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JOSH GROBAN SETLIST
JOSH GROBAN TOUR DATES
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“Harmony and me, we're pretty good company” - “Harmony”, Elton John
Possessing one of the most distinctive and greatest vocal ranges in today’s music, singer songwriter and actor Josh Groban brought his Harmony Tour to the warm outdoor confines of Starlight Theater in Kansas City, MO.
The pandemic delay postponed Groban’s chance to tour this ninth studio album of mostly covers live, following its release in Nov 2020 (with a deluxe version in Feb 2021, both on Reprise Records). Though a series of livestream concerts did help fill the gap, regular touring has resumed, and the Kansas City date being the 21st show.
The evening opened with a brief but compelling set by NYC-based Eleri Ward, who re-interpreted several Stephen Sondheim songs into an indie-folk Sufjan Stevens-style, with Ward singing solo and playing acoustic guitar. Playing songs mostly from her 2019 album, A Perfect Little Death (on Sh-K-Boom Records), it left the crowd wanting more and Ward would return during the headlining set, and she is also reportedly considering recording a similar follow-up album.
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With triple-digit temps and high dew point humidity, it already felt like summer in New Orleans, and the perfect soundtrack was supplied by legendary ensemble, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, in support of 2019’s A Tuba to Cuba (on Sub Pop Records). In existence since the early 60’s, it may have looked like an odd pairing on paper to have the band as an opening act (Groban introduced them remotely from backstage on-screen too), but they proved to be ideal support to help get the crowd into a more festive and loose mood.
Their forty-minute set began with the old W.C. Handy standard “St. Louis Blues” with trumpet player Branden Lewis leading the crowd through the lyrics, to help sing-along. Each member got their brief turn in the solo spotlight inserted in part of songs like “Didn’t He Ramble” (covered by Louis Armstrong and Dr. John among others), and Professor Longhair’s “Go to the Mardi Gras”.
As the set progressed, drummer Walter Harris kept time with a smile on his face and bassist / musical director Ben Jaffe moved from the upright bass to their signature tuba, and the spirited set ended with the new album’s “Keep Your Head Up High”, a 2019 collaboration with Eme Alfonso.
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With the intro music of Elton John’s 1973 single, “Harmony”, Josh Groban and band stepped out to begin their hundred-minute headlining set, assisted both by a Kansas City-based string orchestra, and male and female members of the Kansas City Community College Alumni choir.
In addition to the very appropriate walk-on song, the set’s opening Frank Sinatra cover, “The World We Knew” (also the new album’s first track) seemed a perfect fit as well, waxing nostalgic about the life we all had (before a global pandemic and lockdown). Groban, dressed in all-black, moved from side to side on stage as he covered Sting and Robbie Williams next (both from the latest record), mentioning how honored he was to receive kind words from each of the original artists, regarding his interpretations of their songs.
Groban, as we noted when we saw him back in 2013, comes off as very approachable and funny between songs, often telling humorous related stories, commenting on his mood, and audience reactions. “I feel like I’m in a Baptist church tonight” Groban remarked about the heat while fanning himself, “the collection plate will be coming around shortly!”
Moving to piano for 2006’s “February Song”, Groban brought up his feelings at the time about needing to re-assess things and take a time out and brought that up to date regarding what many did themselves, during the pandemic.
“Granted’ was in part, dedicated to the teachers in the audience and Groban wasn’t convinced to sing “She” until he heard composer Vince Mendoza’s arrangement of the 1974 song. A mid-set highlight was an appearance, solo, and accompaniment by expecting violinist Lucia Micarelli, who dazzled with her musical dexterity in a bright red dress (and who had previously toured with Groban on his Closer and Awake tours).
Groban mentioned how ideal a wedding song the Peter Gabriel song he covered was, brought a “home for the holidays” spirit (along with the choir) to his Kenny Loggins cover, and brought back Eleri Ward to share their collective love of Sondheim on “Not While I’m Around”, from Sweeney Todd.
2001’s “Aléjate” was prefaced by a wondrous Flamenco-style solo from guitarist and longtime musical director Tariqh Akoni and is actually a Spanish interpretation of Celine Dion’s “Just Walk Away” from a decade earlier, the musical mood turned gospel with “The Fullest” from the new record (a collaboration with Kirk Franklin), and the main set would end with what has become Groban’s signature song, his cover of Secret Garden’s “You Raise Me Up”, a song he first heard randomly in a Dublin taxi cab).
“A song about being perseverant in the face of adversity”- Groban explained how relevant that feeling has again become in modern times for his lush one-song encore of 1965’s “The Impossible Dream” from the Man of La Mancha musical, his voice soaring one last time to those ornate brick towers of the venue and then out into the still-warm evening air.
“If the world has ever needed love before, we need it now, right now” Josh Groban sings on new song, “The Fullest” and his live return after two years postponed as a result of the pandemic, was everything his eager fans had hoped for – joy, love, appreciation, and of course, harmony.
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JOSH GROBAN |
JOSH GROBAN |
TARIQH AKONI |
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JOSH GROBAN |
JOSH GROBAN |
JOSH GROBAN |
JOSH GROBAN |
| john ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com |
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