Gushing Over Josh Groban!

Last Tuesday, August 9th, was an evening that left me with an ever thought of “Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow!” and honestly, it was not until Thursday that I could start to wrap my brain around the event of Josh Groban. Oh yes, people, Josh Groban is an event.

Let me say, I do love his music. If you have been reading any of my Sunday Posts or Song of the Week posts then you would know that I do indeed gush over him too. Yes, I admit, I do have a fangirl crush going on, in a big way. I can and do gush over Josh Groban. Even so, I was not fully certain as to how I would like his concert. I have heard great things about his shows, but still, that does not mean that I would find his show great. At most, I was hoping that my seats would be decent so that I could see him perform. I envisioned sitting in my seat the entire time enjoying the entertainment of song, and well, him...of course. But people, I will say right now - in case you were confused by the “wow wow wow” statement above - he blew me away!

Now that my preamble is over, let me get right to the heart of this post - How much I loved Josh Groban’s Straight To You 2011 show.  The problem is this people - I have written and re-written the heart of this post. I am not getting it right - not expressing well enough as to how simply amazing the show was - how simply amazing Josh Groban is.  So, I decided, instead of trying to be all witty and creative here with my writing, that I am just going to give you the nuts and bolts of what keeps running through my mind.

~~ Amazing voice. The man has talent and oh how I loved listening to him sing. His voice is a beautiful and amazing instrument. No wonder why women swoon, and adore his public persona and wow, wow, wow…more about all this wowness in the following points because really it is not just his voice that makes you want to feast upon his performance. It really is not just his voice that makes a person get all gushy.

~~ Fantastic musician. The man has talent. Not only does he play the piano, and write music, he can also play the drums. Killer! I love bass and percussion so I completely soaked in the drumming moment which was a segue into the song Voce Existe Em Mim. It was a GREAT segue!! (video below)

~~ Witty Personality shines. He has a knack for not only delivering funny stuff with words but also with a sense of comfort. It came off as if he was just being himself. He has a knack for impromptu interaction with the audience while on the floor stage, main stage and running up and down the aisle which by they way I noted that he could still speak/sing well even while running.  At one point during his audience interaction he made a witty comment of something along the lines of why he is still single. I must say, with his witty humor, and ease of conversation and talent, and friendliness... why people? why is the man single?  Don’t know but one day I am sure he will break million of hearts when he does hook up with his love.

~~ Funny, funny, funny.  I laughed my a** off.  Really people, I have never laughed so hard while at a concert before. Funny, funny...and in such a realistic conversationally way.  The man is funny!

~~ Conversation. He truly spoke to the audience not at them.  There was interaction between him and the audience - it was great! I mean, come on, all the running up and down aisle...whew! I had an aisle seat so yeah..I got some Josh Groban up closeness.  And, he took a few audience questions that were sent to him via text before the show started. His witty humor shined during the question time - he answered the questions with lots of laughter from the audience.

~~ Fun, fun, fun. The man is fun! I had such a great time watching, sitting, standing, laughing, clapping, singing (to myself people, I know not to bring horror to the ears of those sitting next to me). He is fun so I had fun.

~~ Amazing voice. Fantastic musician.
No more really needs to be said.

My Highlights...

~~ I met him!!  Oh.Yes.I.Did.  It was a very fleeting moment - true. But, my god, I met him because I was one of the lucky Friends of Josh Groban Members whose name was drawn for the prize of a Meet and Greet pass.  Yes, you read that right. I am a Friends of Josh Groban member. I fess up and own up to that fact.  Okay, I will admit, I don’t hang out  on the forums. Geesh, I have all of you to interact with so how in the world can I add another group of peeps?  Not. Still, it is fun to lurk around and find out some fun information and yay...to get my name pulled for the Meet and Greet. I was ecstatic when I read that email on Friday, August 5th! ECSTATIC people! I could hardly type a message to Suey telling her the news because my hands were shaking so much from the ecstatic excitement running through my veins.

Back to the actual moment of meeting the man - fleeting as it was - I can tell you that I loved it.  He was friendly, made eye contact, and smiled. I made a comment as he was signing his self-titled album jacket (I chose that one because it is the most special one to me, a gift from Suey and the album that turned my musical ear on to him). Anyway, I made a lame comment I know, but hey, it was spontaneous... I said, something like, “Fancy signature”. For which he replied with such wit, “It is all in the wrist.” for which I smiled and laughed a little and said in a joking type manner, “it is all in the wrist, huh” for which he confirmed his wrist theory. It was very quick, and simple, and such a lame comment from me but at least I said something people. I.Said.Something and smiled and made eye contact with the man himself. hehehe...such fun!  He really seemed to be all good with the meet and greet - my kind of man...oops, I mean artist/performer.  ;)

~~ During the show, like I have already mentioned, JG ran up and down the aisles a few times. But people, listen up, one time, he went right up my aisle! I saw him up close - high five I gave and that is sooo not me so you know I was having a GREAT time - yay!  It was fun. 

~~ The fans were friendly. I have not been to a concert before with such friendly and personable fans. I chatted with a few and people, people, people...me chatting with strangers at an event such as this is really not me so it speaks volumes as to the friendliness in the air.

~~ I have talked much about stuff not related to the songs. Let me tell you, his actual performance is the biggest wow of it all!  He opened the show in the middle of the floor where there was a mini-stage. My seats were great because I was not far from this floor stage either; fantastic.  His singing is such beautiful music to my ears.  What’s more, he sang a couple of songs that are not my favorites but I greatly ...and I mean greatly enjoyed them during his performance. Those songs took on a different light for me.  He also sung a few of my favorites for which I absolutely soaked in and enjoyed every moment.  His show is so totally worth seeing AND when he tours again I will be at another show.

Silly video of me right after the show expressing...errr...trying to express my thoughts.

Some of my favorites….

Voce Existe Em Mim – loved the segue into this song

Oceano (not in Milwaukee)

Changing Colors – not at my show – this is the opening song. I loved it. I could see him well.

Alla Luce Del Sole – one of my overall favorites

Higher Window – one of my favorites from his Illuminations album

Play Me – encore cover of Neil Diamond’s song. I loved it.

Okay…this is funny!! Not the show I went to but still…it shows his witty humor!!

This clip is 15 minutes long. I don’t except you to watch it all but a short viewing can you give a good idea as to how he spoke to the audience and interacted with them.  When he sung Happy Birthday with the 11 year old (starts at about 5:34) , she was one row up from me to the left. I was close to him a few times. 

Galileo, I will admit, is not my favorite song but I liked it far more live.  You can skip Galileo is you want but don’t skip Wandering Kind which starts around the 10:35 mark. I liked this part.

While he is on the piano, he is facing towards my direction – my section is right in front and I was not too far back.

Believe you and me…this was one freakin fantastic show. I cannot believe it is over, but oh, I now do have memories.

Side Note:Photo credit goes to me. Yep, those are mine except for when I am in the shot then someone else took it. The videos are not mine. Found them on YouTube.

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