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 Florida!

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?