Still smiling. Still laughing. Still posing. That was David Archuleta Tuesday night at theWellsFargoCenterfor the Arts. Prior to his stop inSanta Rosaon his My Kind of Christmas Tour, Archuleta was doing what he does second-best: interacting with people.

It was then that he was near the end of his 90-minute meet-and-greet session prior to the 2 ½ hour concert when one of the last fans asked him to sing a few notes of one of his songs.

He kind of hesitated and then clearing his throat he did what he does best: sing.

It was amazing how his voice morphed from a giggling 20-year old kid to an accomplished singer in an obscure upstairs room at the WFC.

By now you certainly know the back-story of American Idol’s season 7 runnerup. What you don’t know, if you missed Wednesday’s concert, is how much he has matured as a singer, as a performer.

The WFC holds about 1,600 for a concert. There were plenty of tickets left unsold for Tuesday’s event. Archuleta sang 17 songs, 13 of them Christmas songs and one (Little Drummer Boy) was an encore.

Needless to say “Archie” isn’t appealing to everyone and honestly it’s hard to say why not.  But the truth is that the kid can flat-out sing. You’d be hard-pressed to find a better version of Ave Maria, Silent Night or Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas than those produced by Archuleta.

His show was entertaining because he made it that way. He injected his own quirky personality on the evening and tweaked every song with some nuance that made it his.

All and all, a good job.

Following is what Archuleta had to say about the tour during a phone interview last week during a stop inIdaho.

“All I want to do is perform in front of as many people as I can who are willing to listen. I don’t want to force anyone to listen to my show if they don’t want to. If people enjoy what I am doing that makes it even better.

“Music is a huge part of my life, but it isn’t my life. It’s just part of my life. That’s how I like to think about it. The last Christmas tour was the most favorite tour I have ever done. Afterward I felt so good, like I had just eaten a good meal.  I mean I love singing the pop songs, the songs that get people energized, but doing the Christmas tour gave me the chance to use elements that made me want to sing in the first place. What I loved about music.

“Christmas music is something that so many people can connect to and you want really put your heart into what you are singing.”

It was pretty obvious he did just that on Wednesday night.

 

Wednesday night’s playlist:

 

Sleigh Ride

Melodies of Christmas

This Christmas

Other Side of Down

Wait

Zero Gravity

Crush

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Climb Every Mountain

INTERMISSION

Ave Maria

Pat-A-Pan

Fa lalala

I Need a Silent Night

Silent Night

The First Noel

Oh, Holy Night

Encore song: Little Drummer Boy

 

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