What i wrote by 9:15 pm before Josh came on stage
I vowed never to go to another Josh Groban arena concert because they were too loud and hurt my ears and I felt that wearing ear plugs to a concert sorry of defeats the purpose; however, I got a new pair of concert ear plugs that are supposed to preserve the sound quality, which I wanted to try out.
I think they worked well, because I felt like could hear without pain.
I got here late, but still got to hear a fair amount of Jennifer Hudson. She is a fantastic singer. She was loud, but my ear plugs made me OK with it. I got a few brief recordings, but didn’t try to record the whole thing. I missed her lowest notes and also some of her high, quiet melisma. Curiously, at one point she lowered her mic and I could still hear her and I’m clear across the arena at the far end.
I got a good seat in section 102, having waited until the night before, when someone got desperate
The best seats on the floor seem to be pretty much sold out. The other sections have quite a few empty seats
I think one goal of this pairing was to get a broader base of fans. I did see some black people, who are normally not present at Josh Groban concerts—but not a huge number.
Jennifer Hudson is supposed to have a younger fan base than Josh. I do see some younger people. I’m not sure how many of them are here for her. I also see quite a few men — less likely to be at a pure Josh Groban concert.
Here’s a Google discussion of their fan bases
https://share.google/aimode/0YSR8aOq2wCPcMGhw
I do feel that this is a nice pairing. Josh has frequently chosen to duet with altos. Typically I cannot hear them over his voice. He sings very loudly. They blend well. The audio engineers don’t adequately compensate. He really sounds better duetting with sopranos. Their high voices contrast more with his and are more audible.
However no one is going to drown out Jennifer Hudson. The fan recordings I’ve heard online sound fantastic. She comes though loud and clear even though her voice is low. Also her distinctive melisma comes through.
I hope Josh doesn’t try melisma tonight. The times I’ve had him try sounded pretty lame. I don’t think it’s a strength for him.
I’m also hoping that being lower in the arena should make the sound better. I think the balcony tends to be louder because the sound from the speakers near the ceiling kind of gets trapped.
