Here is the Grand Rapids Official Road Reporter review from Josh's Straight To You Tour by sadlerm13! Want to enter to win for a chance to be Josh's Official Road Reporter? Get all the contest details HERE.

I have been a fan of Josh ever since I first heard him sing a decade ago. From then on I have been hooked. The passion and power that he sings with gives me chills every time I hear him. I have been lucky enough to see him live on every one of his tours. After four years since the “Awake” tour, I was getting anxious and counting down the days to the Grand Rapids show. The day before the show, I was checking my email and found out that I had won the road reporter contest. I was ecstatic and proceeded to do a happy dance around my living room. I was finally going to meet Josh!!!!

I got to Van Andel Arena very early, worried all day that I was going to be late. After getting my meet & greet and photo pass, along with my show tickets, I went back to the VIP lounge (I purchased the front row package). It was a great time to relax and chat with other Josh fans. When 7:00 rolled around me and the other meet & greet winners went to our designated spot. There was a little bit of confusion on the meeting spot. First we were told to wait on the ground level, then to move up a level to wait, and then back down. Around 7:30, we were finally greeted by Darren and due to the layout of the arena, he took groups of four or five backstage. Once everyone made it back stage, we were given the ground rules: no kissing or hugging, as we don’t want to get Josh sick from thousands of women slobbering on him. Darren also mentioned that if you smuggled any gifts in, do not pin any thing on Josh, as we don’t want to draw blood by trying to pin something on him with shaky hands. When it was my turn, I walked up and shook his hand. He signed my Illuminations cd. I told him that I was excited to be his road reporter and he told me he would try not to screw up (which would be impossible). I got my picture, thanked him, and it was over. It was one of the most amazing minutes I’ve experienced.

After the meet and greet, I made my way back through the maze of hallways to the front of the arena. After grabbing a program, I made my way to my seat. It was time for the opening act, pianist Elew. He was amazing and blew me away. He plays with so much passion. He covered a variety of artist including Lynyrd Skynyrd, Coldplay, the Rolling Stones, and the Pink Panther theme. He ended his set with an original piece entitled “Thanksgiving”. He dedicated “Thanksgiving” to Josh. One thing I found interesting is that a majority of the time that he was playing, he was looking up towards at the ceiling, not even glancing at the keys.

It was finally time for Josh to take the stage. He opened the show at the back stage with “Changing Colors”; followed by “February Song”, and a slightly reworked “You are Loved”. It was great to here a song I was so familiar with done in a different way. After those songs he mentioned that he was excited to be in Grand Rapids and since everyone paid up the wazoo for tickets, he was going to sing his ass off (or at least a little part of it). As he made his way to the main stage, he mentioned that Grand Rapids was a little grabby and that we spell “meet” in a slightly different way.

Back on the main stage, Josh performed a wide range of songs from all of his albums. “Alejate” was one of the first songs and Josh said that translated it literally means “get the hell outta here”. Josh performed many songs from Illuminations including “Bells of NYC”, “Higher Window”, and “War at Home”. When introducing “War at Home”, Josh talked about meeting the veterans at Walter Reed Medical Center. He said that supporting our troops “isn’t a political thing, a blue or red thing, but a human thing”. What a great statement. I was so happy that Josh performed my favorite song of off Illuminations, “Voce Existe Em Mim”. Josh played the drums during the song. The highlight for me was probably “Alla Luce del Sole”. It was absolutely gorgeous.

I loved the Q & A portion of the show. The first question asked was “what is your favorite triangular dessert?”. Josh replied pie was his favorite. The next question was “have you ever thrown up on a roller coaster?”. Josh said no and that he has a stomach of steel. The last question was if he would sing happy birthday to a girl on her 21st birthday. He ran to her seat and sang a lovely rendition of happy birthday. He joked that it was much more personable compared to when he was young and was sang happy birthday to by the robotic mouse at Chuck E. Cheeses.

After the happy birthday, he moved to the back stage and played and sang a few more songs including “The Wandering Kind”, “If I Walk Away” and “Galileo”.

Josh then made a made dash to the front stage for “Weeping” and “Machine”. This finally got the crowd up out of their seats dancing. Josh then went back into the audience looking for a couple. He found a couple that had been together 33 years. While singing a lovely rendition of “Single Ladies” he found two young girls to bring on stage, including an adorable 9-year-old girl, Gracie. He served the couple wine and the girl’s milk commenting “I never woke up naked on the floor from drinking milk”. Josh sang the beautiful songs “Broken Vow” and “Per Te”. It was so cute to see the little girl’s dad come up to the front of the stage to take a picture of his daughter.

For the encore Josh sang a cover of Neil Diamond’s Play Me and of course ended with “You Raise Me Up”. Since there was no choir (Josh said it was because the budget ran out and he used that last of it on the really cool wall), it became a sing along with the audience. It was a wonderful way to end the show. Josh was funny, personable, and sounded incredible (as always). Even after six concerts, Josh always blows me always. This show was no exception.

I would like to thank Sarah, Darren, the entire FOJG team, and of course Josh, himself, for allowing me to have such a wonderful experience. I was a night I will never forget!!!