Your Picks for Favorite Kris Allen Performances of 2014

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!

2013: The Year in Kris Allen Performances (Part Two of Two)

Every year, I try to keep a YouTube playlist of Kris Allen's live performances and get it out to my followers as a thank you for following me. I look for a good video of each performance and try to make sure that people who don't normally post video are included as well. This year, with the Out Alive tour, we ended up with a five part playlist (YouTube allows 200 videos per list, and I left some room on each one for missing songs.). In my last installment, we had three playlists taking us up through the end of April. Let's continue our journey through the year...

Part Four of the playlist picks up with the spring leg of the Out Alive Tour, which saw Kris return to the east coast. It begins April 26, in Rockland, ME, finishes the leg, and then ends with some one-off gigs in May, June and July. As I was compiling this and reviewing videos, I realized that I would love to see Kris in an outdoor venue. (Actually, I have, in August 2010, but I would love to see him that way again.) This part includes the premiere of his awesome original song All We Need Is This Love (hoping that makes his album!) as well as some great covers of She Thinks I Still Care (George Jones) and Mirrors (Justin Timberlake). Memorable shows included Burlington, New York City, Hanover (MD) and Bay City (MI). Also don't miss the videos of him at a charity gig in New York for Give an Hour and with Idol contestant Shubha Vedula in Mount Pleasant, MI singing Live Like We're Dying.

And whew, Part Five! Part five takes us through the second half of the year, from his one-off in August at Hershey Park through his recent Christmas online concert. As you probably know, Kris' son Oliver was born in late July, and naturally his time on the road was limited. Still he gave us quite a few live highlights, including a reborn version of Rooftops with a new intro and a mashup with Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines. The best shows in this bunch included Hershey #2, the Live on the Levee show which turned into a mall show thanks to a scary West Virginia severe thunderstorm, and an AMAZING college crowd at Brigham Young Idaho in Rexburg. Kris ended the year with an awesome holiday show including a new, untitled, holiday song which I love.

Also, I promised you some stats. I did lists and/or posts for 82 different events. You can find the complete spreadsheet of  all songs Kris sang in 2013 here. The only song not performed (:() from Thank You Camellia was Turn the Pages. Only four songs were performed from KATA: Live Like We're Dying, Alright With Me, Red Guitar and Before We Come Undone. Kris also did a few from Brand New Shoes in a most welcome development; I hope he'll continue to perform them live! By my count, he did 65 separate covers (some a number of times) including the Christmas songs. (Please correct me if needed on any of these stats.)
In summary, 2013 was a busy year for Kris and his fans, which we will end with one more show and one more list on New Year's Eve! I'll also give you a final stats post with the stats from that added in. Thank you for all your wonderful feedback this past year and for all your great live tweets and media! Let's do it again tomorrow!
--KAL

2013: The Year in Kris Allen Live Performances (Part One of Two)

Every year, I try to keep a YouTube playlist of Kris' live performances and get it out to my followers as a thank you for following me. I look for a good video of each performance and try to make sure that people who don't normally post video are included as well. This year, with the Out Alive tour, we ended up with a five part playlist (YouTube allows 200 videos per list, and I left some room on each one for missing songs.).

So for those of you who really need to catch up on Kris, you are all set! Before I list the playlists, a few acknowledgments. First and foremost, thank you to every single person who has live tweeted a Kris show, posted pictures and/or posted video. You may not even realize this, but many Kris fans truly appreciated it!

Special shout-outs to @ameeliu15 and @headonfire1105. You'll see their videos a lot. Thank goodness they went to Kris shows and were nice enough to video every song! Also special shout out to @maryet34 who makes invaluable playlists for almost every Kris show. These were super helpful for compiling my lists!

So here's Part One! This part covers the January 2013 shows in the first month of the Out Alive tour (from Killington, VT through Tulsa, OK). I'm sure those who went to a show during this time frame will remember how amazing it was that Kris even was able to perform given his terrible accident at the beginning of the year. I went to the Vienna, VA show in January and remember just feeling grateful that Kris was OK. Highlights here include his performance of Where Are You Amy (dedicated to the citizens of Newtown) in Ridgefield, CT, and awesome covers of Where Doves Cry (Prince), Breakdown (Tom Petty) and Cry Me a River (Justin Timberlake). Since the East Coast loves them some Kris, you will find the Boston, Philadelphia and Vienna videos to be especially popping.


And here's Part Two! This part covers shows from Albuquerque, NM (January 31), all his west coast Out Alive shows, and goes through Aspen, CO (February 20). Yes, there are that many shows and videos! Kris was an enormous trooper considering he was recovering from a serious injury, and he deserves a ton of credit for not letting his fans down and continuing with the tour.Highlights during this playlist include some great requests (Wicked Game (Chris Isaak), Jealous Guy (John Lennon) and High and Dry (Radiohead) are my favorites). Standout shows in this part included San Diego, Agoura Hills, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle.

 
The playlist for Part Three runs from February 21 (Denver) through the Sophia's Heart cruise and on through the first few shows of the spring leg of the Out Alive Tour (through Plymouth, NH, April 25). Highlights here include first performances of Kris' original songs Fighters, Love Too Much and Unique, as well as some great covers of Tighten Up (The Black Keys) and In Your Eyes (Peter Gabriel). Shows that stood out for me included the cruise, Chicago, Ann Arbor and Toronto.


Click here for my second installment, with the rest of the year's playlists and a look back at Kris' stats! In the meantime, please let me know your Kris highlights in the comments, and if you spot any videos I've missed, or corrections to be made, please hit me up and let me know! --KAL