David Archuleta - Archey Report - Pittsburgh, PA - 07/29/08

(Here's the Archey Report from Monica in Pittsburgh! Yay!)

My day started off fantastic just as I thought it would be. I had been waiting for July 29th to come all summer. It was finally here! I could not contain my excitement when I woke up that morning. All I could think about was who I was going to see, which autographs I would get, how crowded it would be, and if I was going to see my biggest crush David Archuleta! I arrived at the Mellon Arena around noon on the day of the concert, in hopes that four big silver buses would be pulling up anytime. There were only about 100 fans there which was way less than I expected. I had overheard some excited fans talking and they had been told that the estimated time of their arrival would be between 12 o’clock and 1:30. After waiting for about an hour and a half sweating in the scorching heat, the buses were here right before my eyes. I was so anxious to see them walking out of the buses at anytime. After waiting about a half an hour, I began to hear screaming from people waiting in line. None other than David Archuleta himself was walking through the parking lot out of the Mellon Arena with a black sharpie in his hand all ready to sign autographs from some of his biggest Pittsburgh fans. After he was half way down the line, David Cook came out as well. Finally, David Archuleta moved his way down to where I was waiting. He signed my poster and my t-shirt, that said “David’s Arch Angels”, with my silver marker. But the best part came when I gave him a nice big bear hug. The poor kid was dripping with sweat out in the heat with jeans on, but he still maintained a constant smile on his face. Unfortunately, it was time for me to leave after he left, but I knew the concert was still ahead and I was really looking forward to that.

When I arrived at the concert that night around 6, I spotted David’s dad standing along the side. I went up and introduced myself and we talked about the tour, how David was doing and how he is so special. I also took a picture with him as well. After I had played a couple of games inside the arena, I realized that it was getting close to the show starting. I headed to my seats on the floor along with my mother. After the intermission, Syesha Mercado gave a powerful performance which made the hairs on my arms stand up and goosebumps. Finally, the man I had been waiting to see all night was coming up the stage on his piano. I started crying hysterically through all of his spectacular performances. Teardrops were flowing down my face nonstop. My mother who was next to me had to console me. I guess it just goes to show you what an impact his music can have on a person. He is such an inspiration to me and it was a pleasure to see him in person. The concert was over in about three hours, and of course I was sad, but I thought about how lucky I was to be in front of him during the day and later that night. He will always remain in my heart and when I think about him it just makes everything better. I know that there is more of him to come once he promotes his album, and I am praying that he will be going on a tour later. – Monica, Pittsburgh, PA