Mandy Moore Concert

There are some things that you go into knowing that they're going to kick your ass.I was not expecting that from a Mandy Moore concert.Before this concert,I liked some of her movies and songs,but I wasn't listening to them all the time like some of the other singers I enjoy or telling people that I like her.Most people,when you say the name Mandy Moore,think of either A Walk To Remember or the cheesy video for Candy with her and backup dancers dancing in front of VW Beetles.It's not exactly something that most people want to be boasting about.I was just surfing the web and came across her website and was surprised to see a listing for her at the Palace Theatre in Greensburg which is like ten minutes from my house.Needless to say,my mother had no choice in the matter and tickets were bought and plans were made.I did not expect to come out of that concert with extremely high expectations for how a concert and a performer should sing and show emotion for their songs.The first thing that put me off about the concert was when the security guard tried to take the batteries from my camera,so I couldn't take any pics and had to put it in the glove compartment of my mom's car.We were walking inside and the bass player from the band walked past us which was pretty cool and they were selling some merchandise inside,but nothing that was worth my money.The first opening act was Chris Stills,who was pretty good and excellent at the guitar,and the second act was Rachael Yamagata,who blew me away.She's an excellent singer and she was hilarious,however the older people in the audience didn't like her because she was telling a story and called someone in it a "Mother Fucker."After the concert I downloaded both of their cds,and I like them but don't listen to them as much as I'd want to formulate an opinion on how their recordings are.After two hours Mandy Moore finally came out and to be honest,she looked kind of pissed off,but she still kicked ass.She was playing the tambourine and was murdering it while she rocked out with the band.I never thought that I would put Mandy Moore and Rocking Out in the same sentence,but it was really cool.She talked to the crowd between songs and sipped tea and even had a few people in the crowd that followed her through her whole tour,more on that later.She then played a break up song and really got into it and looked angry and at the end of it stormed off the stage.I don't know if it was part of the act but I could see an assistant in the back of the stage running back and forth so maybe she got super into it and needed to cool off.After that she came back out and gave the audience one of the best performance that we've probably ever witnessed.She sang the song Gardenia and the lights were turned off and we just watched as she sang her heart out.At the end of it she got so emotional that she broke down into tears and had to turn her back on us so she could calm down,but it was amazing to see that kind of raw emotion in person over a song that has a lot of deep meaning.Everyone was silent after that and were in awe of the performance and then,once she seemed to be better,gave her the loudest applause of the night.A video of Gardenia being performed is on youtube and is awesome,but it's something that simply had to be witnessed in person to get the full effect and feel the emotion coming from her.After that she played guitar on one of her songs and was very good for a beginner and then warned us before the last song that it would be embarassing.She asked us not to make fun of her because we were in her trust tree and said that she was going to sing Candy!Rachael Yamagata came back on stage and they did the dorky dance from the video and then did the song which had the whole audience on their feet and dancing.Then the concert was over and everyone left and I heard nothing but good things coming from the rest of the crowd.My mother even loved it and I feel proud that I converted her into a Mandy Moore fan.However during the concert,we were sitting in front of someone that was a borderline stalker and brought a giant boquet of flowers for his "dream girl" according to him.He was in his 40's and had been following her career since she was 16 and is in love with her.He seriously freaked everyone out that was sitting around him and I was actually a little worried for Mandy because he's been following her tour around the country.That's what the security guys are for though.This concert was in September and I still remember it vividly and wish that I had been able to take better pictures than the ones I got on my camera phone.It was probably one of the top ten things I've ever been to in my life and I'll definitely come back if she ever comes to PA again.