More rave reviews of Bruno's Perth concert 
A masterful soul giant, still on the rise
WHEN Bruno Mars opened his last Australian tour in Perth in 2011, he played a theatre approximately one tenth of the size of the 15,000 seat Perth Arena. On Friday, Mars and his incredibly tight band maintained an intimacy that simply belied the massive venue. It felt like you could have been watching them in your living room. Provided you moved all the furniture out of the way of course, because for 90 minutes the diminutive star and all the mobile members of his band (three horns, bass, guitar and backing vocalist) did not stand still.
Still just 28, Mars has complete command of his craft. That he could drop a pop classic like The Lazy Song from the set and it not be missed, speaks volumes about his confidence in the uniform quality of the material on his two albums. The focus was on his latest Unorthodox Jukebox, which like his debut Doo-Wops & Hooligans, is filled with irresistibly funky songs that also have pop hooks galore. They aim for your butt and brain at the same time and almost as an afterthought hit you in the heart as well.
When the front line got moving, it was as if they were the Jackson 7. Their formation dancing was so smooth, their harmonies a pure delight. When they slid into Treasure the screens projected the action in the shape of old-school TVs. Indeed it was like you were watching a lost episode of legendary music show Soul Train with the best song Earth Wind and Fire never recorded.
What Mars offered was a soul revue, recalling the prime of the Jackson siblings, Prince and James Brown. And, man, does Mars have his Brown dance moves down. That’s where his most true comparisons lie, with soul greats and not with Taylor Swift and other contemporaries. He has the calm air of a veteran already, one so sure of what he is doing he knows all he needs to create a night of magic is his songs and his band. In case there was any doubt there was some use of smoke and mirrors involved in their performance, they offered a brief doo-wop interlude just to show the unadorned beauty of their harmonies.
When he pulled it back to just piano and his voice on the mesmerising When I Was Your Man, Mars showed maybe even the band is not essential.
A giant, still on the rise.
Melbourne, tomorrow and Wednesday; Brisbane, Friday; Sydney, March 8, 10 and 11
http://www.theaustralian....842982540#
Nothing mars Bruno's show
The West Australian
VANESSA WILLIAMS The West AustralianMarch 3, 2014, 8:09 am
He's one of the biggest male pop artists in the world right now, so you wouldn't expect anything less than an energetic, vivacious set from Bruno Mars.
It's hard to imagine that the last time the Honolulu-born singer-songwriter was in Perth in 2011, he played to a much more intimate crowd at the Astor Theatre.
But going by the bustling crowd that spilled into Perth Arena on Friday night (there was hardly a free standing space in the general admission pit or an empty seat in sight) it's clear Mars' days of performing at intimate venues are well and truly over.
Bursting on to a stage flanked by vivid jungle visuals, Mars, wearing his signature hat, and his flamboyant eight-piece band open with a beat-pumping, toe-tapping performance of Moonshine, instantly revving up the throng of screaming fans of almost every demographic, from teenage girls and women in their 20s, 30s and 40s to couples and young families.
A glinting disco ball descends from above the stage as Mars unleashes his next track, Treasure, prompting a sea of fans to spring out of their seats and on to their feet to dance and sway along.
The crowd stays upright as Mars gives an impressive electric guitar solo before bursting into Billionaire, which he ties in with a fun cover of Money (That's What I Want).
Throughout the beat-pumping set, which is a colourful fusion of retro soul, funk, reggae, pop and R&B, Mars and his band unleash a series of hip-swaying, Motown-inspired moves and at one point the singer steps on to an elevated stage to channel Michael Jackson's signature crotch-grabbing moves.
By the time he launches into his chart-topping hits Marry You, Young Girls and Runaway Baby, Mars has practically every member of the audience under his charming spell.
Even if you're not the diehard know-every-song-and-all-the-lyrics fan (like me) the beauty is you don't need to be.
Mars has an endless catalogue of hits from his two albums (2010's Doo-Wops & Hooligans and his more recent 2012 offering, Unorthodox Jukebox) that anyone can croon along to without feeling like the odd one out.
Later, toning down the high-energy set, Mars gives a sombre performance of his heart-breaking ballad, When I Was Your Man, and at one point wipes away tears, having earlier told the crowd it was the hardest song he's ever had to write and perform.
Things then kicked back into high gear as Mars launched into two more of his biggest hits, Grenade and Just The Way You Are, and after a brief departure from the stage, he returned with a beat-slamming, pop-heavy encore of Locked Out Of Heaven.
There's no doubt that Mars has an amazing vocal range that would probably outdo most musicians of his age and calibre.
But stripping back the bright lights, the eye-popping stage visuals, the cool cat moves and the energetic band, Mars provides the kind of entertainment that can only come from real, bona fide talent.
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go 2 a Prince concert or related event it's all 
up in the house but when 
I cant. Hot mess! 
Philip you wrong for that! 
So brilliant and funky, like a modern day Rock With You, it makes you dance instantly and groove with it easily 
I have to say that Treasure, Moonshine and Young Girls are my top favorites off the UJ album. And the Treasure video is my favorite video out of all the ones he's released this era. I wonder if he's gonna do a video for Young Girls? 
from a few days ago when he played in Melbourne
JUST when you started to despair about the new breed of pop stars, Bruno Mars comes along to show that talent can still rise to the top.
Mars made a huge creative leap with his second album Unorthodox Jukebox, its compromise-free success allowing for the high production Moonshine Jungle world tour.
His impressive, accelerated strike rate means it’s already a virtual greatest hits set, including his unavoidable radio staples (Treasure, Marry You, Billionaire, When I Was Your Man, Grenade, Just The Way You Are and the incredible Locked Out of Heaven) and hits by others including Michael Jackson’s Rock With You and Aloe Blacc’s I Need a Dollar.
Bruno Mars in concert in Melbourne.
And unlike his contemporaries Mars has a seriously good band that are just as much a part of his synchronised show and sound as he is — it’s a throwback to the old soul days of James Brown and Sly Stone.
It’s just a shame that, for whatever reason, Mars has banned the media from photographing his shows in Australia.
The man has sharp moves, and sharp threads, and it’s not like the very visual event wasn’t documented by a sea of mobile cameras.
Mars plays his final Rod Laver Arena show tonight.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/bruno-mars-a-reminder-of-real-talent-in-melbourne-shows/story-fni0fiyv-1226845307600