Recently, I put out a call on Twitter for your favorite Kris Allen performances of 2014. You didn't disappoint; many of you responded very enthusiastically with some great recommendations!
I've compiled everyone's picks into a YouTube playlist that you can see at the bottom of this post. The videos are in chronological order, even if that meant it did start out with a video of
End of the Show from a February IL concert.
Two performances (with two videos each) were nominated by two people each, so technically, they got the most votes and so I'll call them your favorites of the year! Congratulations to
Carolina on my Mind (Asheville, NC, September 11) and
Lost (Santa Cruz, CA)! All the videos of them that were suggested are on the list.
In case you're wondering what I picked, I selected a few random ones that were fun to watch for me: either because they had college hijinks (
End of the Show (Christopher Newport University, February); Alright with Me (San Angelo State); Live Like We're Dying (Univ. of Texas San Antonio)), they were songs I really like a lot that he doesn't play enough (
Girl Across the Room, AR Tornado Relief Show, May)(
One Love, Live Loud Fest, February) (the new Christmas song (
Baby It Ain't Christmas Without You (Scottsdale, AZ, November)) or they're just a jam for the audience to enjoy (
Live Like We're Dying, Minneapolis, November). I also am always thrilled when he plays SxSW so I picked the video of the wonderful stream we got from one of his gigs there (Heart of Austin, March). And I am not a big fan of
It's Always You, but I thought the addition of the violin that was done in Patchogue, NY really elevated the song for me - so that video was a pick as well.
Of course, speaking of songs and things I'm not a big fan of, have no fear,
Chandelier made the list a few times since everyone but me enjoys it. It was interesting to see that although we got a bunch of videos suggested, they tended to be from the same shows (solo: Natick MA, Louisville, Asheville, and Santa Cruz and for the Boyce Avenue tour: Minneapolis, San Francisco and Los Angeles). I was not surprised to see that shows in major cities like DC and NYC did not make the list; I know I wouldn't have put my own videos from DC on this list. Fans in those cities badly need a solo show (DC's last Kris show was in January 2013!) and our stretch of the Boyce tour did not get rave reviews from fans, between Kris' illness and Torres' absence plus VIP event planning issues.
Overall though, I think the playlist really does a great job of showcasing how fun Kris can be to see live. His voice was in amazing form this year and his dancing and joy are evident. There are some well-done covers and some originals that the band just goes to town on. Let's hear it for the band, by the way. They deliver, night in, night out, and there's no doubt that they have Kris' back. And finally, the audience gets really into it in these videos, which is wonderful to see.
The KAB did 96 shows this year (including private gigs we knew about). If someone wants to count up ALL the songs that were done, you'll find a
spreadsheet here of them. Let's hope and pray we get many more shows, songs, live performances etc done for enthusiastic audiences everywhere in 2015!
Without further ado, here's the 2014 list for your enjoyment!
