He has been on the road supporting James Blunt, but San Diego songwriter Jason Mraz is a far more versatile musician than the double Brit winner.
Playing his own headline show, the 28-year-old demonstrated his astounding talent as well as an endearing goofiness. He may look like a teenager in a backwards-facing baseball cap, but Mraz (Czech for "frost") possesses chutzpah of Robbie Williams proportions.
Perhaps his confidence is what attracted hordes of young women to Shepherds Bush, which he filled despite a fairly low profile in the UK. During his first song, You And I Both, a pained scream of "I love you!" was heard, and a red rose was tossed at the singer's feet.
Mraz seemed unfazed by the attention, and concentrated on a performance that stunned - he has a rich, powerful voice - but also in its way confounded.
There was acoustic balladry on Life Is Wonderful, bossa nova on Bella Luna and modern rock on Please Don't Tell Her. But the over-ambitious singer also incorporated pop-funk, soft rock, rap and even opera - and the overall effect was a kind of musical indigestion.
He covered Michael Jackson, Black Eyed Peas, Madness and Oasis, too. And although it sounded fantastic when he dueted with his bongo player on Stevie Wonder's Superstition, it also exposed the patchiness of his own material.
The soulful new single Geek in the Pink was a slick finale, though, and Mraz will surely have many more female admirers by the end of the year.
Jason Mraz
