Sorry I hadn't posted this here yet. I've been having problems with the E-Train site since Friday night. Here's the recap I posted on MySpace:

One word...amazing! I know that summation has been used many a time by those of us who've already had the pleasure of seeing and hearing Elliott live, but I truly was shocked at how fantastic Elliott Yamin was. Being a fan, I shouldn't have been "shocked". Yet, there certainly is a difference between enjoying the nuances of Elliott's voice and music within the construct of a CD or an mp3, and being marvelously assailed by it in a live performance.

Definitely gone are the days of the tentative performer with a finger-tugging compulsion. Elliott was the real deal last night--raw, energetic, seasoned, addicting. A few times in the show, especially during his renditions of "I'm The Man" and "A Song For You", I had to fight the urge to simply close my eyes and listen to the music because I was afraid I'd miss out on the total experience of also seeing Elliott invoke true emotion through a song. Watching Elliott last night, it was apparent that he's found his place on that performance stage. When he sings, it seems that he's able to both imagine his audience invisible while simultaneously acknowledging each and everyone of them. And because of this seamless combination of calculated detachment and unmistakable connection, the appreciation Elliott received from the crowd of nearly four hundred who came to see him that night was definitely more than just "polite applause"--it was rabid.

My only complaint, and this is something I'd implicitly expressed several months ago when I found out where he was playing in P-Town, is the acoustics at the Roseland pretty much sucks. While the venue may lend itself better to rock and heavy metal shows--of which I've seen quite a few at the Roseland--acts with a more acoustic, MTV-Unplugged type rendition tend to have a tougher time finding the balance between quiet approach and mic-blasting bombardment. Add to that a second-rate sound mixing technician, and you've got the makings of a potential auditory mess.

Nevertheless, Elliott fans (and spouses/significant others who were forced to come) definitely had themselves quite a show. Josh Hoge opened with about six songs (which, ironically, is the same number of songs on his EP that he shamelessly promoted), and got the crowd pumped.

But, it was Elliott who brought the house down.

:)

Finally!! Thanks for sharing, Jon!! Well written!! Can't wait for your San Francisco recap and pics!!

Great recap! Thanks!

Thanks PDXJon. Interesting take on how you describe E's performance style as going back and forth from detachment to acknowledging the fans. I think a lot of soulful performers do this a lot. They look down, close their eyes, make faces (ala John Mayer) rock and sway which sometimes is mistaken as not communicating with their audience, when actually they are "feeling" the music. I think he has come such a long way with his stage presence and banter with the audience.

Jon, that was a great recap, it was beautiful! I was also at the Portland show, so I'll write a bit about my experience.

First of all I live in Southern Oregon, so it's an almost 5 hour drive to Portland for me. I drove up with my friend Jeanne, whose daughter Brooke lives in the Portland area. She is 25 and knew nothing about Elliott so I was curious to hear what she thought of him. We also took another friend of ours, Sally, who lives in Tigard who has never seen Idol so I sent her a copy of Elliott's CD to her from Amazon a few weeks ago. She really enjoyed it andb y then was anxious to see Elliott too .

OK, we drove from Tigard into Portland and Sally drove us to the Roseland, she knew exactly where the venue was and luckily we didn't run into much traffic so we got there before 6:30. We lined up and were about the 20th person in line, the weather was gorgeous so we chatted until the doors opened at seven. I thought that one of my friends had brought her camera with her in her purse but she informed me that she left it in my car which was parked in Tigard so we wouldn't be able to get any pictures during the concert. Boo!! We got there early because we thought there was balcony seating but once we were inside I headed upstairs to the bar but the woman there said it's just a bar and there is no seating upstairs. I had told my friends that we would be able to sit since three of us are in our 50's and didn't really want to stand for hours. So then I lined up to get stamped to go into the venue and saw Russell coming down the stairs. :rocker: He crossed right in front of me saying "excuse me" and I said "no problem" and was squeeing inside. :thud:

We found a table near the back of the venue as the concert wouldn't start for an hour and visited, it was fun just to look around and I noticed that as others have mentioned there are people of all ages, about an equal amount of both genders there, although I think there were a few more females there than males. I saw a few pre-teens, quite a few teen girls and people in their 20's too. As the time approached 8:00 we slowly slid our chairs up closer to the stage and noticed that some of the venue workers brought more chairs out for people to sit on, nothing like having some baby boomers there who need to sit, just like me.

Josh Hoge came on and performed his songs, he was very entertaining and mentioned reading about the "man crush" on Elliott on a fan board, which is of course an E-Trainer posted here. The crowd seemed to enjoy his performance and I did too.

Then we were all anxiously awaiting Elliott, some people were chanting "Elliott, Elliott" over and over and then the band members appeared and started playing "Alright" so we knew that he would be out on stage soon, and then there he was!! All I could think of was "wow, it's really him." It seemed surreal to me. but there he was! I stood during his performance and was fairly close, the venue is small and intimate. Luckily the AC worked well too, although Elliott was sweating like crazy, he must burn a lot of calories during his performance.

He performed his usual setlist, and also mentioned that at midnight it would be Oly's birthday, so we all sang a few lines of happy birthday to him.

As much as I enjoyed hearing the very talented band playing, the acoustics in the Roseland do suck as Jon mentioned in his post. So when Elliott came out to sing the "A Song For You' encore having him and the keyboardist (sorry I forget his name) play it was wonderful to hear Elliott sing as you could hear him much better. It was stunning! With the other songs Elliott's voice seemed drowned out a lot of the times, the sound mixer didn't have everything balanced well IMO.

The crowd really grooved with "In Love With You Forever" and "Movin' On" but for me I enjoyed "Little Ghetto Boy" and ASFY the most. Elliott was just so darned cute and I was amazed how much stage presence he had and was so proud of him with his performance and how relaxed and at home he is performing now. I know that you've all mentioned that, but until you see it for yourself you don't realize how far he's come.

I would have loved to have stuck around after the show but the two ladies who had to work all day and then came to the show were already heading out the door. I did see Josh signing a CD for someone as we headed out. So I don't know if Elliott did a meet and greet there after the show or not. Hopefully another E-Trainer can let us know about that. If he was meeting people after the concert I will feel badly that we didn't stay.

Anyway, I loved hearing the comments of my friends on the way home, one friend who saw him on Idol said how she never really liked him that much while on the show but now she is crazy about him, her daughter loved the show so much that yesterday she went out and bouught his CD. The friend from Tigard thinks that he'll be super famous and popular, we all agreed on that and also that he'll have a very long and prosperous music career.

:rocker:

Anyway, I've babbled on much too long, but if you do get a chance to see Elliott in concert do not hesitate! It was a very memorable night for me and I'll definitely go see him again when I can. What a guy! :awe:

Thank you so much Jon and OregonAIFan for those two beautifully expressed recaps!! They were so thrilling to read!!

awwwww JON,
see i knew you werent such a tuff guy!!!I really enjoyed your recap! Even brought a tear to my eye.I guess I don't have to hurt you now. What was that for, anyway? I forget! :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
OK WHERE are the pictures???????????
I hope the san fran trip is still ON! Remember, you ARE expendable! Your job will do fine without you for a weekend. Now that you've seen E once, I bet wild horses won't keep you away, let alone a grumpy client!

Some of us here are writers (you) and some of us others are not (me). It's so nice to read what I've felt and saw in his live performances but was unable to express in written form. Thanks for a wonderful recap.

I think I closed my eyes once or twice, and guilty of trying to zone out the screams for my own private experience.

"Anyway, I've babbled on much too long, but if you do get a chance to see Elliott in concert do not hesitate! It was a very memorable night for me and I'll definitely go see him again when I can. What a guy! awe.gif"

OREGONAIFAN<

You can "babble on "any time you like! That was a wonderful recap, and I enjoyed reading it so much!
It was so nice to read about you and your friends' reactions. I mean we all KNOW that Elliott is mind boggling. Glad you all had such a nice time!

oregonAIfan I just read yours... thank you too for a wonderful recap. Great that you converted a few to E fans too :) (well with the help of one beautiful voice)

Thanks for the recaps! I want to express again how much I enjoy reading about everyone's experiences.

Great recaps guys! You wrote what I felt and what a feeling that was. Can't wait to see Elliott again in August.

Josh Hoge came on and performed his songs, he was very entertaining and mentioned reading about the "man crush" on Elliott on a fan board, which is of course an E-Trainer posted here.

If memory serves me, believe that was Lindaqt who posted about the "man crush". :rotfl:

There you are Mr.PDX!! Great recap from both you & oregonfan!

Thankis for jogging my memory Harley, I couldn't recall who posted about the mancrush, I think it was Linda. We know that Josh is a member and reads the posts here, hey Josh, if you're reading this you rock. :rocker:

I would have loved to have met and talked to the Etrainers who were at the concert, but I was with some friends and felt like I needed to stay and visit with them. Next time for sure! :grouphug:

A few more tidbits, Elliott did throw his sweat towel out in the audience after the show, I don't know who caught it though. Before he started someone in front yelled out "I love you Elliott" and he replied that he loved them too. Aww. And someone else shouted out that he should have won, I think someone says that at every show! He seemed very happy to be there and one of my friends commented that you would think he was performing for thousands of people the way he acted even though it was just for a small audience of a few hundred.

:awe:

She also commented on how warm and cuddly he seems, I have no disagreement there! :fangirly:

I am very happy to bring in more Elliott fans, the more the better!

Ha that i love you from the front was me ha ha ha!! :D

It was great reading your reviews! Thanks for sharing!

:rotfl: I was wondering if that was you, now I know for sure! You go girl! :rocker:

Thank you for your articulate and colorful recaps. Elliott was delightful. I agree that the sound could have been better. I so wanted to hear the instrument that is Elliott's voice. ASFY was wonderful, in that the simple piano accompaniment allowed his voice to be fully heard.

Thank you, thank you. :elliottcap: