David Archuleta - Archey Report #1 - Los Angeles, CA

(Courtney's Archey Report is in! Thanks Courtney! Woohoo!)

Hey everyone! The concert at Staples Center was a-ma-zing. Literally every seat was filled and there was SO much archuleta love there. I arrived at the venue around 12 and waited for the busses to arrive. I must add that the American Idol people are VERY punctual. The idols arrived exactly at 1 o'clock for both of the shows I went to (Las Vegas & LA). When the busses arrived, I was waiting on the other side of the service road (and all of the fans) with my friend. We were the only ones on that side of the street & got a pretty good look inside the tour bus. The bus is sooo fancy. They have WALL SCONCES. Need I say more? Anyway, after a few minutes, Brooke, Ramiele, Chikezie, and Kristy Lee Cook (I can't really remember if Kristy came out or not) to sign autographs. There were about 70-100 people there, making it pretty crazy and uncomfortable. =\ After a few minutes after they finished signing and went back inside, one of the tour managers came out & told everyone he doubts anyone else will be coming out to give autographs. :( He was right.. nobody came out (except I heard that Jason wayyyy later).

So the show started (late as usual). Chikezie opened and sang Kanye's "Hey Mama" (?) for his parents since they were in the audience. Next was Ramiele.. and etc. Carly, Michael Johns, Jason and the Davids were definitely crowd favorites. Syesha's "Listen" had the audience at their feet. It was REALLY an amazing performance- the best I've ever heard her sing. Of course, when Archie came on the audience went CRAZY! David was REALLY on point tonight. He sounded AMAZING..that was the best performance of "Angels" I've ever heard from him! I loved the way he changed his licks and stuff for every show. I really noticed that he's MUCH more comfortable on stage now, especially when he was working the crowd during "Stand By Me". On a side note, the smoke machine was on better behavior today and didn't totally engulf him at the piano. Haha.

I left the show after David Cook's first song ("Hello") to make sure I got in the front for the signing. We waited until about 11:15 when the Idols started coming out. Everyone came out except Jason and Michael Johns didn't make it to my end of the line. Seeing Archie that close was really exciting- I'm amazing that I was actually able to speak in complete sentences to him. I asked him the picture I had photshopped for the FanBlast contest and he said "wow that's really cool!" (I just about died, but I managed to say that I made it myself in hopes of impressing him. HAHA). I asked to get a picture with him, but he said "aww I don't think I can, I'm not allowed to". :( I think he couldn't take pictures because in Vegas, he took way too long to get down the line so the last 1/3 of the people barely got things signed, let alone get a picture with him. Archie is the only one to have a guy following him down the autograph line (my friend dubbed him David's Diablo because he's soooo mean. hahaha. Let's just call him DD). After Archie left, he touched hands with everyone (including mine, which is never getting washed. hahahaaha just kidding) and headed back to the bus. All of the Jason fans were really disappointed because he never got to come out and sign autographs. They started chanting "WE WANT JASON!" for a good two minutes straight. So Jason comes RUNNING up to greet his fans.. but DD literally stops and grabs Jason and tells him he has to get on the bus NOW. Long story short, Jason never signed anything and DD definitely is a heartless soul. Hahahahaha.

That was my day. :) From my experiences, I'd say that its not really worth waiting for the busses because its SOO unpredictable who's going to come out and when. I don't know why, but it seems like Archie has a hard time coming out to meet fans quickly... so I wouldn't get my hopes up. I think it's okay if it's a smaller venue and the busses don't park underground. It's best to leave the concert during David Cook's set (if you don't mind) and wait out in the autograph area. Well, I hope everyone has a great time at whichever the concert is that they're going to. I wish everyone the best of luck in hopes of meeting Archie and other favorites! :)