I saw these tickets come up on Groupon and thought for $18 a piece why not, plus I think Molly will like seeing James Arthur. So I picked up three hoping the seats weren’t going to set new heights of nose bleed inducing heights.

We get to Sprint Center (with Groupon tickets there you go pick up tickets at the box office) and the lady goes into the back vault of goodness and returns with Section 117, Row 12. Score! That’s 12 rows from the floor about three sections to the right of the stage:

I didn’t realize at the time but this was part of the same Honda promoted tour series Demi Lovato did in 2016. This meant it had the same strange promotion of a band designed car out on the venue floor and with it the clearly expensive set design, graphics and lighting.

I did notice right off the amount of equipment in the mixing area seemed to be more than usual, this usually indicates that the bands are not normally touring together and that they have their own equipment and for this venue they just mushed it all together:

The initial stage setup had (what I thought anyway was the three bands equipment setup):

James Arthur started it off. His comment “this is my first tour in America” was kinda evident when he started as man he must have been nervous or just not used to having his drummer parallel to him. That being said; he delivered with singing, and guitar playing save the initial awkward timing starts. I could tell right away the production quality was once again (like Lovato’s) above normal:

Then came the burst of energy and funkiness known as Fitz and The Tantrums. Quick set change, here are some sound checks going on note the Honda commercial on the big screen:

Michael Fitzpatrick is fun to watch. A strong stage presence, full of energy, dancing, jumping, and generally being attention grabbing. This is my first time to see these guys and other than “HandClap” song I didn’t know much about them. Consider me now a fan:

Here is a really crappy video (my camera phone was having fits staying focused) of “Spark” from “More Than Just a Dream” – it gives an idea of what these guys were like:

A genuine good time. I love watching crowds really get into artists and see people dance like no-one is watching. That’s worth the $18 right there alone.

However another set change, this time a big one for OneRepublic:

Out of all the concerts I have been seen I have only been to two that put people up in the rafters from the concert floor, again the other was Lavoto’s. Here are 3 of the 6 people they loaded up into the air to do side spots:

Kinda neat, kinda nuts. How do they handle the “Ah geez, I gotta pee” 70 minutes into the show? Maybe it’s just me who thinks of these things.

OneRepublics opening was dramatic and immediately showed off some of that Honda marketing investment with the impressive light show, lasers and graphics:

Here is a snippet of “Good Life” from “Waking Up” showing the lighting at work:

Talk about an impressive show. I was genuinely surprised by the musicality of the band. Steel guitar, Spanish Guitar (and some damn fine Spanish Guitar playing at that), Cello, Piano, Mandolin, all used on several songs. Combine this with the fantastic song writing and the spot-on delivery it makes for an epic experience. I am confident in saying OneRepublic put on the best shows I have seen this year. Yes that’s what I said. Really that damn good.

Towards the end they constructed a small stage right out in the middle of the crowd when the lights came back up Ryan Tedder (who delivered a fantastic energetic performance all night) was on that stage to the utter delight of the crowd:

I am not sure what to think of watching a version of the Tedder authored Beyoncé single “Halo” in the middle of a OneRepublic show, but probably not as strange as the later encore “Rumour Has It“. Tedder called back in James Arthur and Fitz and The Tantrums to participate:

Correct the Adele “Rumour Has It”, ah here I have video as proof:

And and those glitter cannons you see up in the mix area, were all over the venue and made one hell of a mess in the end (really messing with my phones auto-focus in the process):

The mix of these three artists together lead to an epic concert that for me ranks in the top 10 of recent memory. I friggin’ loved it. That that and mix in I got to see it with my daughter and her cohort in crime – best $18 I have ever spent… ever.

Me, my daughter and her friend official selfie (the one I am suppose to use):

HOWEVER, here is the one I like, sorry Molly I could not resist: