Concert - December 12 2013 Seattle, Washington Paramount Theater 7:30 PM

Neat:)
https://twitter.com/jackieevancho/status/411229767765983232


not supposed to do this but it's for you nanna. happy birthday
https://twitter.com/jackieevancho/status/411344115767320576
https://www.keek.com/!tXc6dab

Renaldo Nel is a fashion model from South Africa who traveled to Seattle just to see Jackie.

http://t.co/nmB9R442Ms

A couple of Tweets while at the Paramount Hotel in Seattle WA before traveling to Indio CA:

Ordered a fruit tray. Ummmm....
https://twitter.com/jackieevancho/status/411882791018582016


Today let's stop 4 a moment & pray 4 the families that lost loved ones during the tragedy that happened 1yr ago in Newtown Conn:
https://twitter.com/jackieevancho/status/411892777979367425

Conductor: John Mario Di Costanzo
Orchestra: The Central Washington University Orchestra

Seattle set list:
1. Orchestra - Nocturne
2. Lovers
3. When You Wish Upon A Star
4. Imaginer
5. Orchestra - Theme From Pirates Of The Caribbean
6. To Where You Are - John Mario Piano
7. Ombra Mai Fu
8. The Lords Prayer
Intermission
9. Orchestra - Vince Guaraldi medley from "A Charlie Brown Christmas"
10. My Heart Will Go On
11. O Mio Babbino Caro
12. The Music Of The Night
13. Orchestra - Bach's Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring
14. White Christmas
15. O Holy Night
16. Encore 1: Walking In The Air
17. Encore 2: Believe

This is from Jeff C at Amazon:

My wife and I just got home from seeing Jackie at the Paramount Theater in Seattle. I had seen her live twice previously (AGT Tour in DC in Nov 2010 and Las Vegas in Dec 2011). She looked and sounded great tonight from our somewhat nosebleed-y seats. We thoroughly enjoyed her performance, and she really seemed to be hitting on all cylinders tonight.

She wore the blue and black/gold gowns that she's worn on this tour. They really popped in person much more than they do on YouTube videos. She still unconsciously, I think, grabs at her dresses throughout the performance, which I find endearing.

She sang what I think she's done at her recent concerts. The first set was Orchestra selection, Lovers, WYWUAS, Imaginer, Orchestra selection, TWYA (accompanied only by John Mario DiCostanzo on the piano), Ombra Mai Fu, and The Lord's Prayer (the last two performed with the microphone in the stand). There was about a 20 minute intermission, followed by the second set which was Orchestra selection, MHWGO, OMBC (with the microphone in the stand), MOTN, Orchestra selection, White Christmas, and O Holy Night, followed by encores of Walking in the Air and Believe. Each set lasted about 45 minutes. She did not invite any kids to the stage.

She was accompanied by the Central Washington University Orchestra (I counted 28 members), and, to my non-expert ear, they sounded excellent. I enjoyed them much more than I did the "electrified" orchestra/band in Las Vegas for her performance with David Foster. The sound was pretty good, although on several occasions we heard what appeared to be some harmonic distortion on some of her highs and lows. I'm not sure whether it was due to the audio settings, the equipment, or holding the microphone too close to her mouth. In her thank yous, she did acknowledge her sound engineer--I think she said his name was Paul Acosta (sp?).

Her banter between songs is improving, and we thought her introduction to White Christmas was very cute. As part of the intro, she said something to the effect that she had bought presents for her family, and she couldn't wait to see them open the presents because she knew that they'd like their gifts because she had bought them (we really couldn't hear it all because she giggling as she said it). FWIW, I thought her departures in the middle of each set were a little awkward. She just finished the song, acknowledged the applause, and walked off the stage. I thought it would have been smoother to say, "Thank you. I'll be back in a few minutes, but I'm sure you'll enjoy the orchestra playing ______ while I'm away," or something similar. Another option might be for JMDC to pick up a microphone and say something to facilitate the transition and to inform the less knowledgeable attendees (i.e., me) what selection the orchestra was going to play or had previously played, since there was no program or set list.

We were seated in the mezzanine, which appeared to be about two-thirds full. I couldn't see the main floor, but I assume it was mostly full. I was somewhat surprised at the demographics. It appeared to me that the audience was about 60% female. There were a number of young adults/couples, and quite a few young parents with kids, and, overall, the crowd that I could see struck me as being mainly middle-aged and not nearly as "gray" as I thought they would be.

As we left, we wandered around the main lobby to see if they had anything for sale. They had a couple of SFTSS t-shirts for sale for $25 each, but they appeared to be running out by the time we got there. They might have had programs for sale at some point, but we didn't see any available when we got there, nor did we see anyone carrying a program.

Overall, the audience seemed very enthusiastic, and there were resounding calls for encores.

Supplement From Jeff C at Amazon

Jeff C says:
As a supplement to my earlier report on Jackie's Seattle concert on Thursday, my wife did some research on the four numbers that the orchestra played. We're certainly not 100% about these, but I think the first was Nocturne, the second was Pirates of the Caribbean, the third was Charlie Brown Christmas (it sounded very familiar at the time, but I couldn't put my finger on it), and the final might have been Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring.

Also, it appears that one of the orchestra members posted the following picture of what looks like Jackie at rehearsal/sound check at the the Paramount Theater:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=616533075048626&set=pb.269259526442651.-2207520000.1387042241.&type=3&theater

From where we were seated, it seemed to us that Jackie got the most enthusiastic response to OMBC (not to say that the audience wasn't enthusiastic about any of her other numbers). I'd say OHN yielded about the same reaction as OMBC, but she had announced that OHN was her "final" song, so it was followed by an enthusiastic standing ovation, bravos, whistles, calls for an encore, etc., so it was a little hard to compare the two reactions. Our informal and non-empirical sampling of the people seated in our section was that we were the only ones who had previously seen Jackie perform live, and most people seemed to primarily remember her from AGT. So their memories of AGT might explain the reaction to OMBC. I would think Jackie probably grows weary of singing OMBC, but my thoughts are that she might want to keep it in her concerts so the less-than-hard-core fans can hear her sing her breakout song and the more hard-core fans can use it as a yardstick to see how her voice is developing/transitioning (or maybe just because we like to hear her sing it live).

It was also interesting to hear several people near us mention that they had been given tickets as presents (I would presume for Christmas). I couldn't help but wonder if, in the future, that might be a factor for Jackie's managers to consider/assess when scheduling future concerts......perhaps her ticket sales might be better in the December time frame due to gifting and people (like me) wanting to hear her sing Christmas songs live. For us, my wife definitely wanted to see her, but I was on the fence about going to see her in Seattle until I read that she had been singing OMBC (which would allow me to compare it to her earlier versions that I had heard), White Christmas, OHN, Walking in the Air, and Believe in her most recent concerts. Being the huge Christmas carol/song sap that I am, the info that she was doing nearly a whole set of Christmas songs sealed the deal for me, and Jackie was awesome!

FWIW, my only comment on her Christmas songs would be that I think Walking in the Air could use a little intro (similar to the keek from one of her California concerts). For those people who haven't heard WITA before, Jackie could briefly explain that it came from the British 80s cartoon "The Snowman" (which one can watch on YouTube) that it's from her Heavenly Christmas album--she might as well take advantage of the opportunity to give Heavenly Christmas a free plug at her concerts for those in the audience who aren't familiar with it. We hadn't heard it before we bought Heavenly Christmas. We initially thought that the song was hauntingly beautiful, but that lyrics were a little non-Christmasy until we watched "The Snowman" on YouTube and recognized the Christmas context of the song. Now, I'd say it's hands-down our favorite song from HC.


This from Ami at Bloggers.com
amithewriter.blogspot.com/2013/12/jackie-evancho.html

In 2010, Walter and I were watching America's Got Talent and heard Jackie Evancho sing for the first time. We were stunned, and I expect most people watching felt the same way. She was a whopping ten years old and her voice was so huge, it seemed to be all she could do to hold it inside of her.

Walter bought me her first CD, then her second. Listening to her voice always sent me to a place of peace. When she had a special on KBTC, they announced there would be a Seattle performance at the Paramount. I googled right away, but couldn't find any tickets. I was bummed, but I hate fighting traffic and dealing with parking, so I figured it was for the best.

And then a few days later my daughter sent me a text, "Check your email." She had gotten me two tickets to hear Jackie sing. It was the best Christmas gift she could have given us.

Walter was working a late bus route, so I was waiting with the tickets for him at the door when the orchestra started up. Traffic was so bad that driving in, we weren't sure we'd make it in time (I even got chauffeur service from Holly!) . Walter ended up parking a mile or more away and somehow made it to the Paramount before Jackie took the stage.

We were in the second mezzanine, just a few rows back, and if I had better eyes, it would have been a perfect seat. As it was, I had my Japanese grandpa's old opera glasses. They might be 100 years old, but they worked perfectly. Jackie is beautiful, and though the voice that came out of her is other worldly in its beauty and immense quality, when she spoke, it was clear she is still just a girl, extremely sweet and not even actually a teenager yet!

But when she sang.... Walter said it must be like what the shipwrecked sailors thought they heard and had to see--the sirens. To me, all I could think was if Heaven sounds like that, I would be happy to go (guess I'd better clean up my act!).

She sang Ombra Mai Fu, and my heart broke. She said, "Close your eyes and picture the most beautiful tree you can imagine," but I couldn't close my eyes or I might miss seeing this child sing. I did not want to waste a moment of this opportunity. I've never had a bucket list, but if I did, I just crossed off one huge item. I don't know that I'll hear such beauty again in life.

I've seen Crater Lake and thought it was breathtaking. I've seen Randy Johnson pitch for the Mariners and thought he was the most amazing and talented athlete (I've thought that about Jeremy Anderson as well, actually). The only thing that comes close to the beauty that Jackie Evancho holds within her and shares with the world is the sound of my kids when they play their instruments.... close, but not quite. (And my daughter would have to say at this point, correctly so since she hasn't practiced trumpet in years, that it's only because she's my kid that I feel that way.) Jackie is an unending pool of miracles. The deep quality of her voice in the lower range, the pure, piercing clarity of her soprano--as we, the audience, stood for a third time clapping and cheering when she had finished performing, I said to Walter, "These people that are here know what they are seeing. We're all seeing something bigger than we can imagine."

Listening to her, and yes, I was weeping because her voice so touches me, I realized that most people will be lucky to have one moment in their lives when they can produce something as perfect as Jackie does nearly every second when she sings. I felt like a tuning fork--goose bumps on my arms and legs, listening with every pore of my soul. We are all given gifts to share with the world, but this girl has more than just a gift, she truly has the voice of an angel. Hearing her was a once in a lifetime experience. She will never be this age again; her voice will change some as she grows. But to have heard her at all...

She even made me love one of my least favorite songs. Whenever I hear, "My Heart Will Go On," I change the radio station because it's just so drippy. But I believe it was my favorite of the ones she sang, as she embodied the song, embraced the song, just made it sound like nothing I'd ever heard before.

When she finished, we all stood, clapping, cheering. I yelled, "Bravo!" and to my ears, after hearing her sing, my voice sounded like a crow cawing, with a sore throat. She thanked the orchestra--I believe it was Central Washington University's symphony orchestra--what an opportunity for them to accompany her! And after two encores, she was done, waving with joy at the Seattle audience, going on to enjoy her family at Christmas, finish homework, whatever an angel in a young lady's form does after bringing an audience to tears of joy.

If you think I'm going overboard here, please know, I've played piano since I was four. I love classical music, jazz, rock, most anything, and I have a song in my head all of the time. I love music and I can't imagine living without it. Jackie is so good, she HAS to sing the classics and only a select few current songs because most of the current pieces just aren't immense or quality enough for her voice. To have heard her sing... what a gift I've been given... to have the ears to hear her sing. If that's my only gift, I'll take it and have no regrets.