Bruno Mars puts on smooth, sexy show at Tampa Bay Times Forum
Bruno Mars doesn't need a ton of special effects to tizzy the modern masses. At a sold-out Tampa Bay Times Forum on Wednesday, the dude instead relied on sensible shoes, a rambunctious horn section and a sparkly stage wide enough to hold all of his time-travel instruments.
Mars' rocket-ship success on pop radio is boosted by a seeming originality; the smooth kid stands out in the 21st century, a unique grooving voice among the standard pop pap and grinding fare.
But if you sent him back to the '70s and '80s, the Honolulu native would fit in fine. He's a man of influences — Prince, MJ, Sly Stone — and he's managed to blend them with his own modern flash.
The 27-year-old Grammy winner born Peter Gene Hernandez also understands that showmanship is key — and maybe missing in many respects today — and although his 90-minute set for an all-ages, all-faces crowd of 14,172 was a bit slight, it was packed with an organic, holy-moly sexy energy. In case you didn't know, Mars sings about girls — all of them.
Backed by an eight-piece band, including that loose boogie-down brass ensemble, Mars and his mates uncorked opening song Moonshine like a modern-day Kool & the Gang. The sound was tight, banging, one of the best sound systems I've heard in the Forum.
Before the post-disco glam of Treasure — perhaps the randiest cut in his young but impressive songbook — he said, "We came to get you all movin', all shakin', all dancin'. Maybe even get you all sweatin'. So put your camera phones down!"
In other words: Unplug and listen. That's old-school, baby, punctuated by a giant disco ball that handled most of the cool lighting tricks.
Speaking of which, his smoky, rough-hewn delivery hit glorious high notes on a cover of Barrett Strong's 1959 slammer Money (That's What I Want), which featured Mars wailing out a solo on electric guitar. That segued into the '60s-style bonfire shuffle of Billionaire, a 2010 hit for Travie McCoy that Mars co-wrote and crooned on. (He'd later do an acoustic version of B.O.B.'s Nothin' on You, which he also helped make famous.)
Mars is comfortable in all his encyclopedic travels: reggae, mellow jazz, sepia-toned R&B. In one stretch, he ventured into all three, bedecked in a spotlight that made sure everyone in the house could see his thrusts and spin and snaps and absolute stone-cold stage presence. If I Knew was a secular gospel weeper with lush Motown harmonizing. It also included a hilarious tutorial in "R&B 101" and the pivotal importance of a well-placed "damn!"
Mars is a killer front man, but he made sure he and his band were locked-in together the whole show. They moved in unison, fiery formation, including on a blowout of Runaway Baby.
And together they charged into an all-hits finale: the Elton John-esque ballad When I Was Your Man, which showed off his soul-kissed croon; the thumping guitar-reinforced Grenade; and ballad Just the Way You Are, which expanded like nothing less than a big ol' Journey anthem in a live setting.
Mars opened an encore version of the Police-borrowing Locked Out of Heaven hammering on a drum kit. Soon enough, golden confetti rained down. For the closing Gorilla, jets of pyro shot through the night. Okay, so he busted out some big special effects after all. But you know what? Dude earned them.
This is from St. Louis' show 3 weeks ago when Bruno invited Ed Sheeran on stage as surprise guest in his show.
They knew each other quite well and Ellie who became Bruno's opening act is Ed's good friend. So their friendship just naturally happen I guess. Well, fellow young singer-songwriter need to support each other
went to his show a few days ago, it was phenomenal. he sounded A M A Z I N G, his crowd participation was brilliant, his band was dope as f*ck, and the covers he did gave me life.
I'm a sucker for production and dramatics, but I appreciate the fact that he doesn't need all that to wow a crowd.
Have they re-scheduled the Calgary show yet? Theres been nothing in the news about it, and they've rescheduled/cancelled every other show dis-placed by the flood so far.
went to his show a few days ago, it was phenomenal. he sounded A M A Z I N G, his crowd participation was brilliant, his band was dope as f*ck, and the covers he did gave me life.
I'm a sucker for production and dramatics, but I appreciate the fact that he doesn't need all that to wow a crowd.
Glad you enjoy it
Bruno is an old school performer. Basically he just need himself and his band to amaze the audience. They're great musician with great showmanship
Quote:
Originally posted by Hollywood.
Have they re-scheduled the Calgary show yet? Theres been nothing in the news about it, and they've rescheduled/cancelled every other show dis-placed by the flood so far.
No, they haven't. But I'm pretty sure it'll be rescheduled for September. Bruno has a month break before he continues to his Europe tour in October.
From Miami show yesterday and the caption for the pic made me laugh.
Quote:
genllap: Take me back to Bruno lastnight </3 #BrunoMars #MoonshineJungleTour #Miami #FloorSeats If I didnt have @.j_luu next to me, I may have gone straight for him #LesboProblems
Evertime I read reviews of this concert and look at some photos, I can't help but be envious. I really hope he brings this concert to Asia, specifically the Philippines.
Evertime I read reviews of this concert and look at some photos, I can't help but be envious. I really hope he brings this concert to Asia, specifically the Philippines.
Me too Bruno really need to bring his tour to Asia again.
I'll hunt him down if he doesn't add Asia legs for this tour
He’s not the new king of pop yet, but Bruno Mars makes a pretty good prince. The chameleonic Hawaiian hitmaker hit the AmericanAirlines Arena on Friday night (sold out, like many of the concerts on his Moonshine Jungle tour), with slamming old school soul and showmanship. Plus some new school sex, a touch of irony and – for all the heartfelt ballads - darkness too. Motown and Michael Jackson are in Mars’ lineage, but Prince is too.
“We came to get you dancing, get you shaking!” Mars told the crowd soon after pounding junglebeat drums and animal howls heralded the fall of a golden palm graphic curtain – setting up animal passion in a self-consciously glam setting. He took the stage with Moonshine, a starry-eyed escape fantasy that might have been the poppiest song in the show. He’d end up in a very different kind of fantasy.
Mars frames his prodigious and rock solid talent - fantastic vocal chops, from that soaring falsetto to a subterranean Barry White growl, smooth dance skills, and wow-em drum and guitar solos – with 60’s and 70’s retro-styled showmanship. His charismatic, harmonizing vocal partner Phillip Lawrence leads a stunningly multi-talented band; three horn players (on trumpet, sax and trombone), a guitarist and bassist who not only play fantastically, but sing harmony and dance almost constantly, in Motown style hip-snaking wedges and swaying, rhythmically stomping lines, mugging and pumping up the crowd. Only the drummer and synthesizer player stayed put. The gleaming black stage striped with gold looked like a fantasy set for a ‘60’s TV dance show – we didn’t get new school pyrotechnics till the end.
Mars, in his trademark vest and derby type hat, mixed multiple classic pop genres with seamless virtuosity and just a hint of a wink. He’s a total showman. His cover of Money (That’s What I Want)featured Mars in a brief, raging Chuck Berry style Johnny Be Good guitar solo, then seguing into the reggae-beat Billionaire, his hit with Travie McCoy (they matched in theme, if not musically). He turned the gospel-ish If I Knew into an extended, exhilarating break-down, with riffs from the Smokey Robinson classic You Really Got a Hold on Me, and Mars leading the band in a hilarious mock seduction of a girl in the front row, each of them competing to do the most outrageous pick-up lines and moves. Show Me and Our First Time had Mars in full crooning falsetto, sexed-up Marvin Gaye mode (but with a much more explicitly banging pelvis).
If there’s a fault with Mars’ capacity to entertain and perform any pop genre perfectly, it’s that he hasn’t yet established his own identity, with an individual musical style and stature on par with his idols. He’s more himself on a ballad like When I Was Your Man, accompanied only by piano, singing full-out, rich and soaring, then howling with regret and not even a hint of irony. On the orchestral pop grandeur of Grenade, and the joyful Just The Way You Are, with the crowd singing happily along, he’s just himself.
Those songs cloak pain and love in sweet pop structures. But Mars closed his show with Gorilla, a raging proclamation of lust and sex that teeters astonishingly between being over-the-top and a genuinely powerful darkness. The video for Gorilla is ironic. But there was no irony or holding back when Mars performed it Friday, just furious passion channeled in howls and piercing falsetto, the band blasting and fire shooting off behind him. It was a performance worthy of Prince, and the kind of song that might transform Bruno Mars into another kind of pop royalty.