Last night: Full house for Jason Mraz and: sad but true, the Californian singer-song-writer had to end the 3rd Zermatt Unplugged in Switzerland’s biggest round marquee - 48 meters in diameter, with room for an audience of 1,500 people.
Yesterday's performance was acoustically world-class. Jason's last name, Mraz means "Frost" in Russian, matching his outfit with light-blue bonnet, but barefoot, because the groove always goes right down into his toes. Blessed with vocal chords which easily spread over octaves, the 32-year-old melted hearts in no time at all. His messages, love - what else - and awareness of the environment, completely in the Californian spirit of the times, he presented profoundly-worked in texts, rock, pop, funk, which he spun out into the night at breakneck speed. The vegan, environment activist and avocado producer (organic! He eats all the avocados himself) – was backed by the fiery, extremely precise drummer Mona Tavakoli from Peru. A feast for the eyes, how the simply-dressed percussionist, in a close-fitting body-suit and opaque tights, played the Cajon – a drum from her country covered with wood instead of skin or plastic film. Another lady also stood in the spotlight for a few minutes: ski legend Pirmin Zurbriggen's 16-year-old daughter Marie Zurbriggen from Zermatt, accompanied the double Grammy winner in one song, thus making a brilliant start to her stage career. She was "discovered" by Abba’s Frida and Mick Hucknall (singer with Simply Red) at the wedding of her uncle Heinz Julen. And yes, Jason at last gave his rendering of his mega-hit, I’m yours – a vividly clear, masterfully simple song with which the musician made his breakthrough in 2008 in Europe. This also earned him unending, thundering applause in Zermatt.
After a fantastic 30-minutes encore, Jason Mraz released his happy audience into the night, which for many was still to go on for quite a while: in the Snowboat awe-inspiring and solid Migu from St. Gallen and his men were playing, and the Bernese Troubadour Trummer in the Alex. They really do still exist, a few young Swiss songwriters who still continue to present in traditional dialect such as their role models Mani Matter, Züri West or Polo Hofer – and the supposedly uncool are the coolest of cool. These young wild have exactly one year to polish their art: the 4th Zermatt Unplugged kicks off on April 12 2011, and will again be offering the stage not just to the mega-stars, but also to newcomers.
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