Kris Allen – WXLO Acoustic Christmas – VIDEO

By On 12/08/2009 · 138 Comments · In American Idol, Kris Allen

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Oh man! I had so much fun at last night’s WXLO Acoustic Christmas show in Worcester MA! The venue was gorgeous, I had 7th row seats and Kris Allen and band put on a kick-ass show.

The rest of the bill, Joshua Radin, Ingrid Michaelson and Bare Naked Ladies were pretty awesome too, though I was pretty fatigued by the end of the 4 hour concert.

My only quibble? In an acoustic environment–tone down that bass boys.

Favorite song of the night: The clappy/happy “It’s Alright”. Honorable mention: The lovely, jazzy, “Chestnuts Roasting Over an Open Fire”.

Kris performed 7 songs: “Heartless/Gangster’s Paradise”, “Can’t Stay Away”, “Is It Over”, “Alright With Me”, “Man in the Mirror”, “Christmas Song”, and “Live Like We’re Dying”

After his set (The band was 3rd after Joshua and Ingrid) Kris hung out in the shadows to watch Barenaked Ladies. And yes, that doesn’t sound quite right, does it…

A couple of teen girls in the audience were waving a “we want to meet you” sign, and after his set, Kris invited them backstage for a minute for autographs.

My videos after the jump–I captured nearly all the banter, and the video is nice and clear, but the sound muffled in spot because of that damn bass! Still, worth a listen, for sure.

Videos after the jump.

“Heartless/Gangsters Paradise”

“Can’t Stay Away”

“Is It Over”

“Alright With Me”

“Man in the Mirror”

“Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire (Christmas Song)

“Live Like We’re Dying”

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  • summersnow

    I didn’t know that the clear videos which I saw in the earlier thread were actually posted by mj. So a very BIG THANK YOU to mj for the awesome videos!

  • summersnow

    I read from the one of the earliest comments that most of the audience was there for BNL. I think there’s great cos I always feel that LLWD has some of that BNL vibes (which Randy Jackson had mentioned during his interview with Ryan Secrest). Perhaps LLWD would then appeal to BNL fans and they would then be interested to check Kris’s music. I think they might also like AWM since it’s a happy sing-along song. Hope that he has captured some new fans after his performances:)

  • summersnow

    Overall the performances are great as usual but I wants to be objective since he’s out in the big playing field now. I find that his falsetto in Can’t Stay Away is really weak…and sounds really awkward. The best falsetto for CSA is still the Dolphin Tailgate performance. Not sure whether he is trying to change up the falsetto a bit with some runs but I rather he does a straight-out one like he did in AWM.

  • Starr

    folk
    12/08/2009 at 12:18 pm

    Yeah, I liked Josh’s stuff’ ¦but he REALLY needs to work on his banter. a LOT. He is a true contemporary singer songwriter/folk/acoustic performer. And having been to hundreds of those types of concerts, Josh cannot do well unless he livens up his performances a bit.

    I’ve seen Joshua Radin plenty of times. He’s not a new artist; at least, I’ve known his music for a few years, and he was definitely around before Ingrid Michaelson or Kris were even on anyone’s radars. I think he’s a great performer, and I think he is great with banter. It must’ve just been one of those gigs. But then again, I did see him at a small venue, so perhaps his personality just shines when he is in a much more intimate setting. Mechanics Hall looked huge from the pics and videos.

    As for the banter, if the videos captured all of the it, I think Kris did pretty well considering he was catering to a crowd of Michaelson and BNL fans. I loved when he was reading one of the signs that said “KRIS WE WANNA MEET YOU” and then some people yelled on the other side “WE LOVE YOU KRIS!” and he was like, “But you don’t have a sign! She does!” LOL that cracked me up. I also thought it was hilarious when he was like, “Of course you’re enjoying the show. Josh Radin, Ingrid Michaelson…and me. Boo, he sucks!” So IMO, he did pretty well. One of my personal pet peeves is when people do more talking than they do singing at a gig, and then I’m just like, stop trying to be a comedian.

    Personally, although I love banter and this is what makes live performances unique, I’m there to listen to music. I’d be more impressed with cover songs or interesting twists in current songs than with banter. You can be as charming as you can onstage, but at the end of the day, if your music is crap, it doesn’t really help your case. But that’s just me. I love when people talk about the origin of songs. Joshua Radin talked about the origin of one of his songs on one of his live gigs here in San Diego and it really makes you look at the song in a different light once you listen to it after the gig.

    Thanks MJ for the videos – you did an awesome job filming all of them! I love love love The Christmas Song! I had never heard the song before, but someone told me it started with “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire” and as soon as Kris said those words I was jumping up and down hahaha I love the arrangement! If you heard it the first time like I did, it came off as warm and cozy but not Christmassy at all. LOVED the falsetto at the end!

    I feel like “Is It Over” is going to be my favorite song to see live. I love the song already and seeing it performed live just adds to that. I love the building intensity of the song, and Kris really channels a Donny Hathaway and Sam Cooke on this song.

    OMG LOL MJ WIN! You caught the girls chasing after Kris hahahahahaha That cracked me up so bad. Oh, man. :D

    movin2thabeet
    12/08/2009 at 3:13 pm

    FYI, David Cook has never had CDs available for sale. There is a merch table with other DC stuff like shirts, posters, etc.


    movin2thabeet
    12/08/2009 at 3:36 pm

    Well, its definitely not a headlining issue as David Cook has been the headliner for pretty much all of his 154 shows this year. I’m thinking that selling CDs at concerts falls under the category of label contracts. I’m sure as Billboard and chart contenders, they want to make sure that each sale counts and that requires a special POS machine at each venue which might not make financial sense. Just guessing here.

    This is interesting! Does anyone have any idea if this has always been the case for Idols? Maybe it’s a contract 19E has with retailers, that they can’t sell CDs through gigs or something, although I don’t really understand why. I think you may be onto something though, about wanting the sales to count? Maybe that’s why they have contracts with retailers? Especially since Kris is only starting out, they wanna make sure those sales count, right? But artists sell at live venues all the time, so it makes me wonder. Although now that I think about it, I went to a Snow Patrol concert recently and Plain White T’s opened for them – all they had for sale were T-shirts and bags and hoodies, etc. No CDs from either one, headliner or opener.

  • washpd

    Sometimes, I feel like I must be listening to certain performances with different ears than other people. Straining for notes on The Christmas Song? Which ones? It all seemed right in his sweet spot to me. I’ve had that song on repeat on and off all day–just sweet.

  • washyourhands

    Thanks for posting these awesome videos. I loved them all and watched them with a silly grin. The banter, IMO, is priceless.

  • MusicAlltheTime

    mmk28, thanks for the links to the acoustic cafe’ videos. They’re so fun to watch!

    I had to listen to the Christmas Song again just to check, but no, I can’t hear any strain in Kris’s voice. On some songs he does put a little strain into his voice to convey emotion, but not that one. I love it when he does that, though. It’s one of my favorite things about the way Kris sings.

  • http://twitter.com/melliesmom Diane

    I posted this song after my initial comment and said that it sounded good…and it’s very close up.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ftgeVaS_-w

    How do I explain myself on the strained notes? I loved Falling Slowly. Kris’s voice there is perfection IMO. I loved Apologize too. I have no problem with his falsetto. I just don’t especially like it when he sings the higher notes. But this is just my opinion.

  • Seeker

    Diane, I kinda get what you’re saying. I think early on I used to feel that Kris would somewhat lose control going into the higher notes. Instead of a “High Note” it would just sound loud.
    In his earlier reditions of Heartless, “Better than me” would come out in a loud burst!…. but I don’t hear that anymore, he’s got it undercontrol. I didn’t hear it in the Christmas song. Thought it was smooth like butter slowly melting on yummy pancakes.
    Anyways for any hitches or catches (which imho sound great too) in his voice, Kris more than makes up for it with his uber sexy lower register & emotion he brings to the song. Also I love it when he holds a note and then pulls it higher, like at the end of heartless, “How could you be so heartless…..”

    Again, thanks everyone, MJ!!, Diane, Girlygirl, Mmk, & Ross (Lucky U!) and everyone else who contribute here!! Thanks so much for my Kris Fix!

  • Mtlfan

    I posted this song after my initial comment and said that it sounded good’ ¦and it’s very close up.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ftgeVaS_-w

    thanks Diane for the link. Love the close-up vid :)

    I don’t think anything sound strained here. It’s all mellow, husky at times

  • evanjane

    Thanks for the videos, MJ. Really great job! After watching a Kris performance, I’m always impressed. He’s a natural. I usually end up with a smile on my face, saying, “he’s good. He’s really good.” The foolishness of IDOL comparisons and the foolishness of so-called grown-ups and their IDOL rivalries can not change this fact. This guy is going to do very well in the music industry. Be damned, IDOL stats, no one cares in the real world. It’s the end result that counts. So many great songs on the CD to come. I’m looking forward to watching him grow and flourish as an artist and seeing his inevitable success.

  • ross

    Sometimes, I feel like I must be listening to certain performances with different ears than other people. Straining for notes on The Christmas Song? Which ones? It all seemed right in his sweet spot to me. I’ve had that song on repeat on and off all day’“just sweet.

    I’m afraid I’m going to have to sing the Christmas song called Do You Hear What I Hear? to Diane because what I heard was wonderful (and, sorry but, I was there — and he sounded great. This song was one of his best of the night). My point was also that the song was not out of his range, because it’s within the range of any decent professional singer and certainly within Kris’s. Maybe you just don’t altogether like his singing style, and what you call straining, other people call good singing.

    There were certainly a majority of Barenaked Ladies fans there, but I wouldn’t say (as someone said earlier) it was a crowd of Josh Radin and Ingrid Michaelson fans. I’m sure they had fans there, but Barenaked Ladies and Kris had equal billing and were listed in large letters on the poster, and Josh and Ingrid in much smaller letters near the bottom of the poster. Kris had the third performance spot, and his reception was very strong. He had a good many fans of his own there.

    I was aware of this before the concert because it was obvious most of the teen girls (and a few guys) who were there in groups (a lot of them holding Kris stuff, like CD’s or pictures) were there to see him. There were also a few other people (adults) I spoke to before the concert who were there to see him. I would say he and the BNL were the main attractions.

  • snlw

    ross
    I’m afraid I’m going to have to sing the Christmas song called Do You Hear What I Hear? to Diane because what I heard was wonderful (and, sorry but, I was there ‘” and he sounded great. This song was one of his best of the night). My point was also that the song was not out of his range, because it’s within the range of any decent professional singer and certainly within Kris’s. Maybe you just don’t altogether like his singing style, and what you call straining, other people call good singing.

    There were certainly a majority of Barenaked Ladies fans there, but I wouldn’t say (as someone said earlier) it was a crowd of Josh Radin and Ingrid Michaelson fans. I’m sure they had fans there, but Barenaked Ladies and Kris had equal billing and were listed in large letters on the poster, and Josh and Ingrid in much smaller letters near the bottom of the poster. Kris had the third performance spot, and his reception was very strong. He had a good many fans of his own there.

    I was aware of this before the concert because it was obvious most of the teen girls (and a few guys) who were there in groups (a lot of them holding Kris stuff, like CD’s or pictures) were there to see him. There were also a few other people (adults) I spoke to before the concert who were there to see him. I would say he and the BNL were the main attractions.

    Aww that’s good to know! Thank you Ross!

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