Bucket List, Schmucket List...

Mm-kay, so Josh Groban is one of my favorite musical artists. I love his songs, and his voice is like a dream. (swoon!)

It's been on the old Bucket List to go to a J.G. concert for a while now, and when I discovered he was bringing his Straight to You tour to SLC (a mere 3 hours away from where I currently reside), I figured (in an ecstatic, frenzied sort of way) that there is no time like the present to buy Josh Groban tickets. (Good idea, self!)

I sent out a mass text to fellow Mr. Groban fans, and my dear friends Lindsey and Keri decided (with haste!) that they would definitely go with me.

We bought the tickets back in, I want to say, March.

Fast forward something like 5 months, and finally (FINALLY!) the blessed day arrived. Hooray!

Lindsey had gotten engaged the night before, and I'm happy to say that she kept a cool head; she wasn't going to let that keep her from coming with Keri and me to the concert. Heck no! (After all, she's got, like, forever to be with Dave. I mean...they're getting married!)

We made our way to SLC in good time and met up with Lisa and her awesome Aussie boyfriend Matthew for lunch at this amazing Thai place. Then we went shopping a little bit (blah, blah, blah)...then we made our way to the Energy Solutions Arena to sit and wait for The Josh Groban to come on out and sing already!

Lindsey, Keri, Moi

Before the show began, we saw a rug/mat thing onstage that said Elew and Keri and Lindsey were like, "What's Elew?" I thought quickly and said, "Maybe it's for Josh's album 'Elew...minations?'" knowing I was wrong, but chuckling to myself about it. (His 2010 album is called Illuminations. Get it?) Turns out, Elew was the name of JG's opening act, a talented pianist.

Anyway. Elew was good, but he's not The Josh Groban, and The Josh Groban is the entire reason I spent a lot of money for my ticket.

It took a while for the crew to get the stage ready for The Josh, so in the meantime, Keri texted our friend Allison, who was also at the concert, and we actually found her!

Hi, Allison!

When The Josh Groban came out singing, it was utter pandemonium, folks. AND THE CROWDS WENT WILD!!!

(Pardon the crappy quality of this photo,
but my camera ain't super, and it's not as if we had floor seats.)

Did you know? That Mr. Josh Groban is amazing live? Geez, his voice is a gift! They don't have to clean up his voice at all when he's recording for his albums, I'm sure of it. WOW.ZER!

Other thoughts I had during and after the concert:

-Josh Groban is funny. For reals, he made us all laugh.
-If The Josh and I ever met, I feel quite certain that
we'd be friends. (I so was not expecting that terrific sense of humor.)
-The Josh doesn't have a potty mouth
(that seems to go hand-in-hand with the entertainment industry). Kudos!
-His voice is a dream. (Oh yeah. I already mentioned that.)
-As much as I love The Josh Groban's raw talent
(hello, beautiful baritone voice!)
I am much less diehard than lots of other gals
that I was surrounded by at the concert.
(I'm not going to rip on The Josh's fans,
but a few of them creeped me right out. Truly.)

Oh, yeah. We were invited to text questions to...some number...and Josh responded to some of them. Keri, Lindsey and I totally played that little game:

Dear Mr. Groban:

You're welcome, I'm sure!

And, okay, so they didn't choose our exact text for The Josh to read aloud, but it doesn't matter because our wish was granted. (If you're not familiar with the "Kanye tweets" bit, click here.)

Sing those tweets, brother!

Oh yeah! For his encore, Josh came out and sang Neil Diamond's "Play Me" which I totally loved. A lot, a lot. I grew up on Neil Diamond and I love him; and typically I'm not a big fan of cover songs. But with Josh Groban's voice behind it, it was magical, I tell you. MAGICAL!

We had to drive home that very night, because I had church meetings the next day. (Ouch. Ouch a lot.) And although we didn't get home until a little after 3:00am, and I didn't get to bed until 4:00am, it was totally worth it.

Because, you see, the concert was awesome, and what was supposed to be a "Bucket List" item? Well...it got me thinking. Mr. Josh Groban is so amazing in concert that I kind of feel like each time he's on tour and brings it to UT (or anywhere within reasonable driving distance), seeing him live is kind of necessity. Sure, I checked it off my Bucket List, but I'm pretty sure the Straight To You tour 2011 isn't the only time I'll be seeing him in concert. (I mean, for the love, I've seen Alice Cooper in concert twice, and I like J.G. more.)

Anyway, the concert was stellar, and I'm so happy that I got to go with my girls Keri and Lindsey. Until next time... ;)