Monday, June 6, 2016

Letting You In Tour: June 8, 2016: Washington, DC (FINALLY)

Screencap by @KrisAllenLists
Concert
June 8, 2016 (rescheduled from April 5; tickets honored)
The Hamilton
Washington, DC
Doors 6:30 PM EDT
Show 7:30 PM EDT
Opening Acts: Sean McConnell and Tyler Woolf

Show and List Preview:
Well it's about time Kris plays my hometown, considering he has not done a proper headlining gig in DC since 2012 (at this same venue). (To be fair to Kris, he played a fantastic show in the northern VA suburbs of DC in January 2013 and a Boyce Avenue gig in October 2014 in the MD suburbs.) The Hamilton is an awesome venue with great acoustics, and I am looking forward to actually going to a headlining Kris Allen show for the first time since that January 2013 VA show. Really, this whole show should have a great vibe, especially given how long this area of the country has gone without a show. On top of it, local top 40 radio station Mix 107.3 is doing a "pre-party" for this concert which is promotion I would not have expected from them, but definitely welcome! And not to be outdone, local Kris-friendly radio station (they've spun Waves) 94.7 FreshFM is co-sponsoring a breakfast with Kris on its acoustic stage. People going to that event are on the list as well.

Updated: This was such a great show and the people of DC were thrilled to have Kris back in concert after a long time with no show. Post has been updated with a ton of media (including videos, mp3s and photos) and my thoughts (since I actually went) after the break...
UPDATED 9/29/2016

Pre-Show/Event Press and Publicity:
Soundchecking If We Keep Doing Nothing for Great Day Washington. Photo by @KiraCapri919
Photo by @ShaunFreshNikes
Photo by @947FreshFM
Photo by @stevechenevey
  • Mix 107.3's contest page - Note that this is basically a happy hour (6:30 PM) before the show and Kris is not expected to be there. Still, we do love our happy hours in DC and it's great Mix 107.3 is doing something. Update: The party did happen and Mix 107.3 DJ Ashley Nickels greeted all of the concert goers and invited us up (the Hamilton is two levels). Kris apparently stopped by as well.
    Photo by @mix1073dc
The Ticket: 
Photo by @KrisAllenLists - my own ticket for once! No worries, April 5 tickets will be honored.
Merch, Signage and Other Fun Stuff: 

Pentagon Tour: Kris and the band had a private tour of the Pentagon.
Photo by kris_allen on IG
Can I just say the mug is freaking awesome?  
And the coffee is much needed after the drink special!
Photo by @Ang_XoXo17 - The Kris-themed drink was way too good!
 
Soundcheck: Kris sang my request (and others): Letting You In. It was gorgeous. I was a little too gobsmacked to stream but here's some media: Instagram | Instagram. They needed him to do one more song for checking sound, so he went with Way Up High.

Highlights of Q/A: Kris answered some usual questions about Idol and challenges he's faced and was his usual sweet self. He did say that Torres came up with the funky arrangement for Lost - it started with a bass riff and they went with it. He also mentioned the Christmas album (no Christmas shows in the works yet, but we tried to plant a bug in his ear on that).


The Show:
    Photo by @incognitolivia
    Photo by @PledgeMatt
    Photo by @xoxEmjayxox
    Photo by @KiraCapri919
    Photo by  @LexieWallace

    Photo by @tonyacrys
    Thank you to Kira for taking my phone and grabbing this photo for me!

     Set List (Thank you @KiraCapri919):
    1. Love Will Find You (with a bit of Letting You In) [Periscope partial] | [Periscope | mp3] | [YouTube | mp3]
    2. Time Will Come [YouTube snippet]
    3. Better With You [Twitter video] | [Twitter Video] | [Instagram] | [Instagram] | [Periscope through FS] | [YouTube | mp3]
    4. Faster Shoes [Instagram] | [YouTube | mp3]
    5. Prove It to You
    6. If We Keep Doing Nothing [Instagram] | [Periscope] | [YouTube | mp3] | [YouTube]
    7. Paul Simon
    8. Waves [Twitter video] | [Periscope includes water banter] | [YouTube | mp3]
    9. Request- Alright With Me [YouTube]
    10. In Time [Intro banter - Twitter video] | [Twitter video] | [YouTube with Girls | mp3]
    11. Girls Just Want to Have Fun (Cover - Cyndi Lauper) [Instagram] | [Instagram] | [Periscope through Monster] | [YouTube with IT | mp3] | [YouTube]
    12. Monster/Maneater (Original/Cover - Hall & Oates) [Twitter video] | [Periscope]
    13. Everybody Just Wants to Dance [Soundcloud audio through FTW | mp3]
    14. Live Like We're Dying [Soundcloud audio with EJWTD and FTW | mp3]
    15. Feeling This Way [YouTube - partial (almost full)] | [YouTube - partial] | [Soundcloud audio with EJWTD and LLWD | mp3]
    16. Ain’t No Sunshine (Cover - Bill Withers) [Twitter video] | [Twitter video] | [Twitter video] | [Twitter video] | [YouTube with funny banter | trimmed mp3] | [YouTube with Lost | mp3]
    17. Lost [YouTube with Lost | mp3]
    18. End of the Show [YouTube - partial]
      My thoughts: This was a really fun show. Kris' voice was perhaps the best I'd ever heard him over the past six years and the venue's great acoustics showcased that. You can tell he has grown up a lot and in a great way the past three years since we last chatted. The band is tighter than ever and Devon is a great addition on drums. I was so thrilled when he played Letting You In at VIP (I had tweeted a request earlier in the day for it). We all did kind of roll our eyes at whoever requested Alright With Me, but you know what - it was probably a casual fan (which of course we welcome and encourage), it's good they got to hear it and we all just cut up and had fun with it. I did shoot someone a daggery look when they yelled out for Chandelier. Thank goodness he didn't hear them. My favorite songs live were Love Will Find You, Faster Shoes, Paul Simon, Waves, In Time, Monster, Everybody Just Wants to Dance, LLWD (of course, such a classic!), Feeling This Way and Ain't No Sunshine. Basically my favorites in real life and they were all well-sung and well-performed. But Letting You In was the highlight. If you are on the fence about VIP, go for it. Totally worth the money. I confess I didn't follow my own Periscope tips - it's hard to do all that during a show and major props to all of you who have done it during a complete show. Mixlr is a great option if you want to stream but you want to dance; it allows you to export the file to Soundcloud. Just be sure to turn it off when the show's done, as it can't be edited later.

       
      Want to see Kris live? He's touring this Spring!
      Check my calendar on the web version of this blog  for full schedule; visit krisallenofficial.com/tour or event/venue's website for tickets
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