David Archuleta - Archey Report #2 - Las Vegas, NV
(Here's our honorary Archey Report from ITTO -- Woohoo! After Party, baby!)
Okay, here's the recap of events from this very David-filled weekend…
First of all let me say this, the suit is not that bad in person. I know all of you are incredibly shocked to hear me of all people say that. The suit looks horrible in photos and videos, but is actually okay live. Don't get me wrong, it's still totally NOT David and I wish they'd give him something else to wear, but I truly feel like I've been too hard on the suit.
Now on to more important things…the concert was a total blast! You could really tell that the Idols were overwhelmed by the Vegas fans (we rock!) because they all kept making comments about the energy in the arena. One thing that I had worried about going into the concert was how the much older crowd would react to David since he's a 17 year-old kid. Vegas is the kind of place that definitely has a more adult feel to it and I couldn't imagine a lot of David's younger fans making the trip to a rather expensive place like that to see him. It really did seem to me that the average age in that arena was about 45. I had people in their 50s and 60s (and even some in their 70s) sitting all around me—it was quite surprising actually.
Well, my worries were in complete vain because everyone LOVED David. When Syesha introduced David, the crowd was deafening. She was actually really cute about it because when she said, "the next performer" and the crowd exploded, she then stopped and chuckled and said "that happens every show!" It was really funny and I loved that she called David her "newfound little brother."
The Performances
Angels – Yet again David changed the way he sang his signature song. I'm always in awe of his ability to do that. One thing that I noticed was that he was ever-so-slightly off on the song (as I had compared it to his prior performances on the tour), but the funny thing is that it was still hands-down better than everyone else's performances to that point. I find it so interesting that there are non-DA fans at the show who were so blown away by it because being a die-hard Archuleta follower, I spotted the iffy parts right away. I guess it just proves once and for all that even when David isn't exactly on top of his game, he still blows everyone away and that's incredible. On a side note, it was hilarious to see David try to hide from the audience when he was at the piano ready to be raised through the floor before the song started. Everyone could totally see his head when he was crouched down and they were, of course, screaming like crazy.
Apologize - I was curious about this song because I had been indifferent to it after hearing it in the prior shows and I'm sad to say that hearing it live really didn't change my opinion. Of course David nailed the song vocally, but as I've said before, this is a song that really needs a big "production" sound to it to keep it interesting. There was just something missing from it that was completely out of David's hands. However, that being said, I thought David hit his falsetto notes the best he ever had over the four shows with this performance. Even Richard, who sat beside me at the concert, made the same comment.
Stand By Me - This was probably my favorite performance yet of this song. David had it all…stage presence, confidence, cheekiness, stellar vocals, etc. You could tell he was having a blast with it. One thing I found interesting is that unlike some of the prior shows, when David walked over to the extended side catwalks, he didn't reach out and touch the fans. It made me wonder if some of the fans at the other concerts had gotten a little too grabby with him and so he was hesitant to do it at the Vegas concert—especially where the crowd was so crazy.
When You Say You Love Me - This song was absolutely incredible live. I've never heard David sing more beautifully than during this song. He had the crowd in the palm of his hand with this one. In fact, Richard got a few pictures of David singing the song where you can see the crowd in the background and some of the women (who were not even young girls) were totally exhibiting signs of complete swoonage. David's voice just reaches out and grabs you—it simply soars during this song.
Continued at ITTO's MySpace
