Acoustic Bliss, SF’s recap

Let me start by saying that after this tour, I will not be broken-hearted if David never performs in a venue larger than 1000, ever!

He began the night by sharing with us his desire that we be able to focus entirely on the music in this, his first ever unplugged, stripped down, full length acoustic show. And ohmyheck, did we ever! Without the usual distractions, the main focus was clearly on just David, The Voice. I have run out of adjectives to describe his performances. Actually at one point he said it was fun not to have to “perform” and just focus on the music, so maybe he didn’t think of this as a “performance.” But at any rate, he was quite simply…outstanding!

His entrance to the stage was not grand. In fact, he walked in with the rest of the band as if they were going to sit and have a jam session with us. The band remained sitting for the entire show, while David mostly sat, but did sing some songs at the mic stand. He was happy, had fun and was definitely in his element. His vocals were in top form. His comfort level at the midpoint of the opening song, Touch My Hand grew as the 300 fans were loving it and by the end of the song, he seemed totally at ease and comfortable. The set list included most of the songs we are used to hearing, except for Zero Gravity and Barriers. BUT NOT LIKE THIS! He added all the riffs and runs we all love and his falsetto was perfection. The tempo on some of the songs was just a tad slower and sounded mellower. Stand By Me was his best rendition so far. The only two instruments were Dave’s bass and David’s voice. It was awesome! This rendition should IMO be on his next album.

For his first encore he sang Bubbly, and again it was perfect! Next he sang I’ll Be, not a shortened version, but the entire song. I don’t know how he does it, but he out did himself! His voice was flawless. This was a total surprise to me as I wasn’t prepared to love the song, but after David sang the entire song, I am loving it. I am so sad I only have it in my memory. He absolutely MUST sing it at one his solo concerts. Then the final song, the song he should always and forever close his concerts with, Angels.

Louisville setlist

As a VIP (more on that in a moment), I got early entrance, and was lucky enough to be standing directly in front of David’s keyboard. The stage was about 16″ off the floor so basically when he sat at the keyboard, I was eye level with David. He was about four feet from me. I could see the sparkly green color of his eyes. I could see the three beauty moles clearly on his face. I could almost hear him breathing as he spoke. I could have leaned over a little, reached out and touched his face. That’s how close I was to him. Well, not just me, there were a few others on each side of me that were close too, but I was directly in front of him! When he sang Angels, I could literally see his expression change to a heightened state of bliss as he went to wherever it is he goes when he sings this song. It was a sight I will not soon forget. The passion he exudes is beyond my comprehension at this point. I want to go where he goes when he sings Angels, Somebody Out There, You Can, To Be With You, and Don’t Let Go. We feel his passion, but the place he goes to is still a mystery to me. I just can’t stop reliving the whole experience from last night. I want David to schedule an acoustic tour in venues of 500 or less in the near future. This is the Real David. I love, love, love the explosive, jumping, running, David on stage, but this is about The Voice and therein lies the Magic!

The VIP, for 23 fans, took place in a club room situated in back of the HRC which was closed for the day and which also happened to have a baby grand piano. David was not supposed to sing for us but he did. Crazy was awesomely crazy! And Heaven was heavenly! He answered three questions, then had pictures taken. And then he was gone. It went by very quickly it seemed. Then we were escorted back to the HRC for a preordered lunch, hamburgers/cheeseburgers and fries. But I had to be different. I had a very nice salad with calorie-laden dressing, thank you! After lunch we were again escorted out a side door so that David could come in and do his sound check. At this point I decided to take my “goodie bag” to the car parked in the attached garage behind the HRC. As I walked to the back, who do I pass? David of course! Security is escorting him to the back entrance to the HRC. We thought he was already in the HRC. He smiled and waved when he saw me as I thought to myself… this is getting to be almost a regular occurrence. But it was no biggie… ahem!

After the concert, and after most of the people were gone, a group of us sat for a while a talked about how very fortunate we were to be there and also to be a part of “all this.” I met many new people again, and spent some time with some great ladies I knew from previous concerts, and who flew in from out of town, like KT, Deb, Lorna and Janey. And too many other wonderful people to name here. I’m sure I would forget some. I have no idea how I missed meeting prd9601?

Mike K. and SF in Albuquerque

Before I sign off,  I’d like to share with you all one really cool and thoughtful thing that happened after the concert. Mike Krompass, who my sister Theresa and I had the pleasure of talking to in Albuquerque, and who actually recognized and talked with us at all the subsequent concerts we’ve been to, came up to me and gave me the copy of the written set list which they tape to the floor – as a memento he said. I was touched that he would do that.

So this is my recap of David Archuleta’s first ever acoustic show, here in my very own hometown, Louisville, Kentucky. I will be forever grateful it happened here and that I was able to be there. Thank you David for continually bringing me joy.

~Silverfox

09 Summer Tour . Profiles . Reviews . Silverfox