Day 03: Long Island - Josh Groban in Concert

So after all my planning, the day was finally here. I got to see Josh in concert again.  After 5 long years, the day couldn't come soon enough.  I had a fairly lazy morning. After breakfast at the hotel, I caught a cab to the shops for a bit more of a look around and even though I had some drama getting a cab to return to the hotel,it couldn't dampen my spirits.  After an early lunch at the sports bar at the hotel, I had a bit of rest before getting myself ready for the show.

Before the show some of the fans had organised a pre-show get together in the hotel restaurant.  We had a lovely buffet dinner and it was a great way to meet many new friends, most of whom I'd been 'virtual friends' with; either through Facebook, Twitter or Josh's fan club forums.  I also re-connected with some friends I'd met in London when I was there for Chess back in 2008, which was great.

During the dinner I found out I'd won a Meet & Greet with Josh at the Manchester show on Tuesday night. As you can imagine, I was more than a little excited...  And it was great that I was able to share my excitement with my new friends. 

After dinner was over, we all wandered over to the Nassau Coliseum, which as I've already mentioned in yesterdays entry, was directly opposite the hotel.  I had a "Gold" ticket for this show which meant I was entitled to attend the pre-show VIP reception and as part of the ticket package I got a tote bag, water bottle and lanyard.  Given I'd just eaten I wasn't interested in the food at the reception, but it was still a nice way to get set for my first "Straight to You" concert experience.

The gift swag...

Before the show I also took the opportunity to purchase the tour program; and then it was time to head into the venue... My seat was awesome!

My Seat - Section C1, Row 3, Seat 9.

Now as hard as this is to believe, I had actually avoided much of the show discussions on the fan club message board about had some managed to be strong enough to avoid watching YouTube clips, which was admittedly pretty difficult given Josh had been touring since May.  But I really wanted to be surprised; and as hard as it was, I think it was a good thing.

The evening started with Eric Lewis (aka ELEW) who was Josh's opening act.  He played piano for about 30 minutes.  And by play I don't mean your normal sitting down at the piano, gently stroking the keys.  No ELEW, stands at the piano looking like he's about to attack and then proceeds to basically bash the hell out of it.

ELEW - showing off his 'Rockjazz'

After a short intermission it was time for the main event.  And boy, what a great show.  I couldn't believe I was actually here.  Josh sounded amazing and the show was spectacular.  He had a very simple set, with a half completed brick arch - but we were all there for Josh and his amazing voice and not any theatrics...  To the surprise of most, he started the show on the "B" stage which was on the floor towards the back of the venue.  After three songs, he made his way up to the main stage where he joined the band.  There was quite a bit of audience interaction during the show as before the show started, they encouraged concert goers to text questions for Josh which he then proceeded to answer during the show.  This certainly helped the audience feel more connected with Josh.

After the show it was pretty darn freezing, so I wasn't really convinced that Josh would come out and sign.  I made a quick trip back to the hotel to grab a jacket and then made my way to the back of the venue where fans were gathering.  When I arrived I found some of my friends and then spotted Josh's brother Chris standing out there.  To us, seeing Chris was a great sign that Josh would actually be coming out to sign***.  Luckily I had my program and even though I was not right at the front, thanks to my 'reach' I was able to get it signed.  I could not think of a better way for my first show to finish up.

Josh's little brother Chris

The Holy Grail - my signed program.

After we waved goodbye to Josh, a coupled of us headed back to the hotel for a drink..

My drink of choice - a French Martini

Set List -

• Straight to You - Instrumental
• Changing Colors
• February Song
• You Are Loved (Revised version)
• Oceano
• Alejate
• Bells of New York City
• Higher Window
• Alla Luce del sole
• War at Home 
• Live and Let Die - Instrumental 
• Voce Existe em Mim (featuring Josh on Drums)
• Galileo 
• Wandering Kind 
• If I Walk Away 
• Weeping
• Machine 
• Broken Vow 
• Play Me 
• You Raise Me Up 

Encore:

• Hidden Away
• Smile

*** Edited to add - In January 2012, Josh released a new video for the song "If I Walk Away".  The video clip was a very personal account of his life on the road and was shot by his brother Chris.  Towards the end of the clip, there's a crowd scene where he's signing after a show.  And as it just so happens, it was recorded at this Long Island show.  After initially seeing the clip, I knew I was there but couldn't see myself, so I consoled myself with the fact that at least I was there.  Finally a higher definition clip was released and after lots of pausing I actually found myself at 3:17 (and yes, that's my program that get raised above Josh's head).... How cool is that????

And here's a screencap, in case you blinked and missed it.