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

First and foremost, before I begin, I would like to thank Sarah and the entire team at Friends of Josh Groban for having this contest and allowing all of us ‘Grobanites’ to have this opportunity and to be able to have a chance to meet our hero. This has been a once in a lifetime opportunity and even with a little mishap with dates when picking me as the winner, things got straightened out right away, and it just made for an absolutely picture perfect night. So again, a big thank you goes out to Josh, Sarah, and the entire Friends of Josh Groban staff. I personally cannot thank you enough!

So, the day started out at Chickie’s and Pete’s where I thought fans were going to show up before the show, hang out, and then we’d all go over to the center. However, this was not the case. Thankfully, Gayle and her husband showed up to keep me company and before I knew it, it was approaching 6:00 and I wanted to get over to the center. Upon arriving at the center, I went to will-call, got my passes, and then proceeded over to another table to get my ticket. Afterwards, fellow Grobies met inside the arena for specialty drinks, ‘Awake’ and ‘You Raise Me Up’. After meeting fellow fans inside the arena, it was time to find our seats. However, I went on the floor and found Darren, Josh’s tour security manager, and other groups that were waiting to meet Josh as well.

After waiting a few minutes, and separating people from FoJG from the others, Darren escorted first the FoJG people and then proceeded with the rest of the group. I was 3rd in line behind two ladies. After talking to the ladies they decided it would be best if I went first. So, there I was, first in line to meet Josh. The pressure was building! What do I say? Do I shake his hand? But, before I could think about it, there he was! So, being me, I walked up casually with a “Hey Buddy!” introduction and my hand out for a handshake. He proceeded to shake my hand, at which point I handed him 2 Chickie’s and Pete’s shirts and my business card. He looked at my card and saw my job title, “Gaming Sensei”. “That’s pretty cool you’re a Gaming Sensei,” he says. So I explained to him what I do for a living which is playing video games. Yes, I play video games for a living. Anyway, so we talked for a minute about video games, and I got my picture taken with him, and before I knew it, I was walking back to my seat.

“So, how did it go?” “Was he nice?” “What did you talk about?” were all questions I immediately got upon returning to my seat. I explained everything went great and at that point I went to the merchandise stand, got a program, and went back to my seat to wait for the start of the show.

The show starts with Elew walking out on stage, whom I didn’t realize was from Camden, NJ. He explained that he had family and old professors in the audience and I thought that was pretty interesting. Elew performed a multitude of songs on the piano, and the one thing I kept thinking to myself as he was performing was the fact that he stands throughout most of the performance and barely looks at the keys while playing. He even through in his own little rendition of the ‘Rocky’ theme song for the Philly crowd which they took with great pleasure in hearing.

Following Elew’s performance we waited for Josh to show. Having been up to date on what his shows are like, I knew Josh was going to be entering from the back of the house. Upon entering, I got a wide shot of where I was originally sitting and then rushed for the back staging platform. Josh entered and began with “Changing Colors”, “February Song” and then “You Are Loved”. During “You Are Loved”, Josh went from the back stage platform to the front of the house. After the song, he said his introductions mentioning how he loves performing in Philadelphia, that he was here for Live 8 and other events and that the crowd in Philly has always been one of his favorites.

Following his introduction Josh performed “Alejate” which he joking referred to as literally meaning “Get the hell outta here!” and the song originally came from Celine Dion’s “Just Walk Away.” The next set of songs was: “Bells of New York City”, “Higher Window”, and one of my favorites, “Alla Luce Del Sole.” Tim Curle and Gary Novak then did a small drum solo with Josh entering to play his own solo towards the middle. This all lead into a powerful, “Voce Existe Em Mim” and “War at Home.”

After performing this set, Josh took a small break by explaining that before he went on tour, he performed in much smaller arenas of sizes of maybe 800 or 900 people so that he could have a closer connection with his audience. And to do that in a bigger arena, people could text in questions to him before the show and that he would answer some of his fans questions. He also said he has no idea what these questions are, so here we go!

The first question that was asked was if Josh could do any impressions? He jokingly said his best was Stewie Griffen from the FOX series, “Family Guy”. He then proceeded to do a nice rendition of “Welcome to the Jungle”. The next question was, “What do you know now that you didn’t know 10 years ago?” So Josh answered with this crazy dance and joked around for a bit. The final question asked if Josh could start the wave. So, Josh being Josh, laughed hysterically, ran to the back staging platform, and began the wave for the audience.

After a little Q&A, while Josh was still on the back staging platform, he sang his next set of songs which were: “Galileo,” “If I Walk Away,” and “The Wandering Kind.” He mentioned that he wrote “The Wandering Kind” when he was 12 years old. He then proceeded to discuss his new foundation, “Find Your Light” and that people from a local organization were there and he talked about ways that we could help the arts and his foundation.

Josh brought all the energy quickly back by singing two songs from his last "Awake" album, "Weeping" and an incredibly energetic, "Machine," which had the crowd on their feet, dancing and singing. Josh then took the time and introduced the “GroBand”, and didn't forget to thank the crew for all their hard work too! Coming from this reporter, they all did an amazing job.

At this point, Josh asked the audience if there was a couple that had been together for a really long time. He found a couple who'd been together for thirty-five years, a ten year old girl who'd he'd spoken to earlier in the show, and another small girl from the audience to sit on the stage complete with inflatable couches, wine for the couple and milk for the girls. Josh had to ask the girls if they were lactose and tolerant and the girls jokingly laughed and said “No.” Josh then sang “the best song about cheating”, “Broken Vow” in the same style he did with Chris Botti except for this time it was his new trumpeter, who was really good. He dedicated his final song "Per Te" to the couple on stage, the people in the audience, and hoping that girls on stage would drink milk for as long as possible!

The crowd stayed on their feet and the applause was deafening. Josh quickly came back to play an encore. He then explained that he loved Neil Diamond songs, and proceed to sing, "Play Me". Josh's absolute final song of the evening was "You Raise Me Up," which he explained that he didn’t have a gospel choir with him that evening and he invited the audience to sing along with, and we all sounded beautifully!

With that, I want to conclude my review by saying that Josh’s shows are indeed a breathtaking experience. For those of you who have not been to a show yet, hang on tight because I have never felt so close to a performer when going to see them live then I do with Josh. He just brings that great presence, sense of humor, and communication with the audience that no other performer I’ve seen has done.

In conclusion, I again want to thank Josh, Sarah, and the entire team at FoJG for making this experience a once in a lifetime moment for me. It will never be forgotten!!