Back in June, I purchased tickets to see Kris Allen at Daryl’s House and a M&G.  I remember saying to myself, “well, I’ll have to leave work early to get there in time, but that’s a future me problem.”  Future me then became present me – full of anxiety having no follow up information about the email.  But the ticketing website said that it was at 5:15, so I left at 4, got there at 5, looked around the parking lot and realized I was the only one there… and headed in at 5:15 to ask about the Meet and Greet.

“I wasn’t aware there was any meet and greet” the girl at the desk said, and went backstage to check. “Yeah, I just asked them and they said there isn’t one.” “Then what did I pay an extra $70 for?” I asked.  Someone else had joined and said “No, this says everyone paid $30.  There’s $30 and $20 tickets and it just means if you have a table or not.”  “I bought the table for $30, but I also paid $70 for a M&G. Let me find my confirmation email.”  I opened my confirmation and they were shocked.  Someone went backstage again and someone came out and said “Yeah… there IS a 5:15 M&G option.  It’ll probably start at 5:30”  I got to choose my table, a chair was placed on the stage right next to my table and shortly after Kris came out to say hello.

I had a question for him about a project I had heard he was involved with years ago, so we chatted a bit about that and it ended up evolving into a conversation about Hanson (go figure) and Jon McLaughlin (who I am seeing tonight!).  Kris told me he is a big Hanson fan but never really met them (save for one awkward interaction he told me about the night he won Idol) and so I said I’d have to put in a good word for him with them.  We also talked about his upcoming shows and how I am going to be going to Arkansas to see his Christmas show with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.  I had really been on the fence about going (my plane ticket is even the refundable option!) but hearing him so excited about it got me excited for it too! He is absolutely looking forward to hearing the orchestra play his original Christmas songs.  He then said he would play a song for me, but if I didn’t have a request it was ok.  On the spot, the first 2 choices I made he said would be in the set, so we ended up deciding on Monster.  Just before he was about to start – 2 more joined the M&G so they got to hear the song I had picked and we chatted a little bit more with them and then we took some photos before he left to get ready for the show!

I was able to have a 4 seat table up front all to myself, as they said there would not be many people there and Kris had mentioned some of the shows didn’t sell that well but it would be very intimate.  At one point I tried to count everyone who was there and it was about 30.  But Kris still gave it his all and played some older songs, some of the newer released songs and a few that had not yet been released but were contenders for future releases (one of which had the F word in it.) It was nice to hear the background about how he came about writing all the songs before he went into playing them.  (And he ended up not telling the story about Different Bridges Same River, but the other M&G girls had asked about that one.)  He had us sing some harmonies with him and considering it was such a small amount of people, I think we did a great job.

I think that having such a long gap without live music during covid really has made me appreciate it a lot more. All of the shows I have gone to since they have been back, have been some of the best shows I have been to.  I think that the artists have missed performing and I’ve missed seeing it and it makes things have a bit of a stronger connection.  I’m still really anxious before/during shows and I don’t take my mask off unless eating/drinking, but it is nice to be back to somewhat of a “normal” feeling too

Saturday I was supposed to head to Boston with a friend for another night of Kris, but unfortunately my friend had to back out of the trip.  I wasn’t sure I could get to Boston alone and got a refund on our VIP passes and kept trying to sell or give away the tickets but had no one interested.  A friend of mine from MA ended up agreeing to meet me at the T stop by the venue and I decided to try and be adventurous and ride the T into Boston on my own.  I had done it before with friends and never remembered it being a problem, but it had been 3 years since I last was in Boston so I was hoping that my memory didn’t fail me.  I drove the 2 hours to the train stop, took the T in which took about 45 minutes and then ended up walking from the T to the venue on my own since it was just around the corner and was quite pleased with my accomplishment.  I’m usually very focused on what I “can’t” do, or rather what I *think* I can’t do, so I was happy that I tried it and it worked out.

Everything for this show seemed to be delayed.  VIP was supposed to be at 5 but was pushed to 5:30 (I bought a new pass that morning) but it was much later by the time we got let inside.  Once again, Kris was waiting for us.  And as I approached he said “there she is again! Hello, Katie. How are you?”  He had remembered me from the night before!  He did Way Up High and then took photos and chatted with everyone.  I opted to stay seated while he went through the line and then he was ready to leave before taking a picture with me! He apologized, I told him about how I wasn’t sure I could go but my friend Jon had offered to help – and if he could please play Jon’s song request I’d really appreciate it.  He told me he had already planned on playing it.  Then I told him about how last night I was way in the back and tonight I pointed out where they were sitting me and he said “we can get you a chair closer. I think we can make that happen” and sure enough he was able to get me a chair right in the front row so I could see everything 🙂  (The venue had said next time to let them know ahead of time so they could make accommodations for me – when their website said to either call OR talk to them when you get there. I didn’t call because I didn’t know until that morning I was going and by the time I did know I had to start driving there. Plus I didn’t think grabbing a chair was something that was difficult and required such advanced notice. Silly me.)

For the most part the setlist was the same as the night before. He didn’t add in Alright With Me, but instead did I Remember You as the first song of the encore.  He also had fans come up on stage and dance during Everybody Just Wants To Dance.  He again talked a bit about the Idol finale and how Nigel kept saying to him, “Kris, get your fans off my back!” because they were not happy he was not included in the show on Tuesday night that was a retrospective on the season.  He teased we should all tweet him now 😉

Before playing Jon’s request he had everyone in the audience say Hi to him since he was in the front row and Kris wanted everyone to know he was not a plant! It was another great show and Jon went again to NH but unfortunately I have this thing called work on Monday morning and couldn’t do a 3rd show in a row! (Which had 4 tickets left when I got home after the show but was sold out by the time show time came around! Yeah Kris!)

The ride home on the T was just about as uneventful as the ride there – with the exception of the guy using crutches who had to yell “MISS! MISS!” at me until I said hi to him… ooook.  I don’t know if he thought he knew me or if he just felt a bond because I had my cane… but it was certainly interesting.

Friday night I decided to make the trip to Pawling NY (just over an hour away) to see Kris Allen’s Letting You In Tour at “Daryl’s House”.  Daryl’s House is owned Daryl Hall of Hall and Oates.  Since I knew I would have to head there right after work, I opted to get myself a single ticket to the 7:30 dinner seating and a VIP package to meet Kris before the show.  We were told to get there at 5:45 to meet Kris starting at 6, I ended up getting there about 5:30.

When I entered the venue, Kris and his band were doing sound check.  I was told that the VIP had been pushed back to 7 and I could be seated at 6, but to head to the bar area until they began seating.  At 6 when sound check was over, an announcement was made that anyone with VIP should head to the back door. We were checked in and headed through a series of doors to a backstage room where Kris was waiting for us.  We chatted with him a bit about the Idol finale the night before and he talked about the gold jacket he was wearing and the Bowie medley that he did with the other guys.  Everyone seemed to agree that they thought the show needed more Kris!  Then Kris played a couple of songs for us – Way Up High and Alright With Me and had us sing along with him.  Then we did photos and autographs and some more chatting.

When I headed back out front, I asked if I could sit at any table or if they were assigned and was told that they were assigned and that the 3 people who had “single” tickets were all going to be sitting together.  That was fine with me, since I kind of figured that was going to happen.  What I didn’t think was going to happen was that it would be the table all the way in the back corner!  There were 3 of us, 2 of which had VIP which should signify we are pretty big fans of Kris… and wished to be up a lot closer.  Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s not the same as being in the back row at an arena by any means, but it just seemed kind of crappy that the singles were stuck in the corner and not in the front section.

As more people filled in I began to realize that the people who were standing in the section between the lower area and the upper were certainly going to ruin my view.  I spent most of the night in strange contortions in order to be able to see Kris.  Another “fun” part of this venue is that the only cameras they allow are cell phones and you can only record short snippets of the songs, not full songs, which was apparently at the artists request.

Having just gotten a Galaxy S7 which was supposed to be good for photos in low light I at least felt a little better about things, but wished I was closer.  We were “allowed” to move up closer to take photos – but that also involved going down 2 steps without a railing or maneuvering myself down and around the ramp (where the SRO people were standing) so needless to say, I didn’t opt to do that.

The show was a lot of fun and featured many of the songs off of the new album, Letting You In. He also had a lot of fun bantering back and forth with some people in the crowd and at the bar and at one point sang “we can heaarrr you” to the bar after they made a comment lol

The other girl that was VIP at my table was from Dublin (yes, Ireland) and during the last song, Kris mentioned she was there.  When he asked where she was and he realized she was in the back he commented on how they couldn’t find a better seat for her? Really? And had her come up on stage with him as well as another fan that had traveled from France! You can see the video I took below.