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

From the minute Josh announced his Straight to You Tour I was crossing my fingers that he would once again make a stop in Winnipeg. Of course I was absolutely elated to hear that he would once again include the city as part of his tour (as I am sure many other FOJG and Grobanites were as well!) For me it is about a five hour drive from west central Manitoba worth every penny. It has been a long four years since the Awake tour, but the last six months since I purchased the tickets sure have been the longest time ever! ;-) Thursday morning as I checked my email I never thought I would be notified that early about the contest. As I read the subject and opened the email all I could say was Oh My Goodness....the girls behind me wondered what was going on and I was speechless, I finally managed to say I get to meet Josh Groban and they were super excited for me. I tried to read the email again but I was too shocked. I was shaking so bad and couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to print the email off! Finally did get it printed and a little while later I read it again and that was when it sunk in that this was for real! WOW! Tears started flowing.

At the last concert my mom and I were up on the third level, close to the stage on the left so this time around I decided to splurge and go for floor seats. I went for the Gold Hot Ticket package which I ended up getting Row 2 centre this time for my mom and myself. So excited! With this it included pre-hospitality appetizers, beverages, cash bar and a raffle. I of course wanted to get there as early as I could so my mom and I arrived shortly after 5:30 to check in, which we were then taken upstairs get our merchandise (tote bag, water bottle and commemorative VIP pass) and were able to sit and relax for a bit. I was told the raffle would be just before 6:30 and then after that we could make our way down to get our Meet & Greet passes, so of course I was looking at my watch every 10 minutes excited to get on with the show. For the longest time there were just two other people at our table, who I want to give a special shout out to. Jillian and Carrie from Toronto, this being their 3rd show this tour. (jealous!) Finally they started the draw and one of the girls from Toronto won a T-shirt. Two more draws were made and there was one left, hoping it was going to be me and we were all laughing thinking it would be funny if the other girl from Toronto won....sure enough she did! LOL How lucky were they! Then to my surprise they threw one of the T-shirts at us which we were shocked at and of course said they didn’t have to do that but they insisted! So again I say THANK YOU very much Jillian and Carrie! That was extremely generous of you and I will never forget it!

At this time we made our way down to get our passes. On it were instructions about when and where to meet, I blame having Grobanitist that I misread the spot and was having a bit of a panic attack thinking there should be other people around us....finally after a couple MTS people that were no help, there was thankfully one guy who knew where we were to go and took us to straight down inside to the floor level. There we saw a large group of people standing around at the back and I instantly recognized Darren and knew I was in the right place and breathed a sigh of relief. Darren led the group back stage and I heard him ask if anyone had the photo pass. My hand went up instantly and I said I did and he had my mom and I stand beside him while he ushered on the rest of the group. He asked me where my seat was and he told me that I would be better off taking pictures from my seat as I would miss the first three songs if I were to choose taking picture with all the other photographers in the press booth. Of course I didn’t want to miss a minute so I would just go to my seat after the Meet & Greet.

We rejoined the group and Darren had us all stand along one side of the hall. He gave the usual speech about no hugging, kissing or pinning anything on Josh and to have our item to be signed out and ready as well as have our cameras on and at the right setting, as there were about 70 people total to see Josh, so things needed to run smoothly and efficiently. I had chosen the Awake Live DVD/CD as it is one of my favourites that I watch quite often, especially these last few months! Darren left to get Josh and a few minutes later I looked to the front and there he was! There was a young boy and his mother that came from the front and were hanging out on the side for a bit. After a few minutes Josh came up to them holding a set of drum sticks which he signed and gave to the young boy...so cute! We were in the middle and it didn’t take long before it was our turn. I handed my camera over to Darren and Josh greeted us with that charming smile of his, extended his hand out, thanked us for coming and hoped we enjoyed the show (uh of course!) I was a bit star struck of course, having been waiting for this moment for 10 years ever since his first performance on Ally McBeal. My mom pointed out that I had the photo pass and he said that was awesome and to be sure to take lots of pictures which I replied of course, I sure will! With that he handed back my DVD, wrapped his arm around my shoulder and I of course wrapped my arm around his back and tried to smile for the camera! As you will see I am not smiling on the outside but I assure you I am all smiles on the inside! I was so worried about my eyes being closed and still in utter disbelieve that I was actually standing next to him that I forgot to smile and tell him my name even! Ugh! Maybe he will read these reviews at some point and learn my name? Here’s hoping! Oh well, still a minute of my life I will never ever forget. He thanked us for coming, told us to enjoy the show and I thanked him and headed down the hall to find our seats.

We weren’t at our seats for long and the lights dimmed for Rockjazz pianist ELEW to come on stage. Wow what a performance! Such passion as he played a mix of current and classic songs from Katy Perry, Coldplay, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Killers and even the theme song from The Young & The Restless! All while standing in a lunge position, reaching inside the piano and more interestingly looking up and around, hardly ever looking at the keys, unbelievable. Somewhat of a game of ‘name that tune’!

After a bit of a break to get the stage ready, I went out to get a hoodie and to my disappointment they were already all sold out! I purchased a program instead after realizing ELEW was standing there so I decided to get his autograph as well. I headed back inside and shortly after, right at 8:30 the lights dimmed again and the Groband came out! They played a wonderful instrumental version of ‘Straight To You’ and then finally it was time for Josh to come on stage! He opened at the back stage with ‘Changing Colors’ followed by ‘February Song’ and a slightly different version of ‘You Are Loved (Don’t Give Up). Josh sounds just as good, if not better live.

Back on the main stage (still can’t believe my seats were that close, about 10 feet away) Josh played a wonderful mix of songs throughout the night from all his albums, ‘Alejate’, ‘Oceano’, ‘Bells of New York City’, ‘Alla Luce Del Sol’, ‘War At Home’ and ‘Higher Window’ to name a few. In between he welcomed all for coming, saying it had been a long time (too long) since he was here. He takes the time to learn something about each city he is in like the fact that Winnipeg or rather Manitoba is the Slurpee Capital of the World. Stating the he grew up on them. He also congratulated the city on getting a NHL team back which of course got the crowd cheering wildly. Josh explained about the GAPs which his crew referred to the sets of stairs at the front (Grobanite Access Points) all part of an amazing concert that allowed Josh to interact with his fans.

Josh also once again amazed us with his outstanding drumming skills during two numbers. Okay, I admit some of it was a blur and I am sure that I missed some songs that were sung, amazing jokes and laughs that were heard. As Josh said when asked if he would release a Straight To You DVD for this tour he stated on Twitter ‘Not as of now. It’s a “gotta be there” kind of show. See it while ya can!’ This somewhat saddens me as I love the Awake Live DVD/CD (hence me picking that item to get signed) but once here, finally enjoying the show I can understand what he means. I can only hope as many fellow Grobanites get to see it while they can.

During the audience Q&A, Josh was asked by Stephanie if he could only eat and drink one thing for the rest of his life what would it be? He replied with Apple Juice and Subway sandwiches. He was invited by a little boy for a sleepover and to play with toys and trucks. Then lastly he was asked by Mitchell if he could sing a duet with Josh and he took no time running to the back were Mitchell was to take him over to the back stage and sing a few phrases of ‘You Raise Me Up’. Very nice job Mitchell!

Josh stayed at the back and brought Tariqh on stage to play three more songs, ‘The Wandering Kind’, ‘Galileo’ and ‘If I Walk Away’. Love these songs from the new album!

Once again making his way back up front, singing ‘Weeping’ and ‘Machine’ Josh then made his way out into the audience again looking for a couple who had been married a long time . He found a lovely couple that have been married for 56 years, and found the very stylish 7 year-old boy that he talked to earlier, and then looked around singing Beyonces ‘Single Ladies’ finding an 11 year-old girl. Out came the blow-up plastic couches, Josh then served the couple wine and the boy and girl milk, double checking with them and their moms that they were not lactose-intolerant. Josh asked the couple what it is that keeps the marriage going and the husband replied that his wife keeps him young. Josh then asked the wife what it is she does and she said that they love to dance. Once all of his guests were comfortably seated with beverages he shared that he was about to serenade them with a song about cheating, which is can be a romantic song, if you don’t listen to the lyrics he said! ‘Broken Vow’ was beautifully sung of course and was made all the more special by the couple. I noticed the husband hand his class of wine to his wife motioning to put it on the table. I thought maybe he didn’t care for it but I was so wrong. He stood up and offered his hand to his wife and they got up and danced! So extremely touching, the crowd went crazy and Josh not skipping a beat had a somewhat confused look on his face until he turned around as saw what we all saw and his he just got the biggest grin on his face! So adorable! After a refill of milk, which the boy was thoroughly enjoying, Josh then sung ‘Per Te’ which was a perfect way to close out the night. However thankfully it didn’t end there. A very touching encore cover of ‘Play Me’ by Neil Diamond and the ever popular ‘You Raise Me Up’ ended the evening perfectly. Especially since having no choir he asked for the audiences help with the chorus. Outstanding!

Oh and another thing worth mentioning real quick that I don’t recall any other road reporters mentioning but seemed genuinely a surprise for Josh was when he was talking to the young girl about being young and Prince Charming is out there, one of the crew members came out with a long blond wig on and an outfit like a musketeer carrying a bundle of roses for her! Some of the comments and such were similar from other reviews I have read like him going to sing his ass off for us as we apid out the wazoo to be there. However, Tim and all the crew were laughing like I’ve never seen. Josh was laughing so hard he fell to his knees! How can that be planned! He made a reference to Monty Python, singing a bit from it and continued on laughing! What an amazing moment from an amazingly down to earth genuine guy that truly enjoys performing each and every show. This you can tell from the whole Groband, smiles and giggles all through the night which really makes it a memorable experience.

I want to of course finish off with an enormous Thank You to Sarah, Josh and everyone at FOJG that made this possible. What an amazing performer Josh is and how sweet that he takes time to meet with so many people before each show, all I am sure with a smile on his face. Also when he can, signing even more autographs after an amazing two hour show. This experience was 10 years in the making for me and well worth the wait! As I have already mentioned to some friends and family, I will be attending at least two shows next time around, hopefully for a third time in Winnipeg and then in Grand Rapids where I have lots of family.

I am by no means a reporter so I hope everyone enjoys what I wrote. I tend to jump around as I write so hopefully it makes sense!