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Jackie Evancho Concert Review - Waukegan 2019 - by Anastasia Lee

4/10/2019

Hello everyone.

As promised, here is my review of Jackie Evancho’s 2019 April 6th concert in Waukegan, IL . Jackie Evancho fan Glenn Triller, who is also a fan of my music & Tre Principesse’s, kindly bought my family and I tickets to the show. Before the show, my parents and I met up with Glenn and another Jackie fan, David Klein, and we went out for dinner at Louie’s. An Italian restaurant near the theater. We talked for several hours about Jackie, music history in general, and my own career, and it was a fun time had by all. Glenn and David quickly learned that I am quite the spitfire. If you ever meet me in person, you’ll see what I mean. ;)

Overall, it was a good performance from Jackie Evancho. Very solid. Here is the set list from Waukegan 2019.

1. Lovers
2. The Way We Were
3. Think of Me
4. Medley:
O Mio Babbino Caro
Con Te Partiro
Somewhere
When You Wish Upon a Star
The Prayer
5. Once Upon a December
6. The Impossible Dream

Intermission

7. Burn
8. Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)
9. Somewhere Over the Rainbow
10. Your Love
11. How Great Thou Art
12. Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again
13. Music of the Night
14. Nessun Dorma (Encore)

There were two full standing ovations. One came after How Great Thou Art and the other came after Music of the Night. Her voice has a whole has gotten a bit meatier since 2017, but with the same signature tone and sound that the audience recognizes her by. As a Soprano, Jackie’s range is much higher than my own, whereas my range as a Contralto is much lower than hers, and due to this, our tessituras land in different places. Jackie’s middle range is definitely getting bigger in sound, however her high notes are still as clear and airy as ever. Unfortunately, from the looks of things, the attendance in the Hall wasn’t even at 50% capacity. Due to the close proximity of the theater to a big city like Chicago, I didn’t think that would be the case. But that’s the loss of the folks that didn’t have tickets and attend the concert.

The first song that struck me was... well... the first song. Lovers. I really enjoyed the drums and other percussion instruments in the song. However, it would have been even more amazing had there been actual drums onstage. In concert, Jackie sings with several live string instruments that play along with a backing track which holds the main instrumentation the audience hears. Her musical director, Peter K., then adds his piano mastery, and 6 to 8 other instrumentalists local to the town she is performing in, add their strings to the arrangement.

The song Lovers, is a perfect song to start concerts with due to the introduction. It gets the audience excited and gives Jackie enough time to make her entrance onstage. For the record, she also wears high heels much better than I do. I practically break an ankle every time I wear any length of heel. That night, my heels were 3 inches and I was struggling. Jackie? I think her heels were 6 inches, yet she had no problem whatsoever and she walked in with the gait of a super model. So 10 extra points for the skilled performance in dangerous footwear. Ha ha!

After singing Lovers, Jackie began introducing her new CD. She said her new album “Two Hearts” would be coming out in a few days. When she said that, the audience started giggling a bit. Jackie had accidentally said the name of a previously released album. Peter K., her musical director, then pointed out from the side that her new album is called “The Debut”. Jackie then quickly apologized stating that she had just woken up from a two hour nap so she was still half asleep. That part of the show definitely showed her human side.

Her Personal Signature Medley containing small parts of some of her signature songs, was definitely well done. She had her statements thought out well in advance with perfect timing between each segment of the medley. It’s obvious that Jackie & her Team and Peter worked very hard in crafting this Medley.

Once Upon A December, was the next song that I enjoyed. It’s one of the main songs from my favorite movie as well as Jackie’s growing up. Anastasia. It’s the 1997 animated classic that is based on the lore surrounding the late Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov. My namesake. When she said the name of the song and the title of the film and Broadway musical it came from, quite a few audience members turned around to smile at me. You see, Classical Crossover or popera is still a niche genre for now, so everybody knows everybody. And even with several hundred people in the audience, many of them know me for my own musical career. So when she said the name Anastasia several people quipped that I should go onstage to join her in a duet of the song.

The next song that struck a chord for me was Vincent. Starry, Starry Night. By Don McLean. The song is very well written and it’s something that isn’t often seen in music. An artist, Don McLean, paying tribute to another different kind of artist, Vincent Van Gogh. The song is a very tender one and Jackie really brought that tenderness across to the audience. I also thought the background lighting was very clever. With splashes of dark and light blue along with yellow/gold spotlights, the stage looked like Vincent’s famous painting of the same name as the song.

How Great Thou Art. That song was, in my opinion, the best song of the night. And judging by the audience’s reaction of a standing ovation? They obviously agreed with me. She poured her heart into this song and she dedicated it to her late great grandmother. It was truly superb. Even my father was moved, and believe me... he’s tough to impress. In fact, he was perhaps the first to stand for the ovation.

Music of the Night. In the past, O Mio Babbino Caro has always been considered to be Jackie’s signature song. It’s what made her famous on America ’s Got Talent in 2010. She performed it most often in concert. Etc. But now? I believe Music of the Night has become her signature song. It was a very solid performance and again the audience was very impressed.

Jackie then ended the evening with an encore of her own version of Nessun Dorma. Sung in a much lower key than the original, yet with a wild high note at the end, the audience was pleased.

A couple of notes. The microphone and sound were really struggling several times. At five different points in the performance, the microphone started squealing and giving off feedback which kind of messed up the mood of the slow songs she was singing. Though, that isn’t reflective on her at all. It happens to the best of us. The lighting as well. At several points, it was stunning and very cleverly designed, as I mentioned with the song Starry Starry Night. However, many times, shocking bright white and blue spotlights were shining onto the audience. Especially the front sections. The folks around me, myself included, had to turn away because it was blinding at times. Like many people, I’m headache prone and the lighting alone left me with a migraine. But again... that can’t be blamed on Jackie.

The only real complaint I have is the songs that were performed. She performed all the same songs, with 3 new ones, at the previous concerts we have attended. From when she was 16 years old and 17 years old. In just a day, she will be 19 years old. So if anything, we were hoping for more new music. Here were the set lists from the other Jackie Concerts we have attended in the past 3 years.
Festa Italiana 2016
1. Pure Imagination
2. Made to Dream
3. Music of the Night
4. The Impossible Dream
5. Your Love
6. What A Wonderful World

- Intermission

7. Lovers
8. Ave Maria
9. Nessun Dorma
10. Writing’s On the Wall
11. Safe and Sound
12. O Mio Babbino Caro
13. Think of Me
14. The Lord’s Prayer

———————————

Waukegan 2017
1. The Impossible Dream
2. The Way We Were
3. Medley:
O Mio Babbino Caro
Con Te Partiro
Somewhere
When You Wish Upon a Star
The Prayer
4 Somewhere Over The Rainbow
5. May It Be
6. All Of the Stars
7. Music of the Night

- intermission

8. Caruso
9. Safe and Sound
10. Pedestal
11. How Great Thou Art
12. We’ve Only Just Begun
13. Vincent
14. My Heart Will Go On
15. Lovers
16. Nessun Dorma

———————————

You see what I mean.

Overall, it was a very solid performance. Jackie spoke clearly between songs and she was obviously confident in her performance of each and every song. She emoted that confidence very well and she put a lot of emotion into every song. Each song was solid and well done.

By the way, Happy 19th Birthday Jackie!

An April 9, 2019 review of Jackie Evancho’s April 6 concert at the beautiful Genesee Theater in Waukegan, IL. By fellow professional singer... and amateur music critic... Anastasia Lee.

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