JASON MRAZ AT THE STONE PONY SUMMERSTAGE IN ASBURY PARK
The forecast originally called for storms, but Asbury Park’s famous venue, The Stone Pony, lucked out with gorgeous weather for their show on Saturday night at the outdoor Summerstage. Jason Mraz was coming for his “Look for the Good” tour with special guest Southern Avenue. It was the perfect night out.
Prior to this tour I had never heard of Southern Avenue, and wow have I been missing out. The five piece blues/soul band from Memphis, Tennessee are Grammy nominated and I could see why shortly after they took the stage. Lead singer Tierinii Naftaly has such a powerful, gorgeous voice and was bursting with personality on stage. Watching her dance around the stage while still delivering flawless vocals was mesmerizing. The band all vibed very well with each other and gave a great performance.
When it was time for Jason Mraz to take the stage I was actually shocked by how large his backing band was. He had 12 people with him on stage and it made for an incredible live sound. He opened his set with “Music is Back” which felt like the perfect song to start with. He immediately had fans off their feet singing and dancing along with him. I felt like we were in the perfect location for his set too being right by the beach. He has a vibey quality to his live performance that makes you feel like you should be on the beach sipping on your drink of choice. He played tracks such as “You Do You”, “No Plans”, “I Won’t Give Up”, and “Lucky”. When Mr. A to Z played the well loved track “I’m Yours”, he actually did a bit of a mashup and combined it with “No Ordinary Love” to keep things interesting. People of all ages were in the crowd having the time of their lives. He ended his set with “Have it All”, and it was a perfect track to leave the crowd with. He had played a two hour set which felt like it flew by, and I’m sure everyone else in the crowd can agree that this was a tour to remember.
Nicole DiBenedetto is a photographer based out of New Jersey. She likes making new friends and meeting new people so catch her out in the pit and say hi!