Tonight, Not Again: Jason Mraz Live [CD & DVD]: At the Eagles Ballroom

Disc 1
1	Tonight, Not Again
2	Not So Usual
3	Dialogue
4	No Doubling Back
5	You and I Both
6	Absolutely Zero
7	1000 Things
8	Common Pleasure
9	Curbside Prophet
10	Sleeping To Dream
11	Unfold
12	No Stopping Us
13	The Remedy (I Won't Worry)
14	After An Afternoon
15	Too Much Food
Disc 2
1	Tonight, Not Again DVD
2	Not So Usual DVD
3	No Doubling Back DVD
4	You and I Both DVD
5	Absolutely Zero DVD
6	1000 Things DVD
7	Common Pleasure DVD
8	Curbside Prophet DVD
9	Sleeping To Dream DVD
10	Unfold DVD
11	The Right Kind DVD
12	No Stopping Us DVD
13	The Remedy (I Won't Worry) DVD
14	After An Afternoon DVD
15	Too Much Food DVD
16	Sleep All Day DVD
17	Dream Life Of Rand McNally DVD
18	0% Interest DVD

Barnes & Noble

While it might seem a little early in his career for Jason Mraz to be releasing a live disc, he manages to do it right with Tonight, Not Again, a package that offers up five previously unreleased tunes and showcases singer-songwriter's ability to tweak his preexisting material enough to make it seem fresh. Recorded live in Milwaukee, the CD/DVD package showcases Mraz's flair for both low-key musings (a deliberate take on the title track) and crowd-inciters (like the hit "The Remedy"). The newer tracks are split fairly evenly between those two camps: The softly surging "No Doubling Back" swathes Mraz's jazzy vocal phrasing in a caressing blanket of instruments -- a fitting juxtaposition, given the tune's love-hate message. On the other hand, the Paul Simon–ish "After an Afternoon" lets Mraz take wing all but unaccompanied, his guitar offering the barest accompaniment to his swoony tenor. The DVD component of the packages replicates the same show, with the addition of "The Right Kind" and a smattering of behind-the-scenes footage. David Sprague

All Music Guide

Jason Mraz made quite an impression in 2003. With his lopsided eyes and irritatingly cockeyed cap, he was the anti-John Mayer even as he was his peer. For Mraz didn't so much wish to be the junior Dave Matthews as he did the non-threatening folk-pop jangle dealer -- a one-man O.A.R. for the spaghetti-strapped masses. And who needs bubblegum lips when you have the Matrix in your corner? Mraz built a nationwide coffeehouse on the strength of singles like "The Remedy (I Won't Worry)" and "You and I Both," and those tracks anchor this pleasant holdover live set. Tonight, Not Again finds Mraz to be an engaging performer, able to flutter his voice up and down through registers with incredible ease. He's performing music tailor-made for the Aware Records crowd -- Midwestern college students, open-mike hosts, and guys with beards. His backing band is quite capable, if a little too clean -- it's the same quibble that dogged Waiting for My Rocket to Come, but it still holds true. Can't someone buy these dudes a distortion pedal? Well, no need. Like Mayer's own live placeholder Any Given Thursday, every second of Mraz's Tonight, Not Again is populated by smitten screaming. That cockeyed cap! Those lustrous high notes! On October 28, 2003, Milwaukee's Eagles Ballroom was certainly catching the Jason Mraz vapors. The kid's twittering following eats up every morsel of Tonight, from the soft tones of the title track opener through the drifting "Sleeping to Dream" (his own "Wonderland"?) and the rousing, smartly lyrical "Too Much Food." Mraz is also shown to have a classic rock flair in his songwriting. "Absolutely Zero" references Pink Floyd's "Us and Them," "Common Pleasure" and "Curbside Prophet" stretch into scat and percussion-filled jams, and he does a nice cover of Elton John's "Rocket Man." John Popper guests, the horn section is a nice -- if a bit too grandiose -- touch, and pretty soon Tonight, Not Again becomes a fan-friendly breeze. For them, it'll be a happy-go-lucky yearbook scrawl from the lopsided-eyed guy himself. [Tonight, Not Again included a DVD portion with behind-the-scenes footage.] Johnny Loftus