The.Concert.Was.Great.
Plain and simple. No other way to describe it. I was in the presence of the most amazing man on this planet. There is just nobody else in this world who could learn and master all those different songs, learn to play the piano, learn all those dance moves, and actually perform them every night, in less than 6 months.
When we got to the park again, we headed straight back to the arena. It was getting pretty full, there was probably 40 more minutes till the concert. We found our seats and started getting camera equipment set up. (Checking the batteries, running over the what-to-do-what-not-to-do list with my dad when it came to the video camera.)
I saw Nick out by the stage, so I told my mom to go show William to him. So she went up, then I followed soon after and I heard my mom telling him that there was a Mandy in the audience. Nick just said ‘oh’, then left. He had sounded bored. Wonderful. The chances of him informing Clay were probably slim to none.
So we headed back to our seats, and some advertising people came on stage to talk about upcoming concerts. They soon figured out that we didn’t really care about future artists. We cared about Clay. And eventually, the concert started.
The beginning was INCREDIBLE. It was such a great way to start a concert, I can see Clay doing a broadway musical on it or something. S’von put a quarter in the Jukebox and it started playing. Only problem was, the Jukebox started skipping. So all the band members hit it, one by one, trying to fix it. Then all the sudden, at the top of the stairs, appears Quiana and Angela in poodle skirts, and one Clay Aiken himself, wearing a black leather jacket with the jukebox logo on the back, hair slicked back, looking like Fonzie from Happy Days, with a girl on each arm. He walked down the stairs, and snapped his fingers once, and the two girls immediately followed him down. He glanced boredly at the Jukebox, then WHAM, he hits it. And bada-bing-bada-boom, the concert has begun.
Jacob has appeared on stage with his saxophone, and when Clay hits and fixes the Jukebox, the backdrop on the stage falls to reveal a new one. And so we were ‘transported’ to the 50’s. The set list included:
1.) Twistin' the Night Away
2.) Let’s Go To The Hop
3.) Be Good Johnny
3.) Rockin' Robin
4.) Great Pretender
5.) Only You
6.) Mr. Sandman
7.) Great Balls of Fire
8.) Rockin' Roll Is Here To Stay
Also in there were “I’ll Be Blue”, “Mr. Postman”, and “That'll Be The Day” but I don’t remember where they were because my dad turned off the video camera for those songs.
But my good god in heaven, that “Great Balls Of Fire” was incredible. That man…was on a piano…shaking his hips. @.@ And his VOICE! I couldn’t believe it was him. I was like ‘oh my god, that’s Clay Aiken?’ It’s amazing how he could change his voice like that. It was one of my favorite songs of the night.
Then he started bantering, saying if you know the song, sing along. If you don’t, be quiet because he doesn’t know the songs that well himself. Haha. He was also ‘complaining’ about how hot it was in Georgia and said he was gunna sweat. Of course, this got us allll screaming, cuz who doesn’t like a sweaty Clay?
Unchained Melody came after this. A good performance. I had chills. And I’m listening to it right now, and have chills again. He was a tiny bit shaky on the final note, but he did that thing where he pauses and waits until he gets enough screaming before singing the last note.
Then came the Elvis medley, which was FANTASTIC. Clay started out at the piano, saying over and over how he couldn’t play and that the piano players in the audience would have to forgive him for it. The Elvis Medley included:
1.) Love Me Tender (On the piano)
2.) Hound Dog
3.) Blue Swade Shoes
4.) Don't Be Cruel
5.) Heartbreak Hotel
6.) Rock Around The Clock
7.) Jail House Rock
8.) I Can’t Help Falling Love With You
9.) Suspicious Minds (Everyone was singing this, because Clay had sung it on GMA.)
Then the clothes rack came out and Team Clay changed behind it! We were screaming, yes. Some pre-recorded banter played while, and then Clay burst through the clothes on the rack, singing “Daydream Believer.”
Other songs in the 60’s included:
2.) Downtown
3.) Can't Buy Me Love
4.) Sugar Sugar (Ah this made me jealous! Clay was hanging ALL OVER Quiana and Angela in this song. I was like aaaaaaah!)
5.) Happy Together
Then came Solitaire. He was a bit shaky on the beginning of this, but it was still incredible. (I’m watching my video and my dad has the zoom to full, and a bug just landed on the poor boy’s face. He was contemplating brushing it off, and finally did. Ha.) He looked like he was thinking hard about something while singing this song. I think he was thinking about his dad.
So Clay walked off stage, and Angela sang a song, then Clay came back…with the checkered fedora! I was like AAAH! He did a bit of banter about the Motown ages, then, unbelievably, joined Angela and Jacob as a backup singer and let Quiana take the stage. You know someone’s a great performer when he plays backup for his backup.
Haha, but Quiana sang “Midnight Train To Georgia”, which was incredible. And Clay was behind Quiana snapping, sliding, and acting like a train. :lol: Then Clay moved into “My Girl”, but the microphone malfunctioned and we couldn’t hear the first few lines. But Clay kept singing, and eventually it turned back on.
The rest of the Motown Medley:
3.) Tears of a Clown
4.) Rescue Me (Quiana or Angela?)
5.) Heard It Through The Grapevine
6.) I'll Be There
7.) Freedom (Angela. She did one of her note-holds, and Clay was playing it up behind her, egging her on.)
8.) Ain't No Mountain High Enough (Clay & Angela)
Clay paused between “Freedom” and “Ain’t No Mountain” to ask us to pray that he didn’t fall on his butt while he was dancing later on. He was hilarious. And then he said he needed some help dancing, and he wanted ‘some man who DIDN’T want to be there’. To one guy he said “I won’t pick you because I know you’ll hurt her later.” and to another he said “I won’t pick you, cuz you’re a Claymate. You’ve been dancing the whole time.”
He came out into the audience and talked to a guy. This guy had a “I Love Clay” pin, and Clay said “I have one of those myself” which made us all giggle. His wife said he wanted to put the pin in his pocket, and Clay said “You were ashamed?” Then he goes in one of his exaggeration accents, “How HORRIBLE.”
Then while still in the audience he started into “No Mountain High Enough” and eventually he got back on stage and continued with the song, during which he held out the microphone for us to sing to HIM, and then came the 20-minute intermission.
During intermission, my mom went up to talk to Nick again, and told him about William and reminded him that we were in the 12th row. I stayed back with our seats and sung along with the radio, which was playing, oddly enough, “Straight Up” by Paula Abdul.
When the show resumed, the backup singers came out with the guy from the audience who was in an afro and feather boas, singing “Car Wash.” It was HILARIOUS.
Then Clay returned wearing a white/ivory suit, singing “Oh What A Night”. The guy was escorted off the stage after Clay shook his hand, then they went into “September”, which is incredible. The dancing is like “aaaaah mah gawd”, and we were all screaming.
Also in the set was:
4.) Nights On Broadway
5.) Too Much Heaven (The bean bag song. I swear, that thing just swallowed Clay up. When he fell into the chair, he started giggling while singing cause it just SWALLOWED him.)
6.) I Feel The Earth Move (Angela)
And then came THE song. As Clay sat on his stool in front of the piano, we held up our sign and turned to the girl who was sitting behind us (who I would discover later was Melika05 from CAF) and asked her if she could see. She couldn’t, so we held it up higher so she could.
My parents swear up and down that Clay was squinting to see the sign, so my dad turned the camera light on to ‘help’ him. Bad idea, those thing hurt Clay’s eyes! My dad was immediately reprimanded.
Did Clay see the sign? I have no idea. But I think he did. He was staring in my direction several times during the song. What was the song? It was Barry Manilow’s “Mandy”. Of course you realize why that would be important to me. The sign was actually William’s, and it said “I crawled 218 miles to see CLAY sing to my sister, MANDY.”
So Clay didn’t come down to me. But I don’t hold it against him, it was hard to get off that stage, and I was in row twelve. But he looked in my direction with those piercing eyes of his, and while people may not believe my story, I KNOW he was singing that song to me. And I bawled through the whole thing. And I’m watching it now, and I’m in tears again.
Thank you Clay, for that moment. It may seem small to you, but I will NEVER forget it.
After the song, he said to his backups, “Something died on me during that last song, right there! I had to kill it.” he said, pointing to his shoulder. Then he started saying about how bad and crazy the 70’s were. He said “The only good thing that came from the 70s…was me!” and then immediately started into “Bridge Over Troubled Water”. Amazing, of course.
One of Clay’s people came out in a choir robe and was talking about the 80’s. Angela, Quiana and Jacob were already in their choir robes, and Clay had disappeared backstage to get his on. So he was running around acting like a preacher, and he was hilarious.
But then came TEH hotness. Clay joined the others at the top of the stairs in his choir robe, and started “When Doves Cry” by Prince. Now if you’ve seen Clack, you know how amazing this song is. But for those who haven’t, lemme give the lowdown on the song that Clay has sung at every one of his concerts. (Aside from Idol)
Clay starts the song off slow, then does this like 25 seconds or longer note, then they quicken the pace and Clay rips off the choir robe to reveal, Ahmahgawd, short sleeved Clay! That’s so rare. But this outfit was soooo freakin’ hot. Jeans, and green shirt, with jean jacket. But that isn’t even the hottest part.
Clay straddles Angela and off they go into dirty-dancing mode. God, I wish I was Angela. T.T That’s all I could think while he was dancing with her. Quiana and Jacob were dancing together also.
So there was plenty of hip thrusting and then came that gorgeous long note and Clay went totally backwards and Angela was thrown over him. Then Clay headed up onto the stairs and flirted with the blonde pianist while the backups danced on stage. Then they joined him up on the stairs for the end of the song. Talk about a pose you four! I have a picture of it.
The rest of the 80’s was:
2.) All Night Long
3.) Never Gonna Give You Up (Yum…snapping Clay. I have a picture of him in midsnap.)
4.) Alone (Nobody recognized the song and nobody was screaming, and I did, and I wanted to scream but I didn’t want to annoy people, but then people recognized and screamed so I screamed too. I love this song. Carrie Underwood did a great job, but Clay was just AAAAAH. And of course I love it, because Kat sings it in my Clay Aiken fanfic.)
5.) Rock With You (Jacob)
Clay had left for “Rock With You”, but returned to sing “Sailing” with the others. Then they brought out the clothes rack for them to change again. Clay disappeared backstage once more, and returned as the backups finished, and they started dancing to “Can’t Touch This.”
Clay started bantering. He started criticizing playfully the dancing of the 90’s, saying things like “This isn’t dancing. This is moving your arms.” *does it to make a point* And then “That’s just a modified moonwalk.” and “Angela, do that dance…yea, that one. It looks like you have to go to the bathroom.”
He also made fun of the outfits and practically insulted Angela, but it was all in good fun. Clay backed up and said saying how this was his favorite part of the show because he just changed in less than 20 seconds and he was tired and because “I like to let them entertain me, and they are hot…and I can tell them to do anything I want.”
The set list for the 90’s was:
2.) Black Velvet (Angela)
3.) End Of The Road (Clay & Jacob)
4.) Iris
5.) Livin' La Vida Loca (Dear Lord, this was hot. Clay stripped of his vest thingy and swung it around.)
6.) I Can't Make You Love Me (The whole time he was singing this, I was thinking to myself ‘Gotta make a duet of this with Klo’ because Kimberley has this song on her album.)
7.) Turn Down The Lights
8.) I Will Always Love You (Quiana was INCREDIBLE. She outsung Whitney Houston. Way to go girl, you rock! And good job to Jacob on the sax!)
Now Clay started introducing the band while ‘Invisible’ played in the background (it was hilarious, one of the band members was from Florida, and Clay asked if there was anyone here from Florida, and half the audience screamed. Clay was all ‘it‘s 5 minutes away! You can go visit your family, for a few minutes.’ and we‘re like, yea, right Clay. It‘s 3 hours away), and during this my dad noticed the security guy hop the fence, so I rushed my mom out and I headed up to the stage and fit into a pretty awesome spot behind two people. I was pretty close, and there was Clay Aiken RIGHT in front of me. It was incredible. And we were the only Clay concert that got to do it, because the venue does it, not Clay. So we were sooooooo freakin' lucky. Of course, people that weren't at the concert are throwing a hissy about it. They're jealous, I assume. Anyway!
Clay was talking (asking “If I jump down there, will you guys pass me around?”) and saw a sign and said “put that down, that’s dirty”, then continued on, and we all screamed, and Clay said “Be quiet and let me talk.” and we all shut up. Then he asked for suggestions on a song to that might stump the band. Nobody listened so he said we needed to calm down or he’d go into teacher mode. Somebody said he could, we wouldn’t mind.
I screamed “You’re The One That I Want” from Grease and a girl in front of me joined in the request, saying it was a cute idea. But by that time Clay was over at the other side of the stage (as he walked by one girl, she threw some underwear at him and he paused as they just fell short of him by a lot and without missing a beat, he said ‘You lost your underwear’ and just continued on) and he sat on the side of the stage and said “If I get down, I won’t be able to get back up.” and he asked a girl what song she wanted, and she said “Sugar Pie Honey Bunch” so they sang that.
Then Clay was all “Ok, we covered up to the 90’s, and 2000-2002 didn’t interest me much. But on the other hand, how bout 2003?” and we all screamed and he started into “I Will Carry You” and I swear I thought I was gunna die. Then he continued right into “The Way” and then “When You Say You Love Me” (I usually don’t like that song, but Clay’s dancing on it was way too cute.)
Now Clay grabbed a stool and plopped the thing RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. I was like OMIIIIGAWD. So he said he was looking towards the future, and he would test a few new songs out on us from his future album. So he sang a song that he had just debuted in Cary, NC the night before. It’s called “1000 Days”, but I wasn’t really paying attention because I was freaking out by this time and realized that I only had 35 pictures left on my memory card and half a battery left, so I had to calm down on the picture taking. But I’m listening to the song now and it’s totally gorgeous. I can’t wait till he professionally records it. And my dad got incredible video of it. Talk about close up. I can see the boy’s sweat. (*thuds at one of the lyrics on the song* “You’re mine, all mine.” Damn right babah.)
He immediately started into “Back For More” and we were all arm-waving, clapping, singing along. It was great. (Clay flirted with my dad’s video camera. Seriously, I’m watching now and he’s making these faces at it. Adorable.)
And then the first notes of “Invisible” played, and we all went nuts. So Clay started walking the stage as he always does during the song. It’s amazing though, when the chorus started, EVERYONE started singing. You can hear all of us clear as day. It was incredible, like a sing-along. I felt like Clay really enjoyed performing ‘with’ us. (*pauses to watch the clutch and shirt tug*) And then for the “Wait I Already Am” part, he held the microphone out to us for us to sing it.
After the second verse, he said “Your turn!” and let us sing the beginning of the chorus, then he joined in again at “I’d make you mine tonight” and did an arm sweeping gesture to all of us. Yes, we’re ALL yours baby.
I was surprised to find that Clay included the full bridge this time. He usually doesn’t when he performs live, but he did this time. I loved it. When the song ended, the band kept going, and Clay ran up to the jukebox, which had appeared again, and he waved and bowed and played pretend guitar, then he yelled “Good Night Georgia!” then WHAM, he whacked the jukebox again, and the lights went out and confetti fell.
We went back to our seats, then I saw S’von on the stage and ran over to him and we asked him if he had a spare set list he could give us. He said no, sadly. He didn’t have an extra copy that one night. How lucky of me. But I got his autograph and a photo with him, and then we caught Jacob as well. We got his autograph and a picture with him as well. I told him to tell Clay that his youngest fan enjoyed the concert. I also told both of them that they had done an incredible job.
We headed out to the merchandise table as the fireworks started nearby and I bought a poster, the program, and an 8by10. Then we headed out and went to Shoney’s for a lateeee dinner. The guy that seated us flirted with me. O.o;
Everyone was totally conked out when we got back to the hotel room, but it was an INCREDIBLE night. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
My man delivered. ;)
(Pictures are available in my LJ, which is Kitty17794)