. Also, I met Kyle later in the day and he is seriously one of the nicest band guys I have ever met in my life! He was such a great dude and it was so cool to chat with him. 

The Maine
Everything I Ask For
I Must Be Dreaming
Pour Some Sugar On Me (Def Leppard cover)
The Way We Talk
Into Your Arms
We All Roll Along
Girls Do What They Want
WOW! These guys had a huggge crowd and a lot of crowd surfers. And boy did they deserve it all. They rocked hard and sounded really good. Plus, they had a very smart set and everyone was singing along at one point or another. Very cool.

Westbound Train
I watched them as I waited for TFT and thought they were alright. 

There for Tomorrow
No More Room To Breathe
A Little Faster
Stories
The Remedy
Backbone
Pages
Unfortunately, I only got to watch the first song of this set because I had to go meet up with Vinny Vegas to go backstage for All Time Low's set. BUT I was able to meet the band earlier in the day and see one of my favorite songs of theirs, SO it wasn't too bad not being able to watch their entire set. I really love TFT... they rock out hard for a quartet.

All Time Low 
Weightless
Jasey Rae
Poppin Champagne
Lost In Stereo
Six Feet Under The Stars
Break Your Little Heart
Coffee Shop Soundtrack
Damned If I Do Ya
Dear Maria Count Me In
OMAIGAWD! OMAIGAWD! OMAIGAWD! I got to go backstage for All Time Low's set. It was a dream come true. I mean, to see their show from right behind the drumset and be able to look out at the crowd as they jammed?! It was almost too much to handle! IT WAS SOSOSO COOL! Haha, and you know how whenever you look up at people standing backstage and they're just standing there looking disinterested and bored? Well you can rest assured that I was not standing still at any point in time. I was rocking as hard as the most enthusiastic fan you've ever seen! My friends and sisters who were in the crowd all commented about how I was the only one moving. Excellente. Anywho, I had an awesome time and got some great photos and a cool video (links below :). It's one of those things that I am extremely thankful for and will never forget about for as long as I live *crosses fingers*.

Chiodos
These Michigan natives were awesome. 'nuff said.

P.O.S.
I can't even remember watching them, but I wrote it down, so it totally happened.

Never Shout Never
Since I just saw him a couple weeks ago, I didn't really "watch" his show. I just listened to him as I waited for FTSK to start at the stage next door (I wanted to be front row for them :). But what I heard was pretty rad and very similar to what I heard before. I managed to get a few shots of him before going up front for FTSK. He looked adorable.

Forever the Sickest Kids
My Worst Nightmare
Hey Brittany
*new song* She Likes
Believe Me, I'm Lying
She's A Lady
Whoa Oh!
These six guys always put on a great show. I am SO happy that I was up front for this band because they were on FIRE! It was definitely one of the best sets of the day. There was such a great energy and they chose really great songs to perform. The new song gets me uber stoked for their upcoming record, too. It was slammin. 

3oh!3
As I held up the 3oh!3 hand sign during Don't Trust Me, I knew it was a great way to end the day. I love the Vans Warped Tour.

For my pictures, copy paste the following links into your browser...
Warped Tour 2009: http://katiejrod-warpedtour2009.buzznet.com/user/photos/
All Time Low Backstage: http://katiejrod-alltimelowbackstage.buzznet.com/user/photos/

For my video of "Lost In Stereo" by All Time Low recorded backstage...
buzznet: http://katiejrod.buzznet.com/user/video/4217131/lost-stereo-all-time-low/
youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3I7QAtbvoA