My story actually begins the night before the concert at the home of some fellow David Archuleta fans. To make a long story short, over the past couple of months I’ve made contact with some local fans, and was invited to a BBQ hosted by a Team Archie administrator. Several other fans were there as well, including some from British Columbia, and our own Honeybee, Gengen, who flew down from Calgary. What a bundle of energy she is! In addition, on the day of the concert I met up with a few other Northwest fans who post regularly on FOD. Everyone, excepting myself, had VIP passes, and from what I’ve heard the pre-concert experience is perhaps the best part.  Oh well, there’s always a next time!

My cousin’s 14-year-old daughter accompanied me to the concert. She’s a Demi Lovato fan, so of course that meant I was obligated to stay through Demi’s set. (More on that later.) After the opening act, KSM, was thankfully finished, anticipation reached a fever pitch, and as David stepped onstage – his body silhouetted against a sheer intervening drapery – the crowd went wild! It was all very dramatic, with the rhythmic sound of a heart beating in the background, but David quickly lightened the mood with a wave to the audience. Just as the curtain dropped, a couple of people passed in front of us (we had aisle seats unfortunately), so I missed that part. Darn! David was wearing what I initially thought was a pale blue shirt, but it turns out it was a white shirt with pale blue stripes, which read solid blue from a distance. He had on dark blue jeans and black sneakers. Many have noted that he unbuttoned an extra button on his shirt for this concert! David started his set by singing “Touch My Hand,” and, of course, found many willing volunteers to do just that! The songs and the order he sang them in are now a bit of a blur, but as I recall he sang “Waiting for Yesterday,” “Apologize,” “You Can,” “Zero Gravity,” “A Little Too Not Over You,” “Don’t Let Go,” “Works for Me,” “My Hands,” “Barriers, “ and, of course, “Crush.” David sounded wonderful on all the songs, but I could tell he was not even attempting to hit the high notes on most of them. He later tweeted both he and his voice had been tired that night. If I wasn’t familiar with the way David often performs those songs, I never would have guessed that. He gave it his all, as usual, and sounded great. I did hear his voice crack once on “Works for Me,” but it wasn’t on a sustained or high note. That song is very rhythmic in nature, and it actually was kind of cute when it happened!

Although the theater felt very comfortable for those of us seated, apparently the stage area was very warm. If you viewed any of the pictures posted at FOD or other fan sites, you’ll have seen poor David dripping in sweat. He did make a comment at some point that it was awfully hot up on the stage, which probably explains the extra undone button!

All too soon David’s set was over, and I just stood there in a daze, wishing he’d come back out. During the intermission I looked for some of the fans I had met the evening before, and managed to find a few before they left. They were not staying for Demi’s set and, frankly, I don’t blame them.

I’ll say this for Demi Lovato: She’s a beautiful girl and I do believe she has some talent, but at this point in her career she’s strictly bubble gum material. She apparently writes all or most of her own songs, but I found each one indistinguishable from the next. The one place where I could hear some vocal talent was during her finale, on her second-to-last song. It was more of a ballad, not the up-tempo sugary pop all her other songs had been up until that point. I’ll cut her a bit of slack, because she had to stifle a cough on a few occasions. I’m thinking she was perhaps dealing with the same illness that David was recovering from? Anyway, suffice it to say David was the real “meat” of my concert experience, sandwiched in between two halves of ordinary Disney-type fare.

A little bit about the venue: WaMu Theater has very good acoustics, especially when compared with my only other concert experience involving David at the Tacoma Dome.  According to the website, WaMu Theater “showcases custom-designed sound, lighting, and other technological features.” The theater was at or near capacity, which made me very happy! I’m not sure how many fans were there primarily or at least in part for David since there was no mention of his name on the Ticketmaster website, but I do believe a good many of the adults and teenagers came to see him.  Demi’s fan base seems to be comprised mainly of little girls up to about the age of 12. Based on that, I’m not so certain this was the best pairing for David. Yes, all the little girls loved him too, but they are not the ones with purchasing power. Teenagers are, and I wish there had been more of them in the audience. In the row in front of me there was a young woman, I’d say in her late teens, and at one point she screamed out, “David Archuleta, you are one sexy beast!” I hope there were more like her scattered throughout the theater!

On the drive home I asked my cousin’s daughter if she thought she’d be interested in attending another Demi concert in the future, and she said she would. After observing the audience, I was a bit surprised since she is older and far more sophisticated than the jumping beans I had seen at the venue. I did not specifically ask her what she thought of David, but she volunteered that she thought he was really good. I gifted her with David’s CD, so hopefully that nascent feeling will blossom into full-blown admiration!

I’ve definitely been feeling withdrawal symptoms over the past couple of days. It’s a good thing I’ve been so busy dealing with errands and family matters, which also explains why I’m a bit late in posting this. My fondest hope is someday all of us can meet, say in Salt Lake City, for a David Archuleta solo concert! That’s an experience I would so love to share with all of you!

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Tags:   concert · Seattle · WaMu Theater
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