MusicNewsMagazine.net Review - Kettering

The Fraze Pavillion is "All Shook UP" by Clay Aiken during his stop in Kettering, Ohio August 15th on The Jukebox Summer Tour 2005

staff writer:Teresa Nichols

"Seen any good CLACK?" asked Clay Aiken at the Fraze Pavillion in Kettering,Ohio Monday night. Clay Aiken went on to demonstrate just how "Clack," worthy he is by performing songs from numerous eras for over 4,000 screaming fans. Whether he was putting his own twist on Elvis songs, belting out a tune from his upcoming CD, or taking us through the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's to today, Clay rocked the house.

As fans poured into the venue, so did the rain. The Fraze took on the appearance of a rainbow as fans donned ponchos of many different colors. Aiken kicked off the show with "Twisting The Night Away," and quickly sent us through the 50's. The highlights of this era were demonstrated by Aiken's romantic and emotional version of "Unchained Melody," and his expertly executed Elvis Medley. I think even The King himself was smiling down on Aiken. He took us from "Love Me Tender," "Hound Dog," "Blue Suede Shoes," (of which he wore one blue shoe), "Don't Be Cruel," "Heartbreak Hotel, " "Jailhouse Rock," "Can't Help Falling In Love," (My personal favorite), to "Suspicious Minds." Any thoughts that Clay could not dance (and I liked his Grease Shake), were put to rest as his hips swiveled and legs shook.

His ability to reach his audience is unsurpassed, something I had the pleasure of witnessing in person last year when he played The North Carolina State Fair. I had the thrill of my life, the infectious combination of his talent, his tuneful songs, his ability to reach the audience and his stage presence lingered with me long after the show had ended.

Clay seems to be able to bring something unique to each new show, for this show, it was recruiting an audience member to join, Jacob, Quiana, and Angela as a "Pip," on "The Midnight Train To Georgia." He also treated us to some pretty fancy footwork, I have to say. I was very impressed. Prior to this, he moved quickly through the 60's Medley, which included "DayDream Believer," "Downtown," "Can't Buy Me Love," "Sugar Sugar," "Happy Together," and his own version of Neil Sedaka's "Solitaire." He hit all those incredible notes with the pure powerful sounds known to be that of Clay Aiken.

We were also treated to the exceptional talents of Quiana Parlor, Jacob Lutrell, and Angela Fisher. Each one of them are talents in their own right. Jacob rocked us with "Rock With You," and from what I saw, Michael Jackson has his work cut out for him. Quiana brought the house down with her rendition of "I Will Always Love You." Why is this girl not signed to a record label ? The show would not be complete without Angela who displayed her own incredible voice with "Where Did Our Love Go." Clay graced all three of these talented artists time to shine. Duets were aplenty, some of which included: "Mr Sandman," (Angela/Quiana), and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," (Clay and Angela).

It appears on this tour, it was Angela's time to be the center of Clay's attention. He even wore a T-Shirt with her picture on it, told her he had a crush on her, and even kissed her. Then he made mention that the T-shirt and her
CD were on sale in the lobby. Was all this to help Angela? From where I was sitting, the rumors started to fly.

The audience also enjoyed the time he took to sit and ask people what they had done the night before. One audience member shouted out, "Played Cornhole!" Clay responded, "I don't even want to go there." This was hilarious, as all Ohioans know it's a game similar to horseshoes, but it uses small beanbags and 2 slanted boxes with holes toward the high end of the slant. He also asked everyone what was important about the 70's. He got many good responses, but the correct answer was "Clay was born."

We enjoyed hearing abbreviated renditions of "Car Wash," "Oh What A Night," "September," "Nights on Broadway," and there were longer versions of "Mandy," and "Bridge Over Troubled Water," after which he really heated things up with "When Doves Cry." The dance moves on this showed us a" naughty" side to Clay. Who said he can't dance ? Somebody tell me, who taught him those moves ? I was already sweaty from the poncho.

Many Many fans took repeated opportunities to shout out " I love you Clay!" He was charming, he was sexy, and he was spectacular. Aiken definitely left the audience wanting more. How appropriate to introduce one of his new songs " Back For More," off his upcoming CD. The first time we heard him perform this song was on Good Morning America, but the loyal fans knew all the words. I am predicting that this song will get him the airplay he deserves, and shoot straight to #1. It contains everything a hit song is made from and the one artist that will make it a hit. He would not give us a release date or a title for the CD, but mentioned it's hard work and they're working on it. And so, fans will have to continue to light up the message boards in their continued search for more "Clack."

This show would not have been complete without a medley of songs from Clay's Measure of a Man CD. Everyone sang every word to every one of these songs, with Aiken's hit song, "Invisible," closing the show. This concert was hands down the best I've ever seen. I think it's his sense of humor and clear delight at having a faithful audience that contribute most to Aiken's winning personna. Many fans were heading to Toledo for his next show. Further testament to Clay's appeal along with the fact he put on a magnificent show.

Boston Herald Review

Clay Aiken tries to be an Idol to everyone
By Christopher John Treacy/ Music Review
Monday, August 29, 2005 - Updated: 09:13 AM EST

Just in time for Boston's "American Idol'' tryouts at Gillette Stadium on Wednesday, Clay Aiken's Jukebox Tour pulled into the Bank of America Pavilion to remind potential contestants of what's possible if you make it to the show's finals.

Rather than touting a new disc, Aiken's tour is in support of his miraculously extended 15 minutes of fame. And it's also a showcase for the vocalist's vivid imagination. In it, Aiken fancies himself a '50s teen heartthrob, the Elvis incarnate, a Motown star, a '70s soul singer, a choirboy with keen falsetto, a young Casey Kasem.He does all this while being soundtracked by some of the biggest pop hits of the last 50 years; taken for what it is, the show is entertaining.

But despite an exhausting 100 songs (most in medley format) spread over a two-hour-plus show and presented in chronological order, he isn't all that well equipped to deliver from so many different musical corners. It was when he jumped on top of the piano during "Great Balls of Fire'' that the hilarity first hit home -- Aiken's nondescript sexuality just doesn't have the necessary "balls of fire'' to pull off such a stunt. The same went for the Elvis tunes, the Bee-Gees' selections from the '70s, and an attempt at Prince's "When Doves Cry'' from the '80s. He saved a small offering of his own songs for the new millennium segment at the end.

It's the backup singers who really carry this charade. Angela Fisher, Quiana Parler and Jacob Luttrell provide amazing vocal support, without which Aiken would simply fall flat. Each was given their own individual chance to shine, particularly Parler during Gladys Knight's "Midnight Train To Georgia,'' misplaced in the '60s segment of the show despite it having been a hit in 1973.

Moving by decades up to present day, Clay Aiken bent over backward to show us all the things he does nicely. But "nicely'' is a bland word, and really he'd do much better to pick just one or two things he's extraordinarily good at and go from there. Preying on beloved pop hits is easily crowd-pleasing, but it doesn't add any personality to what was already a pretty bland offering. And someone really ought to have told him "Solitaire'' will always belong to Karen Carpenter.

Clay Aiken, at the Bank of America Pavilion, Boston, last night.

LuminoMagazine.com Merrillville Review

Clay Aiken
© 2005 Lumino Magazine

Written by KELLY VON EBERS / Photos by BARRY BRECHEISEN
They call themselves Claymates. They are the swarms, the masses, the owmen who save their vacation days to road trip from city to city catching every show imaginable and becoming no less enthusiastic with each passing song… they are the fans of nerd-gone-pop-star Clay Aiken, currently touring the States on his spanning the decades "Jukebox Tour."

Star Plaza Theatre
Merrillville, Ind.
August 23, 2005

The summer tour, just over a month long, features upbeat medleys and jaw-dropping performances of hits from the '50s, '60s, '70s, '80's and '90s by Aiken and his overly talented backup singers Jacob Lutrell, Quiana Parler and Angela Fisher, all of whom have the potential to be successful solo recording artists.

Aiken came into the spotlight with the second season of American Idol, where he lost the "Idol" title in what was quite possibly the closest reality show race to date. Apparently, being the runner up isn't so bad. Aiken's debut album "Measure of a Man" soared to the top of the charts and become double-platinum, which is more than can be said for any other runner up on Idol, much less any winner. Not to mention landing on the cover of Rolling Stone that year three months ahead of the winner, Ruben Studdard.


As illustrated by the sold-out crowds throughout the tour, people of all ages will – and do – enjoy Aiken's energetic yet intimate, empowering and humble performances. From my 9 year old "Clay rocks my world" little sister to my 70 year old "I came along for the ride" grandmother, the show truly has something for everyone and is a must see for anyone with an ear for music of any kind.


The show began with the hits of the 50's, well before 26 year old Aiken's time. Proving that even dorky guys can pull off a tight leather jacket if they twist and turn *just* right, Aiken took the audience back to the Elvis decade complete with a hip-shaking performance on top of the piano. The Motown classic 60's had whispers of "She is the luckiest girl EVER" buzzing through the crowd as Aiken did some serious bumping and grinding with backup singers Quiana and Angela during Jackson Five hit "Candy Girl". For someone who persistently reminded the audience that he can't dance, Aiken sure kept the crowd on their feet love struck with his every move. (And guys, his fans are NOT just lonely women, there were males dancing with just as much enthusiasm as the rest of us). Aiken also performed Neil Sedaka's "Solitare", which he re-recorded and dedicated to his father on his debut album.


After a short intermission Aiken grooved into the 70's with "Oh What a Night" and his own rendition of "Mandy", made famous by his idol, Barry Manilow. Bringing back his days on Idol, Aiken treated the audience to "Bridge Over Troubled Water", which he performed late in the competition, leaving the entire nation convinced we had a winner, but only giving him the second place title. Perhaps the most powerful performance of the night, 80's hit "When Doves Cry" illustrated perfectly that Aiken can take a song from any genre and make it his own.


The most amusing costume change of all, Aiken's crew was decked out in spandex, overly bright jackets, vests and half unbuckled supersized overalls for the '90s. Attempting the "cabbage patch", Aiken pointed out "this is what we call a conniption fit in the South!" With songs that took me back to the days of elementary school dances and a too close to the real thing for comfort version of "Livin' La Vida Loca", Aiken truly kept the audience engaged and entertained straight through the show.


Showing his recognition of their talent, Aiken was sure to share the spotlight with Angela, Quiana and Jacob, all of whom performed solo numbers. Aiken also performed songs from "Measure of a Man" as well as selections that may end up on his next album, set to go into production shortly.


For the entire 2 ½ hours of the show, never once did Aiken bore the audience, miss a note or fail to make a song seem as if it had never been performed better before. Criticized from day one for his style and appearance, Aiken has undoubtedly surpassed expectations and become more successful than anyone could have imagined. Still enjoying the success of "Measure of a Man", Aiken has proved that "Idol" judge Simon Cowell was clearly wrong when he stated back in season two, "Clay, you don't look like a pop star."

9/1 Atlantic City, NJ Recaps

From the CB's heavens2:
What? Am I the first one here tonight? Well, okay then -- guess I will have to say a few words about what was THE best concert I have EVER seen in my life!

If you thought Clay was ON in any of his other JBT shows, it pales by comparison to tonight. He was snarky, chatty, giggly, prankster, beautifully sexy and funny Clay all wrapped up into one preciously adorable package. We were treated to 3 full hours of the 10 member Clay & Crew gags for the final evening of the tour. So much happened that I forget in what order it all took place, but I'll do my best to post a few of the more memorable highlights:

1) Before I forget, Clay will be appearing on the NBC Telethon tomorrow night (Friday) at 8:00 pm to support the hurricane victims. He snuck in that announcement while mentioning that Jacob, Daniel, and Felix will be at the Cutting Room in Manhattan tomorrow night and that we had a choice of watching them or him on TV. LOL! Don't know what he'll be singing or how long he'll be on for, but I hope everyone will tune in. We'll have Clack for one more night!

2) The girls took turns spraying Silly String all over Clay at some point toward the end of the show! It was in his hair, on his face, all over his clothing and I'm surprised it wasn't in his mouth! It was so so funny watching him try to get it off. One of the crew threw him a towel and he attempted to wipe off most of it but finally gave up and tossed it across the stage toward S'von!

3) When he sat down at the piano to play "Love Me Tender" he was in the middle of changing into the blue suede shoes. All of a sudden he said something about making sure he had the right shoes on the correct feet and that they were full of whipped cream!!! He made all kinds of funny faces during most of the Elvis numbers, as he was walking on squishy soles. LOL!

4) Stump the Band had them doing a snippet of "Carolina on My Mind" and also "Isn't She Lovely" (by Stevie Wonder). He sounded incredible on both, as usual, but it was a treat to hear him sing something he'd never sung for us before.

5) Jacob took Clarence's spot at the electric keyboard for "End of the Road" and did a Mickey Mouse version of Barry White! Clarence sat on the stool next to Clay and sang his heart out!

6) At some point, Clay forgot what he was saying and he turned to the audience and said "I just had a brain fart!" A few seconds later, he teasingly whispered into the microphone, "he said 'fart'"! Like it was some awful word he shouldn't be saying. :-)

7) He once again polled the audience by saying he had some field research to do. After finding out how many people had been to previous shows versus how many were there for the first time, he finally concluded that maybe they'd just do the Christmas show right there in Atlantic City every night and all the same people could just show up night after night. The audience roared at that!

8) Near the start of the show, he was asking someone on the front row if they were okay, as they were screaming almost constantly. He pointed out that the show was 3 hours long and she might have a problem if she continued for that long. He even playfully suggested that security was needed in that particular area of the venue!

9) The guy who was picked to dance is Diane Weyer's (claywired) husband! As luck would have it, Diane had upgraded their seats today by finding a 2nd row pair on Ebay, so there they sat when it came time to find another Pip! She told Clay they'd been together for 33 years; he wisely advised her hubby that if he agreed to help them out on stage for the 70's set, he might even make it to 35 years!

10) The entire band came out at Clay's invitation during "Can't Touch This" and danced hysterically on stage! You'd have to see it to believe it and I wish I had some video of the evening, but I made the conscious decision not to take my camera so I could more fully absorb what was happening on this very special final night.

11) We brought out the glowsticks for "Tears Run Dry" and Clay was obviously very touched. In sign language, he said "thank you" to us and had that sweet lip-bite ex-pression on his face before he launched into "Back for More."

12) Tonight he did "I Can't Make You Love Me" slower than ever before, taking his time during the phrasing and putting even more emotion into the song than I thought was possible. Not one single scream or shout or whistle was heard -- only Clay's magnificently passionate voice and S'von's beautiful piano-playing. I balled my eyes out during most of it.

13) Saw one guy up front (I was in 7th row center) with the largest camera I've ever seen. It was enormous and he was liberal with the picture-taking. Hopefully they'll turn up somewhere soon!

14) Met Little John after the concert out in the lobby. He's even more adorable in person and actually seemed a little shy. He was clutching gobs of brightly-colored streamers in one hand (that had fallen from the ceiling at the end of the show) and at least 2 glowsticks in the other.

15) Maureen danced a ballerina-type number during her part of the band intros. :-) She was flitting across the stage as light as air and was really quite good, even though she was trying to be comical.

16) Someone mentioned that Clay had Silly String still stuck to his chin long after he'd gotten most of it off. He said to the rest of the audience "y'all were just gonna let it sit there and not tell me, so that you could take pictures of it and post it on the web site!" Then he said to the woman who pointed it out to him how much he appreciated her. LOL!

17) During WDC, Jacob snuck up behind Clay and ran his hand through Clay's hair while the girls were frisking his tummy!

18) A crew member came out and danced along with the girls for Livin La Vida Loca!

I see the picture of the night is up over in the video/pics thread! Clay looks darling in Silly String, don't you think?!?

There's probably SO much more that I haven't told you about, but I'm sure someone else will fill in what I've left out. I'm on my way in about 4 hours to my next destination of Cape Cod, where I"ll be for a week. Hope they have Internet access at the rental house, because I don't think I'm ready to give up the JBT quite yet!

Hugs to everyone here at the Clayboard -- it was great fun meeting so many of you in the past 6 weeks! Christmas will be here before you know it!

Betsy

From the CB's hotforclay:
I had a very nice time at the preparty!!! Hanging out with best buds, clayfaninva, lynninNJ, CA24!!!

Heavens2 did a VERY thorough review of all the pranks played! I just have to add a few more pranks:

During love me tender, Clay said there was whipcream in his shoes!!! Then during blue sude shoes, it seemed like he was looking at his shoes because of the whip cream!!!

Later during the show he again stated that there was whip cream in his shoes and I believe he said there was whip cream in Jacob's hat and that's why he smelled sour (hmmmm..old whip cream?)


When Clay is singing, sugar sugar, you're my candy girl.... he pulled out Quiana's ear piece. So of course to get Clay back..(you guys saw the pictures by now of Angela and Quiana taking turns pinching Clay's nose and covering his mouth during "so happy together.." in the picture thread) He then put each arm around their necks and pulled them close so they could not move while he finished the rest of the song !!! HOT!!! I LOVE MUSCULAR CLAY!!!

It was clear Clay appreciated our glow sticks, although he did not say anything about it. His facial ex-pressions said it all and he did thank us with sign language. It was very moving to look back at the venue and see SOOOO many glow sticks throughout the venue. And then the glow sticks were out in full force during Back for more with them pounding in the air. WHAT A GREAT SONG!

Heaven2 covered the rest well!!!

Well, I hope Clay rests up well since he will be rehearsing in a month for the christmas tour! (So we heard from Quiana.)

AND DON'T FORGET TO CATCH CLAY TONIGHT ON NBC TELETHON at 8PM!!!

From the CB's taikenwithaiken:
WOW..the show last night was unbelievable...the summary above was terrific....my thoughts (which are a little scattered on little sleep- stuck 1 hr in Philly traffic on way home..grrrr)

First...Borgata..what a beautiful place..very classy and I thought the acoustics were very good

Clay's voice was dead on tonight....glory notes to die for..he must not have wanted them to end tonight!!:thud

Highlights for other than the obvious joy and fun on stage- they really seem like one big family

Met SPOTLIGHTLOVER....she is a great lady...told her thanks for all the great CLACK...I hope she got alot from tonight- cuase this show rocked!!

LOVE ME TENDER...very beautiful and like said earlier..you could have heard a pin drop...it was stunning

ANMHE....Clay had something goofy happen and couldn't sing the his part so he asked us all to sing...well...can't deny the man...so the entire audience sang his part, and was like "well, heck...why should I bother you guys are doing well enough on your own!!: LOL

ICMYLM...ok I'll admit this song never "got me" before..but last night...goosebumps...just goosebumps....hauntingly beautiful....again...not a peep out of the audience,,WOW moment


EOTR...one of my favs...the harmonies are FANTASTIC!!!! and Clarance can "SANG"....Clay was loving it!!!

LLVL....CROWD WENT WILD ...thunderous applausea!!!

Tears Run Dry...WOW....so glad I heard this live to form an really valid opinion..this is one beautiful song.....and when you looked around and saw the glowsticks!!!! Clay was moved and so were the backup singers...at the end he sign languaged THANKYOU!! sniff moment for me!! And Thankyou to the kind lady in front of us who gave us glowsticks!!!:bighug I didn't get your name!! sorry!

BFM>>>>>ROCKED THE HOUSE....glow sticks pumping to the beat...the crowd was singing along so loud ..Clay fed off that energy and I think those on stage were surprised at how well and loud we could all sing that song...If that ain't a hit, I ain't a claymate...LOL


Invisible..one big LOVEFEST!!

the SIlly String was a HOOT!!! When he got it on his chin, I was taking pictures and I swear he looked over and saw my camera around my neck and said "you all were just gonna let me keep this on my chin and post the pictures on the internet, weren't you?" and I nodded and said "YUP":laugh

All I can say is I am sooo thankful I was able to upgrade ..got 3rd row , aisle off center....I am SPOILED>...Last night was THE best show I've seen...the energy, the joy, the crowd was up on its feet....respectful during slow songs......I don't think anyone wanted it to end...Clay was having fun, being snarky...

When he took his final bow, he took a little longer, gazed at the crowd...soaking it all in....the applause and cheering were amazing....The look on his face..._I have no doubt he gets it....I find it amazing how this one man can bring so much joy and energy to a room and how much love was in that room....One of life's little mysteries that I don't think I was to solve...JUST ENJOY


Ok...bring on the Xmas tour!!

ChartAttack.com's "Photo-Of-The-Week" Features Toronto Concert

ChartAttack.com (a Canadian music magazine) posted a photo from the concert in Toronto as the Photo of the week, along with a little writeup:

Photo of the Week
August 29 — September 4, 2005

Toronto's Too Much To Handle For Clay Aiken

Clay Aiken stopped in Toronto last week to perform his set of medleys and originals. Aiken's backup singers were great, but you'd think that if millions of Americans wanted you to be their Idol (or at least runner up) you'd be a natural on stage. However, the crooner had some trouble at the Molson Amphitheatre. Luckily, through the power of pictures we can hear what Aiken was thinking at the start of his show. "OK, umm... there's a lot of people here, just calm down Clay. Don't forget that these folks are your Claydogs and Claymates, in fact, we're all Claynadians tonight." And with that Aiken psyched himself up enough to continue. Read our Clay Aiken review here. Photo by David Leyes

Clay Singing "Amazing Grace" Tonight @ Last Show?

Rumors on the Clayboard say Clay will be covering the gospel song Amazing Grace tonight at the last concert of the tour, scheduled for the Borgata Casino and Spa in Atlantic City, NJ. Ruben Studdard covered the song on his latest CD, I Need An Angel.

8/31 Atlantic City, NJ Recaps

From the CB's hotforclay:
I WAS THERE!!! WHAT AN AWESOME BLOW ME AWAY CONCERT!!!!

First, the Borgata is just beautiful! I live 15 min away, so didn't have to travel far this time!! The venue is CLASSY and wonderful acoustics!!! (WHAT CLAY DESERVES!)

Amazing thing is, 5 people got front row seats the DAY OF THE CONCERT at the box office!! WOW!! Were they ecstatic or WHAT?! (HOTCLAY CONGRATULATIONS!) I was already in 3rd row, so no worries there! Little John Martin was at the meet and greet and Lori (hi Lori!) said Clay spent a lot of time with him and seemed so happy to see him again!

The concert started and people jumped to their feet right away! I looked back, and I could see many people standing. Clayfaninva and I had older people in the first 2 rows in front of us so it felt like we were IN FRONT ROW!!! Clay looked at us when he came over during the first set while singing !!! I couldn't believe it till clayfaninva nudged me and said, "he looked at us!" AHHHHHH!!! Clay's voice was AMAZING, right on and those GROOVES to great balls of fire!!! TO DIE FOR!!! I've already been to the JBT 5 times before. The 6th time still gets me!!! You can NEVER get enough of those grinding hips! OHOHOHOH, clayfaninva and scarlett took turns taking the video!! WE should get some FANTASTIC CLACK!!! And TASAPIO (sp?) was next to Scarlett so we should get some AWESOME photos!! Thanks tasapio for helping me out with the camera settings! I'll be posting my pic on the picture thread!

I was picked for the 1970's national occurrences!! I was sooo excited!! Clay then went on BANTERING FOREVER with us!! OMG!!! He said that he didn't want people to ruin his punch line because many people were yelling out "you were born!" Then he started taking a POLL!!!! HAHAHA!! How many people have been to this concert before! TONS of people raised their hands. Then he said, OK, how many people are seeing the JBT for the first time, and maybe about 50% of the audience raised their hand. He then sighed a relief and said he was beginning to think every show had the same people and he was not going to be able to sell out the christmas tour!! LOL! This went on for a long time! He had the people who's been to the shows before raise their hands again, and then said he was going to make us keep them up for 30 min!! And then he told us to raise both our arms! And of course, we're such fools, we ALL OBEYED like good students! It was SOOOO great for him to interact with the audience like that and for so long! He was HILARIOUS! and we were all cracking up!

Clay went to Quiana again first for Doves!! And then did his THING with Angela! During ICMYLM, there were many inappropriate screams of I love you clay and just screaming in general. Too bad, but it was still soooooo beautiful. And of course, HE was beautiful! He got a standing O afterwards and so did Quiana. Then Clay did STUMP THE BAND!!! The first song was Don't let the sun go down on me. His singing helped pulled the band off because they were not really playing their best to that song. Next, he picked on a lady who wanted him to sing What's up @#%$ cat (not sure about the name of the song, I've never heard of it before). Clay looked at her and then TOLD HER TO COME UP ON STAGE TO HELP HIM AND THE BAND!!!! WOWOWOWOWW!!! Lucky woman! He gave her Quiana's mic and told her to work on it with S'von while he came and talked to us SOME MORE!!! The MOST interaction with the audience EVER!!!!!!!! He talked about the christmas tour and said he will PROBABLY go to baltimore but definitely DC!!! And then he said New York also!!! I'm not sure what else but not Dayton OH I believe. He is SOOOO cute!!!! LOVE HIM! Then he did a duet with the lady on stage and SHE CAN SING!!! Can you imagine if you were asked to go on stage and you couldn't sing well???? It was SOOO great. One more thing, then he said isn't DLTSGOM from late 80's 90's? Clayfaninva screamed out, NO! 1970's!!! He said HUH? Isn't it sung by George Michaels? With Elton John? And then said, OH, it's a remake? I'm not sure if he was joking or not, but he really did look seriously confused and felt embarrassed he did not know that the song was an Elton John song!!!

I'm sure I'm forgetting tons of detail but OH WHAT A NIGHT!!! I didn't want it to ever end! TONIGHT'S THE LAST NIGHT!!! What a wonderful tour.

From the CB's Beans142:
Beans142 here, posting on PS Bonnie's laptop from our room at Borgata.

Hotforclay said it all; there was more chattiness at this concert than any I've seen. And the singing/choreography has improved so very much since I last saw it at Toms River. MUCH more "together" and exciting, flawless, no mistakes.

Huge crowd, sold out, of course. Only a couple of dopes shouted during ICMYLM, which was so touching I started to cry near the end. Boy he can really send out the emotions in that song.

BFM was the absolute best that I've heard. I am SO hoping there is magnificant clack from this concert. It was just tremendous.

I was dismayed to read hotforclay say that she was sitting near Tasapio and Scarlett! PS Bonnie and I would have so loved to have met them and kissed their FEET for all the incredible clack they provide! Hotforclay, we were sitting right next to you, in the same row, one or two seats away. We are so sorry we missed that opportunity.

There are just no appropriate words to describe this concert! Congrats to PodSoda who did an amazing job when called up to sing her selection of Whats New Pussycat!! She was given time to reherse with S'von and then sang it very well! Congrats!!

He mentioned that we might not be cheering after we see the All My Children segment. Not sure what that meant.

He mentioned a few of the venues for JNT2. Baltimore, NYC, Washington,DC and of course, Raleigh. He wasn't sure about Baltimore, I dont think.

Did I mention BFM? GAH!!!!! The opening 50's set was so amazing! He is so much more animated and confident now. The clack should be amazing. Don't miss it!

Saw so many NJ friends here, like an AC reunion. gman, Strolly and Steph, Dazaccent and Bert, ClayfaninVA, hotforclay, clayfloatsmyboat (Kathy, how great was that M&G? Did you recover yet? LOL!), claysfreckles, invisible15, claytogold, and at least another 20 people I'm forgetting. Oh, and I met Ethel. What a wonderful person she is.

Gotta run for breakfast now. More later, and I'm sure others will remember things I've forgotten.

Beans142 and PSBonnie

From the CB's XxClayxX:
I guess its time to write my review. This was my first JBT concert, most of it i didnt watch in past concerts in clack, because i wanted to save it for the show. My dad bought the tickets for me and tok me. We had 5th row section 200.

We left for AC around 5:00 and got there around 6. We had dinner resevations at one of the restraunts and 6:30. So we went to dinner. After dinner it was about 7:20 so we decided to go up to the event center. When we go up there we saw the long line for stuff so we went to find our seats. Once we found our seats we decided to go wait in line. Once i got the stuff i wanted we went back to our seats.

Then the show began! And i must say that from the moment clay walked on the stage till the moment he left i dont think that i stopped smiling. I was so happy. Some high points that i really remember was Solitaire and BOTW, they were two songs i didnt d/l clack from. So it was my frist time seeing BOTW live. Another high point was WDC, i think no explantion needed for that.

A funny point was during STB, clay called on the guy next to my father and my dad thought he picked him, so he started talkin and clay was like no you(to the other guy) that guy requested DLTSGDOM, but then clay asked my dad what he was gonna say, and my dad said brown eye girl and clay said we already did that. i was so mad, i explained to my dad that he already did it and that he wasnt gonna do it again all be fore the concert. I wanted clay to sing footloose or yesterday. But now my dad is walking around saying he talked to clay its really funny.

So overall the concert was amazing and i wish i could have gone to all of them. I still have to get my photos developed but when i do im gonna order the CD, so i can post some of the good ones up here!

From the CB's ButterflyShine:
OMG...the concert was amazing....I was in the third row and was so excited that I was shaking...there were seats available and so I took one, it took about 3 songs to realize that no one was going to ask me to move....he is so incredible up close ....it gives me goosebumps just thinking about it.....his voice was amazing, so it truly must have been allergies that bothered him last week.....we all know the songs, so I try to give the comments around...sat in the same row as Ethel...what a hoot and such a nice lady....Ok when he said hello Atlantic City...he said that this was the first time he played Atlantic City as a solo act...so last year when i went...it must have been the other Clay Aiken....he Quiana and Angela played around during the 60's set, but it was very cute and not distracting...The pip that danced tonight, Bob, was one of the very best, really into it and very nice...Clay walked right by my row twice, i tried to get pictures, but he moves so fast....to get off the stage, he had to climb over a barricade and onto a chair...it was quite funny....and the banter with Bob and his wife was quite cute....Bob said he came b/c she bought a ticket....Clay said he knew who wore the pants in their family....so when Clay came to the 70's banter someone once again shouted out you and i were born....he took on his stern teacher voice and asked how many of us had been to the concert before...and made us raise our hands....then asked those that hadn't been there before to raise their hands....then he told us that those who had been to the concert raise their hands.again..that he would have us do this for a 1/2 hour...then he had us raise both hands and told us we knew better...that he was born ...was his punch line and we had to learn to stop shouting it out...it was quite funny, so he went back to asking the audience what happened in the 70's and he picked me....so excited i can't tell you and i said the the '72 Munich Olympics...when the people were shot....Clay said aw that's depressing, I might as well sing....so he was standing right in front of me for BOTW...just before he started to sing, he looked at me and i said quiety I am sorry and shrugged my shoulder, he mouthed back to me...that's ok...I thought I had died and gone heaven and after the song was over i said to the women next to me...did you see that he said that's ok to me....she said she did and I was on cloud nine...The 70's set Mandy and BOTW were wonderful

Eighties....WDC was excellent, he danced with Quiana and it was very cute, but he did the backbend with Angela and he took her so low I thought he was going to leave her on the floor...and she was laughing too when he let her up.

During the '90's part Ethel was going crazy when Jacob started to sing the EOTR...so Clay looked at her and mouthed, I am going to pray for you while putting his hands in the prayer position....

He did stump the band....1st time for me, the other 2 concerts he didn't do it...and he sang the song I would have picked...don't let the sun go down on me(DLTSGDOM)...it was a little rough....but very cute and then a women said @#%$ cat, @#%$ cat...and he made her come up and practice with the S'von ....she and Clay sang it and it was very cute...Now he was sitting at the piano and said that DLTSGDOM was written in the 80's or 90's and mentioned George Michael...we quickly corrected him and said it was the 70's and it was Elton John...he said I knew that Elton sang it....he got quite a kick out of his mistake and said, i don't know about them, i just sing them...at one point he said we were in Vegas...somebody has got to help the boy out with where he is....I suggest signs tomorrow you are in AC and you played two sold out shows last year...

Once again he had trouble with WYSLM and at one point hit his had as to say...I screwed it up again....Tears Run Dry was excellent...and BFM...undescribably good....Invisible...he played it up and gave us several tugs...which he smiles at so broadly or laughs....he also growled several times during the song....this concert was so unbelievably fun and special b/c i got to talk to Clay and was so very close...took pictures...but without flash so will see how they come out...thank you Clay for a wonderful night

Burlington Free Press Essex Jct. Review

After Dark: At play with Clay
Published: Wednesday, August 31, 2005

By Erica Jacobson
Free Press Staff Writer

ESSEX JUNCTION -- I ran into my first Claymates on Monday night as I walked past the green wooden doors that separated a Champlain Valley Fair parking lot from the backstage area at the grandstand.

Two women had waited outside the doors, trying for a glimpse of the night's headliner, Clay Aiken, a runner-up from reality show "American Idol." A third woman, 25-year-old Angel Smith of Baltimore stood off to the side holding a purse bearing Aiken's image and ticked off the states where she had seen the singer perform since the end of July. New York, Connecticut, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and, now, Vermont.

"I never used to travel before he came along," Smith said. "I've flown for my second time the other day because of Clay."

It was then, a scant 30 minutes before the spiky-haired singer took to the stage, that I realized that I had been living a lie.

Contrary to everything in my musical past and my planned future purchases (the "La Dolce Vita" soundtrack, the new Franz Ferdinand album), I really, really like Clay Aiken.

"It's his voice, his looks," Smith said, explaining her Aiken fascination. "He just gives you a look out in the crowd and your heart just stops.

"It's like a high school crush."

Aiken, I sense, knows this all too well. His truly enamored fans wear rhinestone pins proclaiming "I luv Clay" and carry cell phones that chirp Aiken's hit "Invisible" with every call. They follow him from venue to venue, crossing continents and, in some cases, oceans to swoon as Aiken croons for a few hours on stage.

What I discovered Monday night is it's hard to blame them, really.

Aiken is an entertainer. Whether he's playing to a half-full fairgrounds show in Vermont or sold-out casino shows in New Jersey, he's out to please. His voice skipped across the decades, at home belting out everything from a few lines of Bobby Day's "Rockin' Robin" to Prince's "When Doves Cry" in its entirety. As Aiken approached the '70s portion of his multi-decade review, he admitted things were about to get a little messy " 'cos this skinny white boy can't dance so well."

"These feet are too big to dance around so much," Aiken said in his North Carolinian drawl.

Unlike other personalities born out of the reality TV revolution, Aiken seems down-to-earth. A trio of North Carolina women who had won tickets -- both plane and concert -- to see Aiken fanned themselves with $6 souvenir Aiken fans and gushed about his down-home charm before the show. During the concert, Aiken didn't demand adulation from the crowd, it just happened.

He also acknowledged Monday night that there might be a few nonfans in the stands.

"There are also gentlemen in the audience who did not want to be here," Aiken told the crowd, asking women to point out the boyfriends, husbands and dates who had begrudgingly tagged along. "They would much rather be eating a corn dog."

Now, as a no-frills concert purist, I thought the jukebox format of the show was a little risky.

Make it too choppy and the songs become unrecognizable. Make it too drawn-out and it turns into little more than spending a night at a karaoke bar watching friends belt out drunken versions of Elton John's "Don't Go Breaking My Heart." Aiken managed a nice mix of hits, slow ballads as well as the occasional song sung entirely by one of his three back-up singers. And even Aiken's costume changes through the decades -- skinny tie with suit for the '60s, white leisure suit for the '70s -- weren't too excessive or frequent enough to confuse Aiken with a Ken doll.

As the last notes of "Invisible" echoed off the grandstand, I folded up my notebook and walked out to my car.

It wasn't supposed to be like this, I thought. I was supposed to see Aiken in concert, exorcise my infatuation and move on. Don't get me wrong, I'm not rushing out to buy his "Measure of a Man" CD. Whatever music of Aiken's I come to own will be between me and my iPod. I will say that I'm still wondering just where to get one of those handbags ... .

Contact Erica Jacobson at 660-1843 or ejacobso@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com.

8/29 Essex Junction, VT Recaps

From the CB's Ricfan25:
I heard Clay rehearsing Back For More and Tears Run Dry. He sang the chorus of TRD twice. So beautiful!!


The audience wasn't really into the show at first,mostly sitting down, but started dancing a lot later on. The show was wonderful as usual. Just a few fun moments. At the beginning, some lady in the audience held up a sign that said she was dumped for another woman. LOL And Clay asked about it. She said she and her boyfriend were supposed to go on vacation together, but he dumped her last Monday. And Clay asked if she knew his address and wanted her to tell Clay right then. LOL Then, Clay asked her if she wanted him to call her boyfriend right then. And kept asking. The audience was saying "Yes." But then Clay said they had better not. LOL


Later on, when Felix was talking about the 80's he said the CITY of Vermont was beautiful. Clay came on to do WDC and could not stop laughing!!! He said "Or State." He tried to start singing, but had to go back stage and come back on for WDC. He was still laughing, but started singing.


Then, he got Felix back by saying he needed a way to make fun of him while introducing him. He then said "And someone who knows 49 states...." LOL
And Clay was tickling Quiana and Angela during a song and they got him back by playing with his ears.

And he said this was his first time to Vermont ever. He hoped he could come back to Vermont. He crossed it off his list as a state he had visited. And I'm glad he finally came to Vermont. I'm sorry it didn't sell out. But I think the audience had a good time and Clay put on a good show.
It may be a densely populated area, but there are still fans here!!!
JMO.

From the CB's julehfaye:
Back from Vermont! So fun!!! It sounds like there was little to no reporting tonight, so I will report on my own. Because I'm awesome like that.

I went with rasvt whom I had never met until I pulled up outside her house and called her to ask 'do you wanna go to a Clay Aiken concert?' She said 'um... yeah?' I told her to get in the car. It was a great start to a relationship. We got a heads up from cafa that construction was awful, so we called onstar (my favorite tool) and asked them for directions. I earned 10 points because I told the lady that traffic was a @#%$, and we didn't want to take route 7 if we could avoid it. We were a little punchy from the start. Before the concert, we met cafa - who recognized me immediately and I was all confused about that until she told me that apparently I have a picture online. News to me. She's so nice and I was so glad to meet her! Everyone should.

So we get to the concert and I nearly pass out in front of the Clay Stuff booth, which I decide is a bad idea because who wants to be known as the girl who fainted at the Clay Aiken concert? Nobody. And you SO know it would get twisted to me somehow thudding beyond my ability to control myself. We hadn't even seen anybody yet. I attribute it to low blood sugar. The next time we went by it, I got lightheaded again and decided to avoid the plethora of Clay tourbooks for the rest of the show - just to be safe. RIGHT before the show started someone hooked us up with better seats (row TWO!!!!) and Becky (rasvt) and I jumped at the opportunity. Because, who wouldn't. We learned that it's hard to resell tickets, and so we just gave them to two people in the grandstand. (Good thing for them, too, because there weren't any jumbotrons this show... no texting, either. I don't know why.) I did resist the urge to smile sweetly and say 'just Clay it forward...' even if I'd been given a ticket once with the same instructions... I guess I can cross that off my to-do list now... I can focus on fanfiction again?

Okay, so a bit of backstory here - my friend Kelly (whom I know from another board and we sorta work together) came to visit me this weekend. A week ago today, this guy she had been planning to finally meet with was a TOTAL JERKFACE and said 'I think I want to date my best friend' (@#%$.) I told her he wasn't worth it or whatever and she should come see me. Well, she did, and last night I bought her posterboard and markers and she made a sign that said 'Here because I got dumped. Thanks Neil.' So Kelly comes to the concert, manages to snag some AWESOME seats, and being like 7 feet tall (okay, at 5' maybe I'm just a little jealous and unaware) she gets noticed. Clay read her sign and she put it down. He says "NO! Put that back up, I want to finish reading it." He asks for her for the story behind it and when she explained he'd dumped her, Clay asked where Neil was from. Kelly said the state, and he said "No, I mean where's he from - the exact address... what's his number? We should call him."

I, of course, was flipping out. She was afraid of having a 1000 rabid Claymates hating him. I say, hate the bastard. (Well, he's actually quite nice so... maybe not. But still - if Clay Aiken asks you for something, you give it to him - no questions asked!) I'm working on the girl. So yeah, moving on with the concert.

Clay and the others were cute tonight. During Elvis I was still sort of buzzing about the sign thing, and how he sort of talked to me, in a second cousin 3 times removed sort of way, but he sounded good. The people in front of me were getting awesome pictures. I was dancing and singing and clapping and having a good time, but I felt like an oasis of cheer in a sea of reservation. People were not as up tonight as they were at the last one I went to - and I think Clay DEFINITELY noticed and was affected by it. More on this later. He was good. He was great. I loved him and I danced, and continued to do so throughout the concert.

During the 60's medley, during Sugar Sugar, Clay was really playful. I was WAY off to the side and could see behind the changing rack (um, yum) and behind the backup singers. I had a PERFECT view of Clay's hand on Quiana's, um, back, as they were singing. She was LOSING it. Kelly (aka the sign girl) couldn't tell what was up, so I was like 'woo hoo my seats came thru for SOMETHING' and Becky and I were laughing so hard. Clay was subtly yanking the wire running from Quiana's mic pack to her ear so it popped her in-ears out and she couldn't hear anything. She kept trying to put it back and get him to stop and he was QUITE proud of himself (shocker.) Angela seemed determined not to let him get the best of her, and so when he was over on her side, she spent most of it with her head tipped WAY back - Kelly thought he was pulling her hair, but I think she was trying to keep the speaker in her ear. During 'So Happy Together,' Quiana and Angela were in full 'payback' mode. Quiana - with no efforts at being subtle - reached RIGHT into his ear and plucked his in-ears out. (*Note on this - he was grinning like whoa, and Ange was messing with him too - but it took Quiana SO many tries! Do they stick that thing in with superglue??? Even when it was out, Clay was on. Cause we love him.)

During the picking the pip, I think Clay just doesn't ever EVER listen to anything Jacob says. They were doing their little banter about groups from the 60's, and he says 'can you think of any more groups Jacob?' and Jacob says 'just the pips...' and Clay goes 'Yeah, I can't think of any either," and he asks Angela, and she says she can't think of any, and then eventually someone yells the Pips (bc we, as Claymates, are trained like Pavlov's dog when it comes to concerts) and Clay goes 'aaaah the Pips that's it.' Jacob looks like 'hey... I said that...' I felt bad for him - hahahaha. Clay went right down into the audience to get the pip, and had to run around the back of the stage and around a fence to get in the audience. He was like 4 feet from me at one point - EEEE! They started the music for the next song while Clay was still in the audience and he started running around. He was singing for a little bit when he was still in the back, but he took it in stride.

Intermission we got to move to better seats - not as close, but a straighter line of sight, which is a big win. I talked with the people in front of me and managed to schmooze my way into getting all of their pictures emailed to me. SCORE! I chatted it up with this guy who seemed to be a reporter or something, and because I have a slight tendency to be sassy and sarcastic (just a little, right Becky?) he remembered me. Anyway, we move to our new seats and suddenly reporter guy is right there again. He asked if I was the girl from Tokyo (I had a sign I never used that said 'From Tokyo to Vermont & mostly for Clay' which is in a way true) and I said yes I was - we were both joking around. I told him he could sit next to me, and then I ended up telling him all the good pictures to take. His camera was awesome and he got some great shots so - yay! He seemed intrigued, and even in the middle section, I was still probably the most dancy person in the section... like I said, the crowd was... quiet. Good thing he was friendly b/c... well, I was.

During the intro to the 80's, Felix made some comment about Vermont being a great city. Everyone was laughing because, well, it's a state. So Clay manages to make his way out for WDC, and he's just gone. Laughing, laughing, laughing - and the backups are, too. So Clay is trying SO hard to get it together, and S'von just keeps playing the intro over and over and over, and Clay can't - b/c you know he's got the punchline in his head. It's been like 2 minutes at LEAST since Felix's faux pas, and Clay finally says 'or state.' The crowd loses it and Clay and the singers again try to get it under control. S'von is on repeat just LOOKING for Clay to try to start - which he does. Over and over and over. Finally he says 'I'm just gonna have to come back in again' He turns and walks out and the crowd roars and Ange is literally clinging to Jacob she's laughing so hard. Clay comes back and you can still see him struggling but he starts the song. He had really teased Angela hard during the 70's banter about how she was born in the 60's, weren't you Angela? and so I expected major payback. I think they all had a hard enough time keeping it together to not break into gigglefits again... so it definitely wasn't the hottest WDC I've ever seen... but it was still mightily entertaining smile.gif

Clay's banter diminished throughout the show, I think, and I think it was b/c the audience reaction just wasn't there. The show sold about 3000 tix in a 10,000 seat venue - which was the same with Meadville - but it was quiet, and I think that really affected things. Later on, there wasn't even the opportunity to do Stump the Band. I had a sign made and EVERYTHING, but we couldn't even get it up - they just IMMEDIATELY started playing TRD... I think it was really weighing heavily on them, especially during the 2nd half. I wanted to give them all a big hug, but I think Aaron (or as I like to call him, Jerome Light - Jerome Jerome is heretofore known as Jerome Classic to me... and I thought it was witty but it's probably just sleep deprevation...) would have stopped me - palmed me to the ground like a misdirected dodgeball. Nick wouldn't have - bc he wasn't there - at least I didn't see him, and I was looking - that Kristie girl was doing his job. Hmmm...

Quiana's IWALY was fabulous as always, and I talked with reporter guy about how he should be sure to keep an eye out for that song. He was impressed. He also liked ICMYLM - but then, who doesn't?

The show picked up for the end, with his material rolling right into the new songs - no Stump the Band, no real banter, and TRD sounded fabulous. The lyrics are clearer than ever, and it sounded great. At one point he waved his hand behind himself toward Maureen (the keyboardist who - I noticed - mostly just stands there.) She stopped playing for a bit, and I wonder what the deal was with that. (PS - have you noticed that I notice a lot of the little details?) He waved sort of frantically and dismissively at the same time... obviously it wasn't something he wanted happening at that moment. BFM rocked as always - that song is such a hit in his fanbase already. I told the guy the song had never been officially recorded and he was like 'wait what? How do you all know the words?' I just smiled. How do you explain that? Closmosis? Invisible rocked and everyone bounced - FINALLY. I didn't feel crazy smile.gif I think the guy took pictures of me during that song and I was like wait what??? Oh well? Turns out that he was the official fair photographer and the pictures he took will be up on his website. He gave me his card and said if I emailed him he'd send me the ones he didn't post. Um, SCORE!!!

I took a lot of pictures, and so did Becky - because she's taller - and I'll put up any good ones that I get. After the concert was done we saw cafa again and took a picture - which I still have to download onto my computer - which means I have to find the cord, which is not happening tonight.

Okay so all in all, the concert was great - the crowd was really ... 'mellow'... and that affected the performers and the audience as well - a little vicious cycle. I would have loved for him to have done stump the band because it's always so fun, but I sort of understood why he didn't. I had a sign TOTALLY ready, though - for time of my life again, with the reverse requesting he do the lift. And I came prepared - while I wore a skirt, I had biker shorts underneath it. I figured that if I broke my arm slamming into the stage, it'd be SO worth it for 1 - the clack, 2 - the posterity, and 3 - the fact that Clay Aiken would be trying to do the lift from Dirty Dancing. Even if he said no to the lift, that it was too hard, I was psyched to say 'hey, it's all in the thighs.' Which would have made me equally infamous. At the end of the day, I dropped Becky off and made it home in one piece, and I'm glad that I drove all that way, because it was worth it. Maybe I'll send them an email, or something, saying I loved the concert, even if Vermonters are mellow in that hippy, Phish ticket, Ben and Jerry's loving way. Each to their own. And MY own is totally Clay Aiken. Or, at least, I wish he were

From the CB's Madame President:
My flight leaves Albany in about 5 hours and I should be getting some sleep, but really, what's more important? Sleep or a recap?

First, this trip was a whirlwind. If you'd asked me a week ago where I was going to be tonight, "a Clay Aiken concert" would not have been the answer. But things happen, people get dumped, and you go where you know you're gonna have fun. A friend who was already going to this concert convinced me to visit her and go to the concert, and the rest is history. Recent history, but perhaps somewhat dim given how tired I am...

We arrived at the fair at about 5:30, and we walked around for a little bit. The two people I rode with are both from the New England area, so they were laughing at my out-of-townerness. At one point in the car I asked if Mrs. Butterworth's syrup was real maple syrup, and they looked at me like I'd asked if Mrs. Butterworth herself was real. So when we got to the fair, we went into this place called the Sugar Shack where I was given a small cup (imagine a paper shot glass) of maple syrup and told to down it. I looked at them shocked and said, "you can't do that!" to which they responded, "what else would you do with it?" So, when in Rome...and OMG! It was good. I don't think Mrs. B and I can ever have a relationship again, especially after Juleah pointed out that there is NO maple in Mrs. Butterworth!

But moving on to the concert because I'm sure you're oh so fascinated with my syrup stories...since this trip was last minute, I had to take whatever ticket that I could get, as good as I could get, and I managed to snag a 10th row center a few days ago. My friends were jealous since they ended up with tickets waaaaaaaaay on the side, but they moved a few times, so they ended up a row behind me, on the center section's aisle. Good seats. Not perfect, but good. And they turned out very good.

Now, I'm not really a sign person. They're annoying if they're held up too much, and I certainly don't want to be the one to block someone's view, but after last week, my friend and I joked that I should make a sign saying that I was here because I'd been dumped. And since she wanted to make a few signs, too, last night we went out for posterboard, and I made a sign saying, "Here 'cause I got dumped. Thanks, Neil." This poster will make a reappearance.

The concert started, and We Built This City is my all-time favorite 80's song. I enjoyed it just as much as Pittsburgh, though I did wonder if it was going to start out differently when Maureen said, "this is for you, ladies." What was that about?

I adore the 50's set, and it was great again tonight, but the first thing I noticed was that the backdrop was clearly not visible. Turns out it was clearly not there, but oh well. Who's really paying attention to the backdrop anyway?

Once the 50's was over, Clay walks down to the center of the stage, and I thought "now or never." Since it was still light enough, I knew that he'd be able to see the sign, but it was a question of whether he could read it ('cause I did not major in sign-making in college, pretty penmanship or not) and also whether he'd comment. I held it up, saw him read it, and then lowered it as he started to chuckle. Mission accomplished. But he said, "no, put that back up" and then turned to the side of the stage, asking if they had seen it. I honestly think he was talking to the guy taping something to the floor, but whatever. He then read the sign to the crowd and said, "you know I have to ask what that story is." So, I told him how the guy and I were supposed to spend this past weekend together, and this is where Clay stopped me so that he could repeat to the crowd. Then I continued that a week ago (a week ago tonight, well technically last night since it's now 2:30 am), he told me that he wanted to see another girl. I think the crowd gave me a collective "awww" or "bood" for the guy, but it's a little hazy right now. Then he asked where he was from, and I yelled out that I didn't want a bunch of rabid claymates after him. He pressed me, and I said the Midwest, to which he said, "no, we want an exact address." Then he asked if I had the guy's number memorized, and when I answered yes, he said that "we should call him." The audience agreed verbally, but I just shook my head. Despite being dumped, I don't think I want to embarass the guy like this, and he HATES attention. Plus, he's still nice and he's very supportive of my Clay Aiken habit, even telling me to have a good time tonight. Just don't think I'll tell him why it was quite so good.

Now on with the show. It was good. Sorry, I'm getting rather fuzzy at the moment. He was totally messing with Angela and Quiana tonight during Sugar, Sugar. From my vantage point, all I could see was Quiana giggling and swatting at her backside, which made me wonder just what Mr. Aiken was up to, but my friend on the side said that he was messing with her ear piece cord. When he went to Angela, I think he tried the same thing (ahh, so much for creativity), but I can't say that it worked. I did at one point think however that he was pulling at her hair the way that her head went all the way back. Kind of like a Barbie doll's right before it snaps off. Either way, you could tell that payback was imminent, and we didn't have to wait long. During So Happy Together the girls joined forces to rid Clay of his earpieces, though at first glance it appeared as though they were just giving him wet willies or ridding him of some trapped ear wax.

The other memorable moment of the 60's was when they got to the Pip part. Clay started talking about all of the great groups of the past, and he asked Jacob if Jacob could remember anymore. Jacob said "the Pips" and Clay turned to Angela and asked the same thing. When she came up blank, Clay said "the Pips" and you could see Jacob shrug and say, "I said that." Obviously Clay didn't hear him, or he's just punishing him for his outrageous dance moves later on.

We skip over the 70's really because well...history might be better off if it skipped over the 70's. I will say this however, at one point when he was asking for things that happened in the 70's, he read a sign that said "hug me, Clay" and he commented that that didn't happen in the 70's. He also commented that he didn't know that Mother Theresa was given the Nobel Prize during that decade, and he had a conversation with some woman about her sign that said the computer mouse was invented then. Oh, and of course BOTW ROCKED!!!!

Now we get to the 80's. And let's be honest, the only real thing to remember from this entire decade is WDC. Tonight was definitely not a hot version, but I choose to believe it was because no one could keep a straight face going into it. Put the one-upmanship of trying to seduce each other on top of what happened, and it would have been a disaster, or as we like to call it, Clack Gold. Still, it was hilarious when after Felix's slip re: Vermont being a city (hey, cut him some slack...last year Quiana asked if they needed a passport for New Mexico...hmm, maybe Clay needs to hand out atlases for Christmas) that it took him nearly two minutes to get it together, and even then, the first few lines of the song were uttered with his head completely raised up and a lip being bitten as much as it could while still allowing him to sing. And that was after he had to leave the platform and come back again.

The 90's was good. La Vida Loca continues to be hot, and there was a moment after he took his vest off that I thought he was going to use it to shine the mic stand, rubbing it up and down. But upon further video review (and yes, I have some video albeit bad to come), I think it was just caught on his hand. You be the judge.

When the 00's came, I was surprised to hear the opening strains of Invisible. I was like, "holy cow, the crowd is so bad that he's just gonna end it now!!", but I was overreacting (I tend to), and they went through the MOAM songs without incident, unlike Pittsburgh when he forgot the words to WYSYLM. I was disappointed that they didn't play Stump the Band, but I wasn't actually disappointed until after the concert when I realized it hadn't happened. But I was disappointed because Juleah had a sign ready to go, as well as a quip regarding how the Time of Your Life lift from Dirty Dancing is "all in the thighs," and I was fully prepared to hand her bonus points if she managed to say that to him. Alas...

And then it was time for the new stuff. I was pleased with Tears Run Dry, but I can't say that I was listening to it too closely because I was trying to get clack. Well trying to get non-shaky clack, really. I'll need a couple more listen throughs before I'll reach a final decision.

Back for More was fabulous as usual. That song just pulls ya in. And it does that for everyone. THe middle-aged guy in front of me was jamming, doing the arm thing (and btw, which came first? Jacob doing it, or the audience doing it?). Oh, and watch for the clack to come in on this one because during the middle of the song, Clay just pushed the mic stand over in a very nice homage to ISY-like angst. And if you watch, you'll see Quiana's head whip around like "what the hell was that???"

Also, he was majoriy tugging tonight during Invisible. That was nice.

So yeah, all in all, a great concert. And now it's 3:34 am, and I should sleep. And good news, I can sleep later because my flight for 7:30 am got cancelled. Now we just have to see if my flights tomorrow go off since I'm flying through the south....

Citizen Online Review/Interview for Gilford Concert

Clay Aiken plays Gilford

GILFORD - Second season American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken both wooed and wowed a large crowd at Meadowbrook Musical Arts Center.

"He's a great entertainer. I was rooting for him all along," said Cheryl Moody of Farmington who attended Saturday's concert with her sister, Judi Aubert of Rochester. "I think he's just awesome. I just love his voice. If he comes back I'm going to bring my 10-year-old daughter," said Aubert.

Aiken's good looks coupled with his family values and charitable work was a common theme among concertgoers, predominantly 40-ish something women. "That's what I admire most. He is a good moral role model. Kids need that," said Frank Downing of Malden, Mass., who said he is a substitute teacher who works with autistic children.

Downing's wife, Fran, characterized herself as an avid "Claymate," the name taken by his most rabid fans saying she had tickets to attend Aiken's Sunday night concert in Boston. She has previously traveled to Indiana twice and once to Michigan to see his shows.

A 2004 Christmas album, "Merry Christmas With Love," followed Aikien's 2003 debut, "Measure Of A Man." "He has an amazing voice. One that comes along once in a millennium — the range, the volume and he call hold a note longer than anyone," she said of Aiken, 27, who hails from Raleigh, N.C. "And it's not just his singing. He connects with people and does a lot of work for charity," she continued.

"He was the best singer. He should have won (Idol)," asserted Rachel D'Onfro of Westminister, Mass. She said she saw Aiken's Christmas show last year. "He was my number one pick from the very beginning (of American Idol)," she said. D'Onfro said she's downloaded all of Aiken's songs, even an early demo album. "And I'm not even a Claymate. There are (fans) here from Hawaii," she said. Aiken started the night with a medley of 50s and 60s songs, doing some covers of such classic artists as Chubby Checker, Elvis Presley and the Everly Brothers classic "Unchained Melody."

Aiken is working with Canadian producer Jaymes Foster Levy on his sophomore effort, which he hopes to have out by next spring.


c. 2005 George J. Foster Co.

The Citizen Print
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8/28 Boston, MA Recaps

From the CB's 2dogs3cats:
Another great concert! I loved seeing Clay's name in lights on the marquee outside the venue. Being in a major city was very special - (he's of course been in several New England venues before but not in Beantown itself -- the big time!) I met tons of people mostly from other states - Oklahoma, California, North Carolina, Illinois, New York -- and some New Zealand fans were there!There were a bunch of pre-concert parties - ours (the Clay by the Bay party) was terrific; I'm told the others were fun as well. As for the concert - superb with one exception - the idiotic FEW females who screamed repeatedly through IWALY. Last night in NH it was virtually quiet. Tonight, these FEW people really broke the mood. But OMC kept his cool as always and did a terrific job. Nick's family was in the audience as was his producer! Clay pointed out that this was Bob's (as in Linda and Bob) 100th concert! My husband, whom I've dragged to every other concert or so, really liked this concert; he felt like I did that Clay was finally in control of the whole thing and that the song selection was perfect. So that's high praise. Clay looked so great although no glasses tonight! (Glad I got to see them last night though). Quiana, Angela and Jacob were spot on, I think probably a bit better than last night -- but very close). The guy they brought on stage to dance in the 70's section supposedly was on his honeymoon and had some sort of t-shirt that said his wife dragged him to 2 concerts! So that was fun. Seeing Clay in Beantown was extra special (I live north of Boston but it's my home city, so this meant so much). Next time, I want to see him in Symphony Hall or the Orpheum - hey Fenway Park would be terrific as well! Gotta go to bed. I got a lot of clack - looking forward to seeing what everyone else got. Night all!

From the CB's sillyroo:

wow!
this show made the 8th time i've seen him live. every show he does tops the previous one(s).

i would say the crowd was very close to a sellout....very few vacant seats.

My gosh. That man does something to me.........he is so magical. i totally loved this show. i am just disappointed that i only got tix to 1 JBT!!!!

The boyfriend's voice was spot on perfect. I loved the song selections.......But Solitaire remains my personal fave. his rendition never fails to make me cry......

The energy and enthusiasm of the show was amazing....plus he was super duper funny....i thought i would remember what exactly he said that made the audience chuckle...but i have already forgotten....maybe because i am tired.

The boyfriend certainly has come along way. He moves so, so, confidently....not to mention sexily. he is so enchanting and intoxicating!
Hubby was really really impressed with piano playing and loved the whole Elvis segment.

I really thought i was gonna combust at one point.....when he jumped on the piano, WDC, LVL, you name it....he had me!

I was really really really really impressed with Quiana's version of IWALY....it was soooooo much better than Whitney's.

The new songs were awesome...i can't wait until new CD comes out!

As stated by others who posted before me about ICMYLM and the people who insist on screaming and ruining it for Clay for their selfish needs. I hope he didn't hear the idiot yell out "take it off clay!".......i did notice that he shook his head shortly thereafter....maybe it was a coincidence????

Anyhoo.....

thanks for reading....

sorry, i don't do details so well.......

Sillyroo (lisa)

From the CB's MarLovesClay:
Just got home after an almost 5 hour drive from Boston and once again have to go to work in the a.m. I didn't get to review NH either, but let me say these two concerts were amazing. My review will be short tonight, and I definitely will come back and add to it. I feel some PCD setting in, as this was my last show, and as usual, I got choked up during Invisible, which isn't a song you get choked up for!

He was amazing, and the last two nights were even more so. I see that a lot of the reviews are in with tidbits from tonight. I can't even imagine what was written from last night, with the whole Terry situation. Last night Clay was the funniest I have ever seen him. And tonight he continued to have a great time, although a little less chatty. Perhaps he wanted to save time for stump the band.

It was really hot tonight, and I could see the sweat on his forehead and under his sideburns. Someone in the crowd asked him early on how many layers he was wearing. He repeated the question, then said "6 decades". He's amazing how quickly he comes back with it.

He cracked up several times tonight, with the back-ups, and once, I think during WDC at the end when he saw Felix's hat. He was laughing at something else too.

Just a couple times his voice cracked, or was raspy, and I saw him look at the back-ups and he was sort of shaking his head and they all smiled at him.

I am struck so much, especially at the end of this tour, with how much he gels with the back-ups, and how much he promotes them, as well as the rest of the band and crew. I swear he does have a thing for blondes, though, because he mentioned that Maureen looked pretty tonight. Now, don't get going on that, it was a simple compliment!!! And she is a doll.

I also think that Clay and the back-ups are looking thinner at the end of this tour, there was no tummy on that man tonight! I think all the dancing and moving they do for 2+ hours per night has made a difference.

He introduced and brought Nick up on stage, and I have a video snippet of it, it was cute. I even saw Jerome Jr. smile twice tonight - once when Clay dropped the macarenas, and once when Felix came out and did his preacher thing in a hideous blonde wig. Oh, Clay made Jacob continue to dance tonight in Can't Touch This, and Jacob did a really cool move where he grabbed his foot and jumped through there with the other foot, maybe someone can describe it better. He was asking for other dance ideas, and I yelled "The Electric Slide" and he couldn't hear me at first, but then someone yelled Macarena, and he liked that and asked Jacob to do it, and even Clay did a little.

Oh - big news - he said he was coming to Boston for Christmas, and also hopefully next summer! I'm not sure if that was already reported.

I haven't read the review, but I can tell you the crowd LOVED HIM. The last two nights were full as much as I could see.

Well, off to post some pictures in the other thread, and I'll also send some videos of tonight to the CH who will get them up for me. I would bet MOAF has a bunch up already.

I will probably be back tomorrow to post more thoughts about the tour in general and the end of the show.

But what a way to end it..............incredible. Met some great folks tonight as well.

From the CB's fancynails:
I attended both NH and Boston. Also the Clay at the Bay party- food was fabulous!!! I must say tho, the sound at last nite's concert was definately not as good as NH's. Maybe the size of the venue had something to do with it??? The too loud back-up music was the problem. But I have run into that at many other musician's concerts. But last night's concert was still an incredible experience. (Although it was extremely muggy and I was soaked by the end of the concert!!!) Clay has become the ultimate stage performer and is so intune to what his fans want and he gives his all. Right near us was an incredibly idiotic woman who was drinking those large beers all through the show. She screamed so loud at the most wrong times. We all wanted to throttle her! LOL NH's crowd was so much more respectful of the performers. You could have heard a pin drop during IWALY in NH. I am glad Clay did the 'stump the band' set in Boston. Did not in NH. The young newlywed (1 month) guy who was brought up to the stage for the 70's set last night was sort of a dud. Did'nt do much at all. While the older man at the NH concert who was brought up was a riot! He really knew how to work those boas!! I am sorry I didn't get to more of the NE shows. Can't wait for the Xmas one. Have 6 people who want to go with me!!

From the CB's HotforClay:
I went to NH and Boston. They were both wonderful/fantastic shows!!!! NH definitely had better acoustics, the BEST I've heard yet!!! Just beautiful! But Clay was extremely happy with the crowd in Boston.

Clay was great last night. He came out without glasses. He was HOT during great balls of fire and the Elvis set. He sang just beautifully for unchained melody and love me tender, sigh. During the 1970's set, he asked for national occurences, and I was so excited when he picked me!! I raised my hand like a good student! I forget which song, but there was one point where his lips were REALLY close to Angela's while he was singing. Ahhhhh! Clayfaninva took vids of the whole show with Scarlett's camera, so hopefully they will be available soon. Living la vida loca was unbelievable. I was. In the center so thank God neither Angela nor Quiana blocked my entire view of Clay while he did his thing. Thud! That BOD, the way he moves, kills me every time!! He was really cracking up when he was looking for a man to dance on stage and he saw the newlywed's shirt. My wife is dragging me to 2 clay concerts, on our honeymoon! So cute (the shirt was cute too !)

Stump the band was sooo great!!! I have not seen one live yet! And he sang 2 songs!! They were both very short though. Clay was so funny, right after that, he went to grab a foot stool and then stopped short and said something like " wait, I'm not doing this yet am I?" And then remembered he had to do 2003 moam medleys! The new song tears run dry sounded even better than last night!! He just gets better and better! He seemed extremely happy during invisible when we all sang along. What a wonderful concert, preparty, and wonderful friends. Of course afaterwards we had to go relive our memories by watching clayfaninva's vids!! What a night!

From the CB's LynninNJ:

What a show!!!! The ABSOLUTE highlight was LIVIN LA VIDA LOCA....sweet lord have mercy....

THAT MAN CAN MOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He did the usual stunning arms flailing moves to perfection, but tonight added a quivering leg motion TO DIE FOR! It was hot.....and it made the performance even better!!!!
SECRETLY - you're my HERO *hint hint*

The crowd was great but got a little too carried away at times, i'm sad to say - especially ICMYLM. He, however blessed us with a gorgeous rendition as usual.....so the screams DID NOT affect his performance. Clay is doing such an INCREDIBLE change up with his voice toward the end of this song - at I will lay down my heart...and i'll feel the power... I nearly fell off my chair!!!! :thud

His voice is sheer perfection, although he did scare us a few times with the coughing (have we ever even SEEN Clay cough before? I winced every time....) Hopefully just his allergies and the clean air of VT will help get him back to normal!!!

Oh yeah....he picked me too for questions of the occurences in the 1970's. He made direct eye contact (i was in 5th row) and said "yes, ma'am?".....ok - i have to admit that i wanted to turn around and see if he was talking to someone else, cause i am certainly NOT a ma'am...but then i fiqured it was just southern manners he was displaying!!!!!!

GREAT SHOW - GREAT CROWD.....amazing performances all around.

ALMOST AS GOOD AS THE SHOW....
:wave The amazing people that we met this weekend in NH and MA - fans that we've met on the boards, locals who love Clay and the spectacular CLACK GATHERERS....you're all soooo wonderful!!!!!

"The best part of being a Clay Aiken fan is the wonderful company you're in!"

To my GIRLS....we had a BLAST - thanks so much for being the fun-loving ladies you are - more wonderful memories to join the others....i love you!!!!!
:bighug

ON TO VT AND THEN BORGATA....WHAT A RIDE!!!!

8/27 Gilford, NH Recaps

From the CB's akamoca:
Clay and company delivered an AMAZING, FANTASTIC concert for all those lucky enough to go to NH. His voice was perfection..all night long..WOW! He was very talkative with lots of banter with the audience and was having fun, fun, fun!
We got him wearing glasses tonight. He said he was airing his eyes out. I think his allergies are acting up, he was talking to us, said "excuse me, I have to sneeze" then turned around and sneezed 3 times..aawww. I hope he's got meds with him.
The pip guy did a pretty good job. At first he said no, but Clay talked him into it..Clay came all the way to the 14th or so row to get him.woohoo, I was in 19th and savored being that close to him..if only for a few minutes. Now on to TERRY! Clay LOVED her to pieces..watch out ETHEL! Terry was the cutest, funniest elderly lady in the front row having the time of her life.All night long she waved and waved and danced and waved some more. Clay made them put her on the jumbotron. He told her she was their entertainment as much as they were hers..what a hoot she was . He was trying to sing 'The Way' to her and kept laughing and started to mimic her dancing. I hope her daughter is a member on one of the boards and brings all the details of the experience...he even asked us to applaud her. He said he wanted to take her with them. It was so sweet.
We had a really respectful audience tonight. Yippee! there was no screaming during the songs, but we showed him the love after each song. Lots of standing and yelling and dancing!
I almost forgot to talk about when Clay said 'Please don't take a picture of my butt' when he was introducing the band. He had bent over to pick up a doll..I hope someone got a picture! Well, when he got to Maureen, I think he said something to the effect of 'she was interested in his butt too' ...I'm NOT sure that's what he said, but he quickly said " I'm just kidding, I'm just kidding"
Did I mention how HAWT he looked tonight? I love that man!

From the CB's seasook:
OK, I need to be quick because we are headed out to Boston to see some teacher guy sing tonight. ;) First, Clay's voice was perfection last night...not only on all the hard glory notes songs, but on everything...LMT was to dies for, add Alone, YCMMLY, etc , etc ,etc. I love love love his latest new song...and I was not a fan of JY and 1000 days. It has mid-range, upper range, a nice meoldy, and shows off Clay's voice perfectly. Clay was simply adorable when talking wiht Teri, the lady in the first row. She looked like the someone's grandmother and he was so genuinely taken with her. She was so happy... she was dancing around as we left the venue...Clay is a gift...he made her night and what memories she will take with her. The drummer also gave her his sticks!

WDC should now be called the "Sandwich Song"!!! There are no words, you need to go watch the video. The crowd was great...a mixture of all ages ....loud and there was such a buzz when people were filing out.

The buses...yes, Clay came out immediately after the concert to the buses and several in our group got touch his hand as he went down the fence!! What a night...some are not washing their hands again. Ok, off to Boston!! Bye!!

From the CB's clayleen:
Excellent concert tonight. Clay's voice was perfect. I had a great view of Terry who waved and danced and called out Clay's name all night. She had a night to remember! At the end of the concert I think her husband got a set of drumsticks for her to take home. I think Terry said they have been married for 50 years. What a sweet lady. Clay was enthralled by her, I thought he was going to take her out on the road for the rest of the tour!

WDC was HOT! Hope someone puts this one up for all to see. Clay went for Quina first, then Angela comes up behind him. Can you say CLAY SANDWICH!!

ICMYLM is hauntingly beautiful when he sings it. The new song is great, sounded better than the first night. And BFM had everyone on their feet. It's amazing how different all these songs sound live. As good as the clack is, you really have to experience this concert first hand. It baffles me how a critic can see this show and not be blown away.

NH showed Clay the love for sure. I thought they would blow the roof off with their screaming. At the same time, though, everyone was quiet and sat down during the ballads, but you could see it was hard to keep people in their seats.

Clay was very funny and talkative. Again I hope someone captured the banter on video. When he talked about his dancing he said he was the boy who sat in the corner during dances..."I served the punch". He said something about being the boy with the glasses, or something to that affect. Well last night he was again the boy with the glasses, but every woman in the place wanted to dance with him!

We didn't stick around after the show, so I don't know if there were any bus sightings. The busses are kept in a fenced in area, so I'm not sure fans could have access. But we all know Claymates are a tenacious bunch, so maybe someone will have a bus report.

I hope we get great clack from this show, it was a perfect night!

From the CB's LynninNJ:
GLASSES CLAY.....ahhhhhhhhhh. We could end our review there, but of course won't!!!!! The FABULOUS FOURSOME of Lynninnj, ClayfaninVA, CA24 and hotforclay were in full force last night....and so was Mr. Aiken!!!!!! What an amazing show - such special memories were created that we can think of to share!!!!

One question though : HOW DOES THIS SHOW KEEP GETTING BETTER AND BETTER????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GLASSES CLAY! He looked amazing. Period.

When Doves Cry with QUIANNA! And if was on our side of the stage.....the Q seduction was a welcomed surprise...hot!!

WE SAT IN THE SEATS RIGHT BEHIND TERRY!!!!! We were dancing with her all night even before Clay even noticed her, she was even conducting our screams!!! Ready 1, 2, 3...scream! She and her daughter were real treats....she took her Mom (the real Clay fan of the family) to the show last year and this....and she was soooo cute! Clay obviously fell in love with her "maybe we should take her on the rest of the tour with us!" We were sooooo happy for her that she got an autographed pic of him afer the show....Clay wrote "Terry - thanks for making the show tonight so exciting!" (i think that's what i remember!!)

Of course, the "REAR END" comments were hysterical....hope there's good CLACK of those moments!!! He was bending down to pick up the Tony Montana and Willy Wonka fiqurines, and then he showed them to us in he camera!!! And Andy Abad is having a baby GIRL in October!

BLESS YOU CLAY!! As previously mentioned, Clay had to sneeze THREE TIMES before belting out BOTW - but then of course the song was PERFECTION. Hope Clay's allergies get better for the rest of the tour!! :pray

Bit of a wardrobe issue.....when Clay popped out for the 1960's singing Daydream Believer, he had a hanger stuck to his head!!! The crew member had to pop through the clothes to come out on the stage and get it :laugh

THEEEESE ARE THE 1990's!!!! Clay was DANCING!!!!!
Lots of lessons last night.....mostly for the RUNNING MAN!! He made Terry do it (which of course she couldn't) and a few others in the audience, but told one girl she looked like she was having a seizure!! (Nice, Clay!) His lessons have been paying off even more.....GREAT JOB CLAY!!!!! :ya


WE LOVED THIS SHOW...MAYBE OUR FAVE SO FAR???!!!!!!!
We''ll come BACK FOR MORE later.....of yeah and speaking of, the new songs were AMAZING - Tears Run Dry is INCREDIBLE....an absolute HIT!!!!


CLAY....YOU NEVER DISAPPOINT - THANKS ONCE AGAIN!!!

ChartAttack.com Toronto Review

MIXED REVIEW

LIVE: Clay Aiken Turns On His Jukebox
Friday August 26, 2005 @ 05:30 PM
By: ChartAttack.com Staff

Molson Amphitheatre
Toronto, Ontario
August 25, 2005
By Brian Wong

It was only two years ago that Jesus-lovin' super-nerd Clay Aiken went from Raleigh, North Carolina-nobody to first runner-up on American Idol, then sold a kajillion copies of his 2003 debut, Measure Of A Man. Already, the 26-year-old singer looks poised for a Vegas stage next to La Celine.

Aiken isn't packing venues weeks in advance yet -- only three-quarters of the Molson Amphitheatre's seats were occupied for his show, while geese frolicked in the lawns. But his current Jukebox tour, in which the singer aimed to cover pop hits of the last 50 years, would make a decent casino musical revue.

There were certainly enough middle-aged women to rival a Wayne Newton concert. And Aiken seemed to take the estrogen fest in stride.

"How many gentlemen are proud to be here tonight?" the chatty singer asked. "They're probably watching Canadian Idol or something."

When Aiken found a "gentleman" who admitted that he was dragged to the show by his wife and daughter, the singer stepped down into the stands to speak with him.

"You don't like me?" Aiken inquired. "I thought everyone in Canada would be nice."

If this singing thing doesn't work out, the guy has a pretty good career as a talk show host.

Or musicologist. As the astounding two-and-a-half-hour concert (plus 20 minute intermission) went through rock 'n' roll, schmaltzy pop and power balladry decade after decade, Aiken gave bite-size history lessons on the respective eras of music.

With a seven-piece band that included three back-up singers -- Kiana Parlor, Angela Fisher and Jacob Luttrell, who all deservedly received lead solo time -- the skinny Aiken with the musical-theatre-ready voice pulled out several medleys.

The '50s section included the chirpy "Rockin' Robin," the jolly swaggering "That'll Be The Day" and "Great Balls Of Fire," for which Aiken jumped on top of the grand piano.

An Elvis tribute (complete with stiff, pelvic thrusting) was followed by the bright '60s, represented by tunes like The Monkees' "Daydream Believer" and The Beatles' "Can't Buy Me Love," where the enthusiastic Aiken looked like a crazed bobble head.

He then asked the crowd about what impacted in Canada in the '70s and when one fan replied, "Trudeau-mania," the singer looked back at his band and shrugged his shoulders in bewilderment. The culture shock continued when he picked up a fan's poster that read 'Clay, you are an honourary Canadian,' and Aiken replied, "You spelled 'honourary' wrong."

The rest of the show was pretty much like Idol karaoke; many of the songs Aiken performed were showcased during the rounds of his Idol journey: the overblown, gospel-ish take on Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water," Heart's '80s power ballad "Alone," Barry Manilow's "Mandy" and Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me."

It's those ballads, and his own material like "Invisible" and "The Way," where Aiken thrives. Whether or not you feel any affinity for him, his voice and ability to hold a note is undeniably strong -- a case that's similar to that of Ms. Dion.

Of course, like Dion, a lot about Aiken is icky. There's that eerily sparkling stare, the flung vest during his take on Ricky Martin's "Livin' La Vida Loca," or the intimate caressing with his back-up singers during Prince's "When Doves Cry." A lot of it, however, ends up pretty funny when you see the geeky Aiken wooing his divas, Parlor and Fisher -- two bodacious black women who could snap him like a twig.

But they wouldn't do that; even with cheesy medleys Aiken is just too cute -- in a very weird sort of way.

8/25 Toronto, ON Recaps

Clay's Daily Double/Clay News Service's (clayisouridol) recap:
>BEFORE THE CONCERT
I arrived at the MA at 5:45 and got into line. My dad was with me cause I convinced him to get the discount tickets for the 400 sections. We waited in line (I was pretty close to the front of the line) for over 1 hour. My legs felt like led after standing for that long. While in line, a few people behind us who could see the venue (I couldn't see the venue cause another building was in the way) saw Clay and we heard "Hi Clay!" followed by screaming. This one woman ran back to us and said that Clay looked at them! The security guards came over at 6:45 and told us that they were having problems with the scanners to scan our tickets as we went in, so we were going to have to wait while they fixed it. Before we went in, they announced that all types of cameras except professional cameras were allowed causing a big cheer. At 7, they let us in (the doors should've opened at 6:30) even though they didn't figured out the scanner probs yet. The security as we went in was very lax. They just took a 2 second peek at my backpack and let me in. After getting in, I went to buy a tourbook (thud) and then found my seat. THEY WERE FANTASTIC! I was in 203E (row 14) and i could see the stage perfectly. The 100 section in front of me looked good too, except that it was not level to the stage and the section (first five rows especially), had to look directly up. The concert was supposed to start at 7:30, but since they had the scanner probs, we started at around 8:05.

I was right beside one of the jumbotrons and noticed that only 5 messages were texted to it throughout the whole concert. It may have been because the jumbotron was small and anyone futher than 30' from the stage could not see the phone number you had to send your text messages to. What a bummer. i was really looking forward to the text messaging feature.

The concert was fantastic! I'm going to highlight the best parts.

>STUMP THE BAND
Clay took several requests, but at the end sang a FLAWLESS rendition of O Canada! Someone in the 200 sections requested that Clay sing "Crying". I don't know how, but someone in the first row actually had lyrics to it and handed the lyrics to Clay. I'm not sure what happened after cause Clay talked too fast (lol), but he only sang part of it, then stopped.

>TOUCH SIGNS/STUMP THE BAND
OK, i'm sure you've all heard of the touch sign project that has been going on (organized by FilleDeJanvier). It worked magnificiently during Stump-the-band. This is THE part of the concert I will never forget. It was hysterical. So... clay asked what we wanted to hear and about 200 signs in the 100 section (immediately infront of the stage) went up, all reading "Touch". Clay tried to ignore them for a few minutes, but found out that ignoring them was not going to work and said "Any song besides Touch cause I'm not doing it!".

>JNT2
Clay asked the audience where they were from and found someone who flew on 3 flights to Toronto from Vancouver island. So he said that he would start the Xmas tour in Vancouver on Nov. 2.

>JAYMES FOSTER LEVY
After the 60's medley, before the intermission, Clay ventured out into the crowd and found a family from nearby city of Hamilton. He asked the father if he was forced to come here and he said "you'd rather be watching Canadian Idol or something, right? You don't like me? I though evreyone in Canada would be nice. That hurts me". ROTFL!!! Clay then told him that normally he would drag him onto the stage and dance, but Clay told him that he would get a break. He then found JFL and tried to drag him to the stage to dance (unsuccessfully). LOL.

>70'S HISTORY 'LESSON'
Before Clay did the 70's, he asked us what happened here in Canada that was important in the 70s. Clay gave a bewildered look when one woman in the 100s mentioned "Trudeaumania". You guys are probably confused too, but I'll explain. In the 1970's and early 80's, we had Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. He got a real following up here (especially with women) because he was very charismatic. I'm bringing this over from the Wikipedia Encyclopaedia's website:

"Trudeaumania was the affectionate nickname given to the great excitement generated by Pierre Trudeau's entry into Canadian politics in 1968.

Many young people in Canada at this time were influenced by the 1960s counterculture and identified with Trudeau, a young, energetic, nonconformist. Young people could identify with this man; he once sympathized with Marxists and had spent time in the democratic socialist Cooperative Commonwealth Federation. Young people were attracted to his stance on human rights including the rights of homosexuals and women (he legalized homosexuality and created fairer divorce laws as Justice Minister under Lester B. Pearson).

Trudeau was admired by his fans for his laid back attitude, his many celebrity relationships, and his reputation as a swinger.

Many young people were dazzled by Trudeau's charm and good looks, and a large fanbase was established throughout the country. He would often be stopped in the streets for his autograph or for a quick photograph with one of his fans.

Trudeaumania began to fizzle after Pierre Trudeau married Margaret Trudeau in 1971, but he remains to this day as one of Canada's most loved (and, by some, hated) politicans and Prime Ministers. He was named the Newsmaker of the 20th Century by the Canadian Press at the dawn of the year 2000. When he died later that year, there was an outpouring of public grief, and he was named Newsmaker of the Year 2000. In 2004, he was voted the third Greatest Canadian by CBC viewers, coming behind public healthcare champion Tommy Douglas and cancer activist Terry Fox.

Today, Trudeaumania is fondly recalled by many Canadians. It was a phenomenon unique in Canadian and world politics that turned a politician into a pop culture icon."

Another guy mentioned that Canada beat russia in hockey in 1972 which got a big cheer from the crowd. When someone mentioned that Clay was born in the 70s, Clay said that she ruined it cause he was saving that part for the end. lol.


>MISC
-Quiana got a standing ovation after IWALY. It was flawless.
-When a fan in the first gave Clay a sign saying "Clay, you are an honourary Canadian", clay said "You spelled honourary wrong!"
-Clay knew his geography very well. He knew all the cities and was the only one on stage to know that Ottawa was our capital.
-Everyone sang along with Back For More and Invisible. Hearing Invisible live is 10x better than hearing it from a CD.
-Streamers/Confetti were released after Invisible.

Concert recap courtesy the CB's quixote:
Just got back from an amazing 3 hour concert! Clay and his crew have incredible energy to perform for so long, and even by the end of the evening at 10:45 Clay's voice sounded great!

The show started at 8:00 rather than 7:30 since there were some problems with the ticket scanning machines so people got seated late. Nice of Clay to wait for us! Some empty seats but I am very proud of how full the MA appeared.

When Clay appeared we really showed him the Canadian love! Throughout the concert he was very chatty, lots of Canadian references, talked to people about where they were from. He took a sign from a fan that said something about Clay being an honourary Canadian (he thought it said 'Claynadian' - clearly he knows our words!) and joked about how 'honourary' was spelled wrong.

When he said that he would start the Christmas tour in Vancouver it was like a stunned silence, then some applause. I'm not sure we knew if he was joking or serious.

Having Clay sing "Oh Canada" was very emotional, very powerful. Also very smart because he got everyone on their feet!

Loved how everyone sang along to BFM! Not sure yet about the new song, it sounded ok but didn't immediately hook me like BFM. I'll have to listen to it again.

Clay's voice was perfect tonight. His vocals on WDC are so beautiful; I think we get distracted by the dancing sometimes. BOTW was breathtaking, as was ICMYLM.

"Invisible" came all too soon. High energy, fun, everyone on their feet! The concert ended at 10:45 p.m.

It has been a very long day so I'm quite tired and I'm sure others will give better recaps.

The pre-party was so much fun! Thanks to Judy for all her hard work in organizing it.

Concert recap courtesy the CB's only024:
I've gone clazy. And I'll remain like that for the next couple of weeks.

OH MY GODDDDDDDD!!

I had a 2nd row seat, so the view was perfect! First of all, let me say that the sound at the amphitheatre was PERFECT! 100% PERFECT!! (At least from where I was standing...LOL).

Clay was.......I can't think of a word to describe him. He was...just more than perfect tonight!

When the show started, I looked around to see how full the venue was, and it was about 80% full. By the end of the night, the venue was packed! Men were everywhere. Young and old, tall and short, fat and thin.

Ok, back to the show. Clay was quiet chatty tonight, though I don't remember exactly what he said right at this moment, my mind is still not functioning correctly. He did ask about what important things happened in the 70's, and someone yelled "Canada beat Russia" in hockey. That got a huge cheer. OH!~ And I think about 3 people yelled out "you were born!!", but it seem like he didn't hear it, he just moved on to ask "what else?", then at the end, he said he actually heard those people yelling "you were born", but he ignored it because that was his punch line!! Hahahaha~~

The new song was AWESOME!! OOOOOMMMMGGGGG! I didn't hear the words clearly, but from the little that I remember, it was awesome! The melody, imo, is better than 1000 Days and Just You. Btw, I have to mention that I LOVE Felix!! He's such an awesome drummer! WOW! Oh Oh OHH (lol..sorry, my mind is going in random here)! Before Clay started the new song, CNE (or Ontario Place) was having a firework display, so he said he's gonna wait till it finish before beginning the new song, coz he doesn't want the interruption. Though, I think the firework was going to be half an hour (or 15mins) long, so he started on the new song anyway, didn't wait for it to finish.

And HE SANG O CANADA!!! In Stomp The Band part, someone asked for Crying, which he did a line or two...oh actually, I think he just did "cryyahhhahhhahhinnnngggg"...coz he said that was all he knew. THEN, someone asked for O Canada! He began from the first line, and the audience immediately sang along with him, very softly, no one was yelling or even sing loudly, it was like...Clay with a 8000+ choir singing O Canada! It was.......*sigh*

Quiana was WOWWWWWWWWW!! She got a standing o for IWALY.

There were tons of standing o's for Clay. Solitaire, BOTW, ICMYLM, the new song, ....and a lot more...can't remember at this moment. LOL

Let see, what else?!......

ALONE was omgggggggg!! :thud

WDC, he touched Anglea's a$! (Well, just kinda by the side. LOL)

I think I'm forgetting something, I'll add to it if I remember later.

After the show, there were about 100+ people waiting in the parking lot for the buses to come out. I think about an hr after the show, the buses pulled out, and Clay's bus was the first to appear from the exit, and we all formed a line, and Clay sat at the front seat and waved at us.

So that's about it. I drove home alone, and in that 30mins, I tried to process what just happened. I cannot wrap my mind around this whole thing. It seems like I've been waiting FOREVER for this show, and it finally arrived, then bam! It's over.

*sigh*

Concert recap courtesy the CB's Khrystah:
I don't even have the words...I am truly just overwhelmed. I can't even BEGIN to explain it. Clay was EVERYTHING I had expected and MORE! Absolutely PHENOMENAL!!! He is worth every single solitary penny it costs to see him. I now MUST MUST MUST go to any and ALL concerts in Ontario from now on.

I think I spent the first 30mins in shock...just unable to believe that I was there and how INCREDIBLE my seat was (despite 2 tall women in front of me and one guy DIRECTLY in front of me who was about 6'6....I'm 5ft tall...so I was doing the bob and weave all night.) Just amazing. Oh and when Clay went into the audience for his pip, he walked right past me & Redbay. We could have just reached out and TOUCHED him!

Anyway, I'm still kinda in shock here, so I'm gonna go before I start crying again (I started crying a few times during the concert). :innocent Maybe when I'm more lucid, I'll be able to tell you more.

Regarding the new song: I BELIEVE it MAY be called "Unbroken" that's just my best guess based on the lyrics I heard. Oh and the song is BEAUTIFUL!

Gotta go. :hug2

Concert recap courtesy the CB's RedBay:
I'm kind of in shock here so bear with me!! It was such an incredible thing to experience.

The crowd was great- good size, enthuisiastic but fairly well behaved. Not much shouting during the quieter songs but on their feet and dancing and screaming for the louder songs. Great sound in the MA!!

He commented on not being here for 2 years and that Canada has great audiences.

Clay managed to remember most of the provinces and asked who was from most of them! I am trying to remember everything- he only forgot some words on LMT- but was having trouble getting his blue suede shoes on- said "I think my feet are bigger" cause he couldn't get them on easily. He remembered all the other lyrics to all the songs.
Hit every note in Solitaire- really nailed it!!
You have all heard that Jaymes Foster Levy was in the crowd- and not in great seats either- maybe 11th row off to the side.
He went over to her when he was selecting a pip. Actually he first came down my aisle (I had an aisle seat) to talk to a man at the back of our section and when he came back up the aisle he was like 6 inches from me!! I resisted touching his sleeve but others before and after me did not resist.
Then he went to the other side to talk to another person and then made his way to Jaymes- introduced her as Jaymes and asked where she was from- she said British Columbia and at this point some of us guessed it was his EP before he introduced her as such. Anyway she was the pip tonight and did a great job.

I think it was when trying to kill some time during the fireworks that he asked people what they did yesterday. Someone (Psalm?) said taking 3 flights to get here and he asked what they were and she said Vancouver Island to Vancouver then to Edmonton and then to Toronto, this was when he said that Vancouver would be a good place to start the JNT2 on Nov 2 so put the Halloween stuff away early. We are all kind of in shock- did he really say what we think he just said??? Then the cheering started.

Singing our National Anthem during Stump the Band was very touching. Most of the crowd sang along.

I am trying to decide which songs/performances were the highlights for me and I can't choose. He was energetic despite saying he was hoarse, he danced up a storm although WDC was somewhat subdued, he just sang the bejeezus out of Invisible- shirt tugs and a lot more dancing than I have seen in the Clack lately.

I hope he felt the love and I hope we did Canada proud- I'm pretty sure we did.

OH we waited for the buses- Clay didn't come out but was in the front waving away at us, He must have been beat- that was a high energy show for the third night in a row and they are driving to the next venue tonight.

It was so wonderful to meet so many great Clayfans, from here and other boards.

I am sure there are lots of typos and other errors but I am too tired to proofread.

He really really is an amazing performer and I pray that he continues to entertain us for many more years.