My recent trek to Chicago through the winter weather on Friday to attend David’s Waukegan concert was unusual for me. At most of my recent concerts, I went as an active blogger. I spent a lot of time at past concerts gathering information about David’s career and updating myself on happenings across the fan sites.

This time, however, I purposely attended the concert as a much more low-key fan. I passed on the VIP opportunity to briefly meet David again and instead went with several fellow fans to quietly enjoy an evening of music.

Downtown Waukegan, where the concert took place, is part of a collection of northern Chicago lakeshore communities that built up along the suburban rail line in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Similar to other venues along the Christmas tour, the concert was held in a 1920s’ era movie palace that had been renovated in recent years. The cab driver told me on the way to the venue that the Genesee Theater’s renovation was part of a revitalization of the downtown area over the past few years.

I spent much of the evening reflecting and observing as I glanced around the floor and balconies. From the vantage point of my decent floor-level seat, I had the great opportunity to observe the sheer diversity of fans before the concert started. David’s strikingly diverse fanbase is both perplexing and delightful to me. I observed elderly and middle-aged couples, tweens and teenagers, women with their younger daughters, gay couples, and solo male attendees.

I wish that David’s label and PR people could figure out how to market him well. However, perhaps their difficulty in finding a focused campaign stems from the fanbase’s rather unusual diversity. I am struck by how even though the different demographic sectors of David’s fanbase don’t always see eye to eye on political, social, and religious issues (particularly related to David), there is a lot we can learn from each other.

Could part of David’s mission (perhaps even unbeknownst to him) be to bring this diversity of people together? If we are literally in the same room with a similar focus, we have a basis to start communicating with each other. If David’s music can initially bring us together, that is the first step toward putting a human face on issues that too often divide people.

Other fans across the fan sites have already described the Waukegan concert, so I will not elaborate in great detail. However, it was delightful to hear David sing live again. His studio albums simply do not capture the energy and improvisation of his live performances. I hope that eventually he finds a producer who knows how to extract the vibe of his live performances within a studio context.

Several songs were stand-outs for me. His energetic rendition of “Feliz Navidad” was delightful. “Prayer for the Children” was incredibly soulful on a darkened stage with Kendra accompanying him on the electronic baby grand. The professional lighting and stage set added a dramatic background for a concert that connected with a diverse and energetic crowd.

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Christmas Tour, Random Spaceyness and a New Vlog

The much-anticipated Christmas Tour has traveled to seven cities so far, and David is doing his level best to spread ArchuLove and Christmas spirit from coast to coast.

The tour kicked off in a big way in hometown Salt Lake City.  The elegant Abravanel Hall was the site for concerts on the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  Special touches for the locals included a string section, a white-robed children’s choir and the surprise of mother Lupe joining him in a duet.

It was this mother-son duet of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas that made Perez Hilton spaz:

“This is so presh!”

Hilton invites us to “Watch the performance that makes us wanna hug our madre!!!”

The Salt Lake Tribune review on November 25^th declared that he gave a “rousing performance.”

Whether singing in English, Latin (as on “Ave Maria”) or French (as on Bestor’s galloping arrangement of “Pat-a-Pan”), Archuleta showed not only a command of the material but an ability to connect with the audience with self-deprecating humor and sheepish but endearing half-waves to the crowd, which nearly sold out the symphony hall.

What was most impressive about the concert was that Archuleta and his team relied not on slick, overly produced Christmas music that would dull the experience, but on a real string section and a lean, stripped-down soft-rock sound that shows an authenticity to the teen, who is turning into a man in front of our eyes.

The Ann Arbor show on the Friday after Thanksgiving was unique in that David sang with a full symphony orchestra.  He performed both his pop and his Christmas songs with the orchestra, including a slow version of Crush.

An articulate article by an 8^th grader was printed in MLive.com, Grand Rapids Entertainment.

After Archuleta sang a superb “Ave Maria,” I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house- including mine. When David sang “Ave Maria” it really reminded me of why I fell in love with him in the first place. Although David can belt out any pop song you throw at him, when he sings a slower, more traditional song while backed up by a symphony, you can’t help but have tingles sent up and down your spine.

The tour bus then moved on to California, where David apparently enjoyed the warm weather as well as enthusiastic crowds.  There were shows in Bakersfield, Santa Rosa and San Francisco.  The San Francisco Chronicle published a short Q&A before the SF show.  David gets zero radio play in the Bay Area, and there seemed to be a bit of a culture gap in the conversation.

Q: Are you already over this whole Christmas thing?

A: Christmas isn’t here yet.

Hip, cynical San Francisco meets non-ironic, tell-it-like-it-is David.  SPLAT!!

But there were some nuggets revealed in the interview.  His mother apparently is a big fan of Celine Dion and her songs are a big part of his Christmas memories.  Also, he had a dream about Bob Dylan.

Q: What was Dylan doing in your dream?

A: I think he was singing Christmas songs. I don’t really remember my dream. It was snowing and his Christmas music was going on. I don’t know why. I guess he was on the back of my mind yesterday. I should Tweet about that.

Then on to Anaheim, to finish off the California segment of the tour.  The Orange County Register had some kind words.

The last half of the night proved to be the most artistically satisfying, with the singer performing a song he co-wrote (“Melodies of Christmas”) as well as challenging classical material (notably “Ave Maria”) and numbers for which he sang in French (“Pat-a-Pan”) and Spanish (“Riu Riu Chiu”)….   Archuleta closed his show with a powerful and extended version of “O Holy Night” that served as another reminder of the power of his vocal ability.

Before David performed at a sold-out BYU-Idaho show on December 4th, he visited an assisted-living center and sang several Christmas songs, including I’ll Be Home For Christmas, to the delight of the seniors.  He then apparently insisted on shaking everyone’s hand.  What a sweet, sweet boy!

Random Spaceyness and a Vlog

A wrap-up of news is never complete without some tweets from David.

First up: dang it, no camera and something really weird to photograph!

I wish my camera battery wasn’t dead and that my charger wasn’t lost, because I’d take a picture of this GIGANTIC grape!  It’s huge!!

Second up: David twittered happily that there was an Archie ice cream truck right next to his bus and twitpic’d us the photo.

The ice cream truck here!  How ironic!

Oops, maybe David does understand irony.

He tweeted “Hi Murray.  Bye Murray.  lol” as the bus barreled through his hometown and sent us a vlog from the bus.  There was not much going on to report.  He was just hanging out on the bus, but he shares a cool view of Utah through the window.

Hi David.  Bye David.  lol!  Those who have been fortunate enough to see the tour are missing you already. Those who haven’t seen you yet, can’t wait!

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David will be appearing on “Kaleidoscope”, a new Thanksgiving Day program that celebrates cancer survivors.  The show will air at 4 PM on FOX.  From the website:

Kaleidoscope is a new Thanksgiving tradition on FOX that combines the beauty of Skating, the excitement of Song, and the brave message of Survivorship to raise awareness of the key issues surrounding women and cancer.

Kaleidoscope is reaching women to inform, inspire, and influence them to take action for their health.

Don’t miss Superstar Cancer Survivors: Olivia Newton-John, Dorothy Hamill & Scott Hamilton (both making a historic return to the ice) in the most touching and entertaining holiday special ever.

Here’s David’s part under the cast section:

PCA Awards update: November 10th is the LAST day to nominate David! Nominate him in these 3 categories:

Breakout Artist
Male Artist
Pop Artist

When you finish nominating him, you MUST vote for your favorite rock band in order for your nomination to count.  (Thank you, Hunnzy!)

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David’s new vlog title!

(Check it out here)

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This is the video of David while at the photo shoot for People Magazine!

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