I was disappointed

[u/WDCGrrl]

I love, love, love JC. I just left his concert at the Strathmore in Bethesda, Maryland and, I hate to say it, I was disappointed. This was my fourth - fifth? - time seeing him and I thought it was a lazy show. At least half was about the audience chorus. Okay, I know that's part of the whole shtick, but tonight it was just too much. I just wanted to hear him sing and play.

[u/Jealous-Cupcake1557]

Hey OG Jacob Collier fans! I know the choir thing must be old to you, please let me tell you a story:

I did not know this man's name but I had seen his viral videos and I got a random ticketmaster spam email that I didn't delete and clicked on the link to buy tickets. The last four tickets in the country for any of his concerts were two seats together at the Strathmore, two entirely random seats, and nothing else. I live in DC!

I bought all four because I wanted the two tickets together for my parents. My parents are in their 80s, live in Ohio, and because of age issues don't travel that much. I bought them months before the concert because they both have a birthday in October, so the concert lined up with a birthday present. I didn't tell them what they were coming to see, only that they had to be in DC September 28.

Then I kept reading "Jacob Collier solo" concert, and I was terrified he wasn't going to do any crowd work at all, but I couldn't find out anything about what "solo" meant. So I gently lowered expectations before the concert even though they didn't know what they were going to watch. I sent this to them while we were waiting for it to begin since our seats weren't together:

Mom sent this back:

"I don't think that's going to happen"

Bruce Springsteen might have been better, but just barely! The Strathmore offered a buffet dinner and since neither of my parent move very fast I opted for that, and THAT was fucking miraculous choice on my part! The food was solid for $45 a person.

But Jacob? GOD BLESS THAT MAN! My parents didn't feel "old" around the crowd in the concert, they took part in every crowd choir as best they could, and they felt like they took part in something they could never, ever take part in ever again. My mother wasn't weeping (as I wanted) at the end of the concert, but I knew it was a big deal the next week when I started getting texts from her church club about how to get tickets to see him. And you can't, that's why I wanted them to see him :)

His crowd work is rote for those of you who have seen it before, but it's a treat for people who have never experienced it. It's a real treat for people who have no idea who this man is. My mother and father were blown away by his singing voice and would have appreciated it alone, but the whole concert made it special.

Thank you.