Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Holiday Concert | November 18, 2016: McLean, VA

Free Holiday Concert
Tysons Corner Center
McLean, VA
6:30 PM Eastern
Preview:
How fun! Kris is playing the northern Virginia mall I grew up with and had my very first job in! Back in those days, it was pretty simple (although oy, I remember working those Christmas sales). Developers and Kris may call it Tysons, VA, but sorry, that mall is in McLean - just off the Beltway, with a Silver Line metro stop, and it is very nice (and very popular).

The concerts are held in an outdoor plaza next to condo high rises that were recently built. I saw Gavin DeGraw there and it's a cool setup, with fire pits, an ice rink, Shake Shack and bars. The Metro will let you off right into the outdoor concert plaza.  (If you're curious about stage set up after all that description, here's a video of Gavin DeGraw doing that show. Now just imagine a Christmas tree next to that! Although Kris' mall shows have a simpler set-up, since it's Kris and Andrew acoustic.)

It is predicted to be nice weather (I know, right? At a Kris show?), and probably will be in the 50s at showtime. If you are in NoVa and not stuck at work, you should definitely come out for a free, fun holiday show! WASH-FM (97.1) will be broadcasting from the event starting around 5 PM eastern (I'll link them below in the post so you can listen live).

Of course I will be there for Kris! Looking forward to it! I did win my way into the meet and greet (which will be inside in that same set you've seen in the other mall posts), so will cover that too. Hope to meet some of you as well.

 Updated after the show: Holy Christmas that was fun! Tysons did a fantastic job. A big shoutout to Dani, who was the mall's fabulous coordinator for the event. My friend and I had a couple of nice conversations with Kris and he was in great voice and energy last night. I think I've got everything up now that's worth getting, and my review is at the bottom of this post, but keep checking back as more gets posted. As always the DMV came through!
UPDATED 7/18/2017 WITH VIDEO!

Pre-Show/Event Press and Publicity:
Signage and Soundcheck: (Sorry, my merch pic was awful.)
Photo by @dy7764
Photo by @KiraCapri919
Photo by @dy7764 - kids swarming Andrew's keyboard
Set List (THANK YOU @StephanieWerne1 for grabbing the setlist when the snow blower blew it away and sharing your picture. Kris did mix it up from what's pictured.):
  1. Somethin' About Christmas Morning [Twitter Video] | [Instagram] | [YouTube along with Here Comes Santa Claus]
  2. Here Comes Santa Claus (cover - Gene Autry) [Snow banter & snippet IG] | [Twitter Video] | [Twitter Video] | [Instagram] | [Instagram] | [YouTube along with Somethin' About Christmas]
  3. The Christmas Song (cover - Nat King Cole) [YouTube; partial]
  4. Faster Shoes [My Video] | [YouTube] | [YouTube - Tree shot, partial] | [YouTube starts here, includes FS, AWM, Monster, New Year, Peace, and  1st half of Mommy]
  5. Alright With Me [YouTube] | [Instagram]
  6. Monster/Hit the Road Jack (mashup - original/cover - Ray Charles) [YouTube]
  7. Baby Won't You Wait Until the New Year [Periscope]
  8. Peace and Happiness [Instagram] | [Periscope] | [Periscope]
  9. Mommy, Is There More Than Just One Santa Claus? [Instagram] | [Periscope] | [Periscope starting here to end of show | YouTube of Periscope] | [YouTube; Partial]
  10. Time Will Come [YouTube]
  11. If We Keep Doing Nothing [Instagram] | [Periscope] | [YouTube]
  12. Live Like We're Dying [Twitter Video] | [YouTube]
  13. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (cover - Judy Garland) [Twitter Video] | [Instagram]
The Show:
Photo by Tysons Corner Center
    Photo by Elvan McMillan
    Photo by Elvan McMillan
    Photo by Linda (@mamacitabaja on IG)
Photo by Kris Allen Lists
Photo by @KiraCapri919
My Review: I was excited for this show and it didn't disappoint. The tree was gorgeous, the Santa was perfect, and Kris and Andrew sounded fantastic. The crowd grew as the show went on and from what I saw, it was the best attended of the mall shows (and best produced). I was so excited to get the Christmas Song finally in person that I completely fumbled the ball on actually filming it! Hoping a video of that one pops up. There's video of everything else and a ton of great pictures. I still find that one and Have Yourself a Very Merry Christmas are my faves, but I love Here Come Santa Claus live. Of the new songs, I thought Baby Won't You Wait Until the New Year was a standout live. The crowd definitely loved them all and a girl asked me about Peace and Happiness while he was singing it. She liked it and was trying to figure out if it was an original. The only disappointment, and it is a very small one, is not hearing Just Like Snow, as that's my favorite on the new record. All in all it was a great concert, and be sure to check out the videos with LLWD, as the crowd got into it and sounded great! As for the meet and greet, it was fun - different from the other malls I thought. Basically you took a pic (taken by a professional photographer) and chatted with Kris (who already knew about 1/3 of the winners, lol). He gave me a little preview of the Jim Brickman tour, but I'll save that for an upcoming post. It was nice to see him in such great spirits though. All in all, a great night!
Want to see Kris live?
Check my calendar on the web version of this blog  for full schedule; visit krisallenofficial.com or event/venue's website for tickets
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