The Kravis Center of the Performing Arts is in West Palm Beach, Florida. This lucky facility was the home to the opening concert of Clay Aiken’s 2012 Joyful Noise Tour. The November 23rd concert was filled with excited fans and music lovers who enjoyed a night of music, laughter, and Christmas cheer. Clay was joined on the stage by his musical director, Ben Cohn and a full orchestra.
While talking to the audience, Clay gave a special “heads up” to the French Horns in the orchestra. He thought all the brass section was special.
There was a great review for this concert from The South Florida Gay News:
Clay Aiken in West Palm Beach – Through Tears and Joy
American Idol Season 2 runner up Clay Aiken brought joy and tears to the Kravis Center of the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach recently with his Joyful Noise Tour. He returned to the holiday circuit after a five-year break.
A lot of former idols lose their appeal fairly quickly, but it was evident that Aiken still had his, with fans showing up all the way from Tokyo and Brazil.
The concert was filled with a mix of traditional religious Christmas songs like O Holy Night, Silent Night, Away in a Manger, Mary Did You Know and secular ones like My Grown up Christmas List, Don’t Save it All for Christmas Day and Jingle Bells.
While Aiken’s voice soared on every note it was his down home charm that made the concert memorable. He told stories, interacted with fans and was not only charming, but surprisingly funny.
After watching him on stage it’s easy to see why he’s garnered a loyal, almost fanatical following, over the years. When he asked how many of his fans had been to all of his holiday tours a surprising number of them screamed out.
While most of the concert was filled with laughter and smiles there was one part that was especially sad. Throughout the performance there were prerecorded fans speaking about holiday memories, including a woman who had lost her son close to Christmas, and she used the holiday spirit to help her grieve and move forward again.
The only criticism of the night would be at times the live orchestra seemed to overpower his voice. But that could have also been due to the fact that Aiken admitted he was battling the flu so perhaps his vocals weren’t at full power.
It was fun going through the pictures from WPB!
And – check out this great video.
It has a small chat from Clay followed by a song that highlighted Clay’s beautiful voice and…french horns!
This is so much fun. I am so glad we have wonderful YouTubes to see and hear Clay this Christmas!
It’s always wonderful hearing Clay sing a beautiful holiday song!
Did you attend one of the concerts in the Joyful Noise 2012 Tour?
Thankful for YouTube and of course CANN for posting Christmas memories of Clay! Enjoyed the video! The review of the concert was great.
I drove over to PA and saw Clay in his last Christmas concert in 2012. It was the only time I got a really 'close to the stage' seat. He stopped at the end of our row and sang the last song before he left the auditorium through the back door. How I wish I could be in AZ this Dec. to hear Clay perform once again.
EEEEE, Brazil was me!! I miss those days of concerts! I miss my singer so much!!
I thought it might be you!!
i dint get to see clay aiken joyfull noise tour i wish i could have
My story is a lot like Emily’s. Went diwn to Anaheim for 2012 Christmas, and I too got a fairly close seat in middle, perfect for the acoustics in the small dinner theater. Still one of my favorite memories (though he didn’t stop and sing in the aisle 5 seats away from me, lol). And I too wish I could be in AZ in Dec.
Lucia, I’m glad that you got to go to it. It’s a long long way!!
Thank you for always giving us such great YouTube links, musicfan. I’m also glad and grateful to have all these great modern tools to experience him with. And Clay fans are astonishung the way they can put montages together! (BTW did you ever notice there can be pics and even sound from several different concerts, and Clay’s voice/timing are so exact! He used to mess up words just to prove he wasn’t a recording LOL. Love that man!!
What a wonderful post full of good memories. The only Joyous Noise that I got to see was an early one in St Louis. Sadly, there was no banter with the audience. But you can’t beat a Clay concert for a memorable evening. Being in the same room with him always gave me a thrill at concerts. I guess a senior shouldn’t talk that way but it’s true! Clay’s Christmas CD & tv special DVD are so nice at this season. Fans going to the Christmas concert in Arizona – I am so jealous! ❤️ UNCONDITIONAL love for you Clay.
Because I found Clay so late, my only concert was a Christmas concert. His Christmas music is always played year round. And the wonderful videoes you post have introduced me to clack from so many concert venues. Not the same as being there, but I can watch whenever I want. Feel a need to spend quality time on youtube! I'm wondering if we will get anything from next month's concert. Fingers crossed!