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Bruno and his boys performing Aug. 17 in Nashville (Mars did not allow photographers at the Atlanta show).
By Melissa Ruggieri
As the curtain embroidered with gold palm trees collapsed, Bruno Mars stood front and center, surrounded in the shadows by his band.
A diminutive figure in a leopard print shirt, vest and trademark jaunty hat, Mars inched across the stage floor with feline grace as his band pumped out the heartbeat of “Moonshine.”
At his nearly sold-out Philips Arena show on Thursday – was it only two years ago that he played the Fox with Janelle Monae ? – Mars and his ace seven-piece band proved why he's the hottest thing in pop right now.
As slick and professional as he is, there is an old soul nestled inside Mars. He’ll give you a show with the occasional blast of pyro, a stage-length HD video screen and a giant mirror ball, but it’s apparent his bigger goal is to provide a straight-outta-“Soul Train” musical revue.
Right now, at age 27, he’s a tremendous talent with seemingly limitless potential.
He can move (his call-and-response homage to James Brown during “Runaway Baby” confirmed that). His silken voice can effortlessly shift from shimmery smooth on “Treasure” to appropriately gritty on a cover of Motown classic “Money (That’s What I Want).” He can play (he donned a guitar for “Money” and “Billionaire,” the song he co-wrote with Travie McCoy). And let’s not forget his coolly likeable personality and smile of a superstar.
“Put your camera phones down and do some dancin’,” Mars implored early in the show (amen to that), as he and his crew engaged in some remarkably un-cheesy synchronized moves.
Mars’ band (the Hooligans) is a “band” in the truest sense. They groove together and move together like a well-coiffed “West Side Story” gang in snazzy shoes and newsboy caps.
Though the enjoyable – and genuinely amusing – “R&B breakdown” routine that Mars and his band engaged in with a member of the audience ran a bit long, it allowed the audience to get a sense of the personalities of Mars’ musical comrades.
And how mature of Mars to surround himself with fellow music-minded men onstage instead of a bevy of scantily clad female dancers, as most of his peers would. Mars is confident enough to rely on his own sexuality, which he demonstrated during the seductive bedroom crooner “Our First Time” and crotch-thrusting covers of “Pony” and “Ignition.”
But one of the reasons he’s attracted not only a legion of female admirers, but a surprisingly young fan base as well, is because of swoony songs such as “Marry You” and the sweet “Nothin’ On You,” which, sadly, did not feature a surprise appearance from Atlanta’s B.o.B., but did offer an uncomfortable bit of bass overload.
Despite the sleek open-backed stage – all shiny floors and metallic risers – and the precision required for the taut starts and stops in Mars’ routines, everything about the concert felt real and organic.
“Grenade,” propelled by a galloping beat, was stocked with razzle-dazzle lighting but “Just the Way You Are” – still Mars’ most melodious song – produced the requisite sing-along, which, you could tell from Mars’ smile, was perfectly fulfilling.
Openers Fitz & The Tantrums proved themselves worthy of an arena setting as the six-piece California outfit thoroughly charmed during their set.
They’re a quirky cool band – kind of a criss-cross among Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Adele and the Style Council – and infectious songs such as “Break the Walls” and “Money Grabber” piqued the crowd’s interest enough to stand and clap along.
The interplay between singers Michael Fitzpatrick and Noelle Scaggs is the centerpiece of their live show, but multi-instrumentalist James King, who rotated among sax, flute, keyboards and guitar, made his musical presence felt on a pleasantly edgy cover of The Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams” and the furiously escalating glam-jam “L.O.V.”
Songs such as “Fools Gold” and “Spark,” with its giddy handclaps and sprightly keyboards, kept the mood light, but there is nothing lightweight about these musicians.
The effervescent pop of radio hit “Out of My League” perfectly exemplified how Fitz & The Tantrums, not unlike Mars, can catch a young listener’s ear with a catchy melody, but layer it with enough sophistication that adults will be equally enchanted.
