David Archuleta Christmas Concert

There are no words to describe the experience I was able to have yesterday. I had the privilege of not only going to VIP, but also being on the front row during David’s very first Christmas tour. It was breathtaking! We could see the tears in his eyes as he sang with his mom and after completing songs like Silent Night and O Holy Night. The night was spectacular and left everyone in a state of awe. I’ll start at the beginning though…

My friend and I left for Salt Lake around 2:00. We had met David earlier this year at a radio meet in greet before the Salt Lake show so we were pretty stoked to meet him again. We had planned for Traffic, but got there WAY early so we just walked around the Salt Palace and got in line. (Side note for those going tonight…there is no point in waiting in line outside. Just be there at 3:30 and you will have plenty of time to buy merchandise and you won’t have to freeze outside for an hour) Anyways as soon as we got in to the Venue after waiting in line we got to wait inside while everyone else got checked in. While we were waiting Benton Paul came out to set up his merchandise. Not very many people recognized that it was actually Benton out there setting up. It was really funny. This lady came and took a picture of his poster while he was standing right next to her!

It took about half an hour to check everyone in and then we headed up the stairs to wait for the go ahead to go watch David sound check. I was kinda bummed that he wasn’t going to do an acoustic set for us, but the sound check was still amazing. We got to be the first to find out that he was singing The Riddle (which he was really nervous for and seemed to be trying to put off performing it as long as he could J), and we were the first to hear it as well as Melodies of Christmas. Then came time for the questions. One lady asked him to sing a little of Josh Groban’s You Raise Me Up. He was a little hesitant, but then broke into song and it was AMAZING!!! Then a girl asked him if during his 2 years being famous if anyone has asked him to lower his standards, and he talked for a couple minutes about how the reason he puts so much of himself out there is so people will understand who he is and be able to accept that. The last question was if he could travel anywhere where would he go, and he said Japan. It was so cute while she was asking the question he plopped himself down on the floor as if he was getting ready for more questions. J

After sound check we went back in to the room and waited for him to come in to take pictures. There were a lot of people there so the line took a while. David was very gracious as always and seemed to be having a great time! When my friend and I got up there we all said how are you at the same time. It was funny. I then told him he sounded amazing during sound check and that I really liked the Riddle. He turned to me and with that unbelievable look said “Awe Thanks!” I was too chicken to look him in the eye last time, and I’m so glad I did yesterday!! I’m pretty sure I’ll dream about that look for a while now.

One other funny thing happened during pictures. There was a girl that was REALLY tall and so she bent down and he stood on his tippy toes so they would be the same height! It was funny to watch them do and he seemed to get a kick out of it. J

Anyways after pictures we did the drawing and unfortunately we didn’t win anything, but the gift bags had amazing stuff in them so we were ok with that. J Then we went and found our seats. We were so excited to see that we were on the FRONT ROW!! We were worried that the sound would be messed up, but everything sounded fantastic. I even got great mp3 recordings of all the Christmas songs that I will send in with this story. (I’ll send the pop ones too, but some of those didn’t turn out great. I’ll try again tomorrow to see if I can get better ones)

Now to the concert! Benton started out and he was amazing as usual. He ended with singing Still, Still, Still, and that was definitely the highlight of his set. I also love the one he sings with French in it. J After him it took a while to get the stage ready for David, but as soon as the lights dimmed the screaming started! David came out in a blue and black plaid patterned shirt, black pants and black tennis shoe type shoes. He was very energetic and his voice was superb, even though during sound check he had said it was feeling weak! He started with my favorite song, which I loved, Waiting for Yesterday, and continued to sing his pop songs including the fantastic Zero Gravity. One side note…right before Zero Gravity he realized his shoe was untied so he bent down and tied it. It was so cute. He apologized to us while he was doing it, but then said, “You guys will see why in a minute.“ We all knew what that meant J The Riddle was also a highlight of the night! It was so GOOD! His voice fit it perfectly, and even though we could tell he was nervous he rocked it! He ended the set of his songs with Crush and then went into Fields of Gold and Prayer of the Children. Both songs blew me away and really changed the tone of the concert. Another side note before he sang fields of gold they moved the piano to the front and then put his stool right behind the piano so those of us on the front row couldn’t see him very well. He realized this and started to move up. As soon as we could see him I gave him a thumbs up and he smiled and waved at me!! He also forgot what he was supposed to do so he asked Dave, where am I going to sit and Dave was the one who put his stool behind the piano J

He then moved into the Christmas set which was FULL of surprises! I absolutely loved being at the first concert because I never knew what was coming next. He started with Melodies of Christmas, which by the way is my new favorite Christmas song!!! Kurt Bestor and a children’s choir joined him for Ave Maria, and he sang Riu Riu Chu amazing, but the best moment of the night was definitely his mom singing with him. They were both so emotional and she made it so fun! She asked him to dance, and it really threw him off and was really funny, she also made cute little comments during the song. J At the end she was so overwhelmed that she couldn’t finish the song and started crying, and it made David cry. They embraced for a minute, and it was the most special moment.

The end of the concert was breathtaking, spectacular and beyond words! Silent Night made me cry and everyone was blown away. I honestly didn’t know how the spirit in the room could get any stronger, but then he came back out and sang O Holy Night. This song was the highlight of the evening. The most amazing thing I had ever heard. David immersed himself in the song and poured his soul out to all in the audience. He seemed to leave the stage and to take us all up to heaven. They had fog on the stage, which increased this effect. Honestly words cannot describe the feeling that entered the room. I don’t think a soul, at least around me, had dry eyes, and we were all left mesmerized. It was unbelievable. Even Alex, who came to the front of the stage to talk to us afterwards, commented that it seemed like the entire audience was awestruck. It honestly left me wanting to thank him so much for what he shares with us. I hope he continues to do Christmas concerts year after year because it definitely brings in the Christmas Spirit and makes you want to be a better person.