Jason Mraz, MORNING AND NIGHT!

Last night was one of the best night – if not, the BEST – night ever. Yesterday as a whole was the most amazing and far-fetched day I’ve ever experienced, and I’ve lived plenty.

My day started at the dawn of the wee hours, right after Thursday had past. Steph, my Dad and I had planned to sleep in Kuya’s apartment the night before Friday morning so that we would be near Rockefeller Center plaza – where Jason was to perform in the TODAY show. We got to Kuya’s house, via train and subway, by 1:10 am. I’ve never been on a train or subway that late before. I saw things that I expected but never expected to actually see. It was surreal, to say the least and boy was this an idiosyncratic feeling – the sense of being out and about late at night where possible dirty strangers roamed, was something a person as clean as I am would never forget. But it taught me about the night world and the night owls. When we arrived at Kuya’s apartment at 1:10 am, we cleaned up a bit. By 1:30, I was in bed. Our alarm was set for 4:15am because our goal was to get to Rockefeller Center plaza by 5:00am. With the prospect of seeing Jason not once but twice the next day, I was surprised to see that I slept pretty easily for a good two hours and forty-five minutes. We left Kuya’s apartment by 4:35, when it was still dark outside. And we were at Rockefeller Center plaza by 5:20am. The line for the fans without fan passes was so darn long, stretching almost the whole block!

We waited on line and by 6:00am, we joined the rest of the crowd in front of the stage where Jason was going to perform. Steph and I were near the back, but not as back as those who were across the street. Steph. She’s my best friend and she’s the one who carried me so that I could see Jason, above all the taller people and in and around their cameras held high. Jason rehearsed “I’m Yours,” “The Remedy,” (a new version of it!) and “Make it Mine,” until around 7:00am, when the TODAY show started. He talked some time for his interviews, but we couldn’t really hear him. Other news went on, as expected and at one point we saw Al Roker. He’s skinnier in person – either that or he lost weight. He’s such an enthusiastic man, speaking of which, at around 7:30, Jason started to perform his three songs.

During the whole time, standing and hoping to catch a glimpse of Jason and enjoying his beautiful voice with complementing songs, I really got to know the people crowded around me. One family man in his late 40’s or early 50’s showered his fatherly concern as Steph carried me as high as she could, making sure (the father) that she herself didn’t topple over. Two Indian girls were the average teenagers seen in movies and in high school, texting their friends or checking their facebook on their iphone. Another Indian lady was the more intimate type, calling her friend and saying, “this is for you, I love you!” holding her phone in the air so that Jason’s music can bless the receiver at the other end with his melodical and enthusiastic voice and his uplifting band. And you could tell that this American mom figure beside me was upset with the signs that were blocking the stage from her view, but too shy to really show her anger, laughing instead of scolding. One man, inspired by a painting on canvas that he brought, humbly brought his down, as many people shouted, quite politely, to him to put it down so they could see the stage. Everyone though, had one thing in common and it was their love of Jason and his music.

That finished at around 9:00am, at which time people started to leave. Steph and I went close to the stage, now void of Jason and his superband, so that we could take pictures of their instruments. Afterward, Steph and I hung out in Central park, climbing rocks and swinging on swings. We visited the M&M store on our way to the subway to go back home – a most stressful time for Steph, one that I did not want to particiapte in – and I didn’t. Did I say thank you, Steph yet?

We got home at around 1:45pm. Steph, my Mom and I were hungry. The only food I had eaten in the past seventeen hours were seven raisins, one dried pitted plum, a light dannon yogurt and a banana. We went to Costco and had a scrumptious and much deserved (and not to mention, satisfying) lunch. When we got back home, we had about two and a half hours to kill before we execute our night plan, which was to leave the house at around 5:30 pm to pick up my Dad from the train station from his work in Manhattan. He would then drive us straight to Jones beach. Fortunately we didn’t hit traffic and even more fortunately, we were able to find a parking spot quite easily. We had about thirty to forty minutes to kill before the concert was supposed to start (7:00pm), for goodness sakes! It seemed like Jason brought us luck today, starting in the morning with great weather and continuing in the evening with great weather still as well as good traffic and parking. During that spare window, we had some french fries and then we were off to have the best night of our lives.

This was the first real concert I’ve been to. What do you mean by real? Well, I’ve been to many concerts before, only they were with great pretenders – those imitating the classics of the oldies (to me). Not only that, they were also free. However, this concert in Jones beach was different and I’m glad it was. It may have cost us over $140 total, but it was so worth it! Our seats were great and lucky. You see, Steph was supposed to sit directly behind me, but we both knew that it would be better if she was right next to me. Thankfully, the kind couple next to me didn’t mind Steph sitting next to me. They scooted over one seat. so stretching away from me were Steph, then the couple (four seats). The person who was supposed to sit in one of the seats that the couple took, moved to Steph’s seat. This seating arrangement made the setting perfect for my first Jason Mraz concert! Who wouldn’t want to enjoy a concert with their best friend next to them?

The opening acts were a little entertaining to say the least. I felt that the first one, reggae based, was better than the second one. I want to talk less about these guys though, so that I can get on to Jason, so I’ll just tell you this: the opening acts were just shy of being frustratingly long. They almost pushed it too much. In fact, the real concert started at 8:50 to 9:00 when our tickets said it was to start at 7:00!

Once the opening acts were finally finished, Bushwalla, Jason’s college roommate and best friend, entertained us with laughter, literally. For those who don’t really know Bushwalla, he is a man born to entertain, whether that would be in the streets or on stage or in cafes/coffee shops. He is a man of the spreading of happiness to as many people as possible, through audience interaction. He and Jason are perfect buddies. He was our host for the night and his first instruction before the 30 seconds of laughter, was to get ready for a big night as they changed the set for Jason and his superband.

When everyone finally got back from crowded, yet efficient restrooms and long merchandise lines as well as hula-hoopers and guitar hero players, the whole amphitheater was almost full.

Finally, FINALLY, Bushwalla announced Jason’s arrival and the crowd went wild! Everyone stood up, clapped, screamed their head off, jumped – the whole enchilada. Jason was finally here and the rest of the night floated on cloud nine, with no ground in sight until 11:00 at night. My favorite part, was when we sang “I’m Yours” as loud as we could so that people can hear us “from space,” as Jason often puts it. That song then turned into Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds” song. We sang the verse, “‘cause every little thing gonna be all right,” so loudly, I think we could be heard from miles away. Just the crowd’s voices and Jason and his band’s voices soaking the air with easy meaning. Imagine a whole ampitheatre with thousands of voices in sync. It was such a high experience. To watch it on youtube, here's the link (the ending of that video is what I'm talking about): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBAL3PH7Pzo. That’s just one of many good feelings felt last night. If I wrote everything that went on last night, I’d have nothing else to keep like a precious secret. I’ll just tell you this, the whole thing was unbelievable and downright amazing, as Jason turned into a “God energy” and got the crowd pumping like crazy.

But of course, one of the best parts of it was that I got to sit next to Steph. My Tiger.

In the car ride home, I was so sleepy and tired. I had only 2 hours and 45 minutes of sleep after all. I’m more than glad to say that the concert and Jason (Jason Mraz, can you believe it?!) was the last thing in my mind before I cave into my pressing sleep.


Thank you Jason, thank you Steph and thank you everyone else in between!