Sarah from http://teamplaid.com attended the Elliott Yamin concert Sunday night at the House of Blues in Orlando Florida. Here is her recap:
The concert was GREAT. I’m really glad we got there early. Well, on time, really, but you know what I mean. My roommate and I both loved both opening acts. Josh Hoge has SO much soul in his voice, but on the whole, his songs seem pretty versatile. He was fantastic - his whole set was acoustic. His “breakup” song, 360? Yeah, totally identified with that, and I told him as much when I got the chance to talk to him later. Oh a little Josh Hoge scoop - he’s been signed to a new label out of New York and is going into the studio in January to begin recording a full length album that will be released sometime next spring or early summer, they hope. He’s also been signed to an endorsement deal with Geico and has some big things with them in the works. And yeah - he’s not bad on the eyes at all. Okay…
The Last Goodnight - also fantastic!! My roommate loved the 80’s influences in their sound. *cough* At first, I thought the lead singer looked a little like Adam Levine, but as their set continued my roommate pointed out that he looks more like a non-tatted up Joel Madden, and I TOTALLY see that! Anyway, we both agree that The Last Goodnight should definitely make it big. The band is tight and they have a great sound. It’s obvious that they’ve been playing together for a while - their transitions are seamless. It’s also obvious that their target demographic is young females - not unlike Maroon 5 - and the ladies there tonight certainly responded well to them. And my roommate and I both recognized their single as a song we’d heard before, so that’s a good thing. Anyway, we really really liked both opening acts. So, if you’re going to an Elliott concert - make sure you get there on time!!!
Okay… Elliott!!!
Love him. The crowd was crazy for him, and he made several comments about how loud and great we were. Heh. :) Sway is still doing backup for him, and they sound really good harmonizing. Elliott looked and sounded really great… “Trainwreck” live? Magic. That’s seriously my favorite song on the album, and yeah, it was great. I also really liked “Alright”, “Free”, “Take My Breath Away”, “Movin On”… you know, I really liked the live versions of all the songs. The live versions have a more funky feel, which I LOVE, because Elliott’s voice lends itself very well to more than just straight up R&B. His voice is just fantastic, and his timing is just perfect. He doesn’t do too many runs, and the ones he does, he puts in just the right places. Great musical instincts, that boy. And his band is fantastic.
I really started liking Elliott after I saw him on the tour of the season 5 top 10. This is the first time I’ve seen him on his solo tour, and while I won’t necessarily travel a long way to go to a concert, any time he’s in Orlando or Tampa, you better believe I’ll be there. His stage presence has improved a million times over from the Idol stage, and it’s great to see him interacting with the crowd. He’s not necessarily a natural born performer - but, you know performing skills can be taught and learned. A voice like that? Cannot.
We didn’t get to meet him *sniff* but you know, it’s okay. They kicked us out before he could come out to the merch table - Sunday night is a big club night at the HOB, so they had to open back up pretty soon after the concert ended. We waited by a fence that his buses were supposedly behind, but one of the roadies said he most likely wouldn’t come outside the fence. Boo. That’s okay though. :)
Anyway, the crowd was pretty diverse. There were some parents there with young teenagers. There were some older teenagers there. There were some grandmas there, too. :) But, most of the crowd seemed to be in the 20-50 age range, with more guys than I expected. The House of Blues is a GREAT venue for a concert, and I especially like this one, because it’s less than 10 minutes from where I live. Heh. And you don’t have to pay for parking, which is even nicer.
So yeah… come early, hang out by the merch table between sets, because you might get to meet Josh Hoge ;) (but don’t let a random drunk girl take your pic with him because she’ll cut off his head in the pic), and come expecting a great concert. Totally worth it!!
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Great recap. I saw Elliott a couple of weeks ago in Columbia, Mo., an he was good. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, but my daughter loves Elliott, and I promised to go with her, and now she has to go to the next Taylor show with me. I was suprised to see Sway as his backup singer, but he sounded great.
I have to say I fell in love with Josh and his guitar player. Both of them are cuties. He wondered around the venue after his show, and we were right next to him, but did talk to him. My daughter was too shy. And I also like The Last Goodnight. The lead singer is a big flirt, lol. My daughter saw their video on MTV the other day, and was excited about that.
All in all, I was glad I went. Good show. And Josh’s version of Aint No Sunshine is worth any ticket price, IMO.
OMG, how could I have forgotten Josh’s version of Ain’t No Sunshine… my roommate and I looked at each other and our jaws just dropped when he started into that. He sounded goooooooood.