Here is the Seattle Official Road Reporter review from Josh's Straight To You Tour by dalley43! Want to enter to win for a chance to be Josh's Official Road Reporter? Get all the contest details HERE!

Summer 2002 – After my first year of college, on summer break, a friend’s mother introduces me to “that kid from Ally McBeal”

2004 – I get to see Josh perform live for the first time in Carol Morsani Hall in a crowd of about 2500

2011 – Sarah and the wonderful team at WBR grant me access backstage to meet and greet Josh bringing to fruition a dream almost a decade in the making. Typing the words “Thank you”, “You’re Awesome”, “OMG R U SERIOUS?” just doesn’t seem like an adequate way of expressing my gratitude.

So the event started much like many big concerts do, the left hand doesn’t talk to the right, there is confusion trying to get passes sorted out, wondering which line is which, rushing to wait, but it all pans out in the end. We get to the meet and greet tunnel, get told the do’s and don’ts beforehand and then Josh came out to play gracious host. Since we were pressed for time, it was a very efficient meet and greet. Shake, sign, banter, pose, cheese and say thanks. I had wittier banter worked up in my head ahead of time. Something about asking about the “Book of Mormon” musical, busting out my impressive Eric Cartman voice and being oh-so-witty. What came out “Hi Josh, if you would be so kind as to sign my CD. Oh cool, yeah for curly hair. Thank you”. So not the most coherent thing ever uttered but I kept my composure and that counts for something right?

So after the meet and greet, the wonderful ELEW (Eric Lewis) came out to perform. This man is something else. After watching him play, I think Jazz Piano should be a contact sport. He performed a soulful repertoire with a little bit of something for everybody. There was some Alternative with Diary of Jane, Rock/Country with Sweet Home Alabama which even had a security guy in the front bopping along, show themes (I heard what you did there with Gilligan’s Island), before closing out with some renditions of Teenage Dream, Smells like Teen Spirit (hometown crowd goes wild) and the Maple Leaf Rag. Seriously, the man should make a set of fitness videos from these performances, complete with facial expressions and sound effects!

So after being blown away by ELEW, we gathered ourselves in prep for the man that, as he himself pointed out, we “paid out the wazoo to see,” Mr. Josh Groban.
He started in the center of the arena to give everyone in every possible seat the opportunity to see him up close. It looked like Josh was playing the middle of a twinkling sky amid all the flash bulbs going off. After playing a few songs he said “Hi” to the crowd and promised that since we “paid out the wazoo”, he would “sing his ass off, although not all of it, just a small sliver of it.” A lady down in front was more than willing to take it!

With that he moved to the main stage while singing You Are Love, then shifted to Oceano and we got our first glimpse at some of the detailed moving backgrounds that were projected all night. After talking about starting his career at the tender age of 7 with his spinny little bow tie, he went into Alejate or as those of us who have attend his concerts will probably now remember it as “Get the Hell Out of Here.” Somehow, I think Alejate works better as a title. He did a little more back and forth with the audience, talked about moving one day to Seattle, asking if anyone had a guest house for him to discover ‘guest house” was tonight’s secret word to elicit “Bieberish screams” from the audience. That segued into songs off of “Illuminations”, Bells of New York City and Higher Window (which was dedicated to a gentleman in the audience who REALLY loved Josh) Canto Alla Vita and War at Home followed. There was an instrumental interlude so the band could show their stuff. It ended in a drum battle which of course, Josh partook in. This lead to the drum line to Voce Existe En Mim and the rest of the song followed (as it usually does).

Now for the Q&A portion of our program: It was asked if Josh’s life were a movie, what genre would it be and who would play him? Answer is he would want a fantasy/horror style film where he can slay zombies with his drum sticks and baritone voice. However, it would most likely air on Lifetime and would star McLovin. Next question was if Josh would ever duet with Elmo, what song would it be? With this we were treated to Josh’s Elmo impression (if this “singing gig” doesn’t work out, Sesame Street could hire him in a second). But it would probably be You Raise Me Up but mindlessly repeated as Elmo’s favorite catch phrase is “Again”. For the last question, Josh moved back center stage and treated us to some Kanye West Tweet Classics. While center stage, he sang Galileo and The Wandering Kind, or as Seattle now knows it, “I Hate My Homework”. He also mentioned his charity, the Find Your Light foundation and local charities, ART Corp. and Sanctuary Center to support. In dedication to all the music educators out there who strive to keep their students motivated and invested in the arts he sang, If I Walk Away.

He moved back to the main stage to perform Weeping and Machine. Then he brought up folks on stage to drink some wine (or milk for the underage guest) on inflatable couches, including a couple married 37 years. Josh asked what the secret was to a successful, 37 year marriage. The husband answered “Do what you’re told”. For Trevor, the underage guest, Josh checked to make sure he wasn’t lactose intolerant because a) legal hassle if he is and b) it would sound horrible on the inflatable plastic couches. To this, the audience roars with laughter. To show his appreciation, Josh sang the most beautiful song about cheating (“if you ignore the lyrics it’s beautiful”), Broken Vow. Then, to close the show he sings an actual romantic song Per Te.

Then there was the encore (because we love him too much to let him leave it at Per Te). The encore included the wonderful cover of Neil Diamond’s Play Me and since he wouldn’t have been able to leave the building without singing it, You Raise Me Up officially closed the show with the whole of Key Arena as the stand-in Gospel Choir.
For the handful of times I’ve been privileged to see Josh perform, it always boggles my mind how much his musicality and voice blossoms year after year. The raw talent possessed on stage always makes for an incredible show. A big thank you to Josh and everyone involved in this tour, you truly made it a fun and memorable evening.