CDD JBT2005 Blog

MusicNewsMagazine.net Review - Kettering

2005-09-10T11:57:00.000-04:00

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

2005-09-03T22:20:00.000-04:00

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

2005-09-02T10:09:00.000-04:00

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

2005-09-02T10:06:00.000-04:00

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

2005-09-02T10:02:00.000-04:00

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?

2005-09-01T14:19:00.000-04:00

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

2005-09-01T14:11:00.000-04:00

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

2005-08-31T11:07:00.000-04:00

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

2005-08-30T09:24:00.000-04:00

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

2005-08-29T15:20:00.000-04:00

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

2005-08-29T10:58:00.000-04:00

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

2005-08-28T11:52:00.000-04:00

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

2005-08-27T10:22:00.000-04:00

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

2005-08-26T20:48:00.000-04:00

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.

Toronto Star Review

2005-08-26T20:46:00.000-04:00

Waring: This review is negative, so do not proceed if you are sensitive to critisism.

Ladies, you sir, here's Clay
VIT WAGNER
POP MUSIC CRITIC

Time was when U.S. presidential elections defined the gender gap. That was before Clay Aiken came along.

And, if last night's performance by the former American Idol to a half-empty Molson Amphitheatre is anything to go by, Canadians are as divided as their southern counterparts where Claymania is concerned.

The show was part of Aiken's so-called Juke Box Tour, which saw the 27-year-old North Carolina native chronologically canvas hit songs from the past five decades. After a heavy emphasis on the 1950s and '60s, Aiken and his supporting cast broke for intermission.

"The best song so far tonight was 'Midnight Train to Georgia,'" a man sitting in the row behind pronounced to the woman beside him.

"But Clay didn't even sing that song," his companion protested.

"Precisely," the man retorted emphatically.

That particular song, presented during a tribute to Motown, had been ably executed by a backing singer doing her best Gladys Knight impersonation. And, yes, it was easily the high point of the evening to that point -- which, all things considered, wasn't saying much.

Not since Matchbox Twenty visited the same venue a couple of years back has an Amphitheatre audience been so visibly divided along gender lines.

On one side, there were deliriously enthusiastic women, many of them the self-styled "Claymates" -- or, on this occasion, "Claynadians" -- who helped the singer's 2003 debut album, Measure of a Man, charge to the top of the charts. On the other, a much smaller contingent of men, most of whom were far more restrained, if not altogether befuddled.

None of this was lost on Aiken.

"Gentlemen don't like to be at the show for some reason," he announced.

The singer went so far as to comb the audience for proof of this assertion, eventually finding a Hamilton man who sheepishly allowed to having been dragged along by his wife and daughter.

The reasons behind the division are anyone's guess. Aiken's supposedly ambiguous sexual preferences have been a source of public speculation. Frankly, who cares? Plainly, he presented himself as straight on stage, demonstrably romancing his female accompanists at every opportunity.

Aiken's repertoire also leaned heavily toward swooning romantic balladry. In a medley-packed show littered with scores of songs, he managed to get to the end of the 1980s without so much as alluding to punk, new wave or Bob Dylan, preferring instead to make show-stopping meals out of "Sailing" by Christopher Cross, and "Mandy" by Barry Manilow.

Blame it on chromosomes -- or anything other root cause you might want to identify -- but by that point he had already lost me

8/24 Cleveland, OH Recaps

2005-08-26T20:37:00.000-04:00

Concert recap courtesy the CB's ForeverAClayFan:
woooo, I just got back from Cleveland....I only live about 40 minutes south of it...but the show started later than usual so it went until after 11:00....such a long show, but sooooo awesome!

I had 20th row center, but it really came out to be about 15th because they skipped a lot of letters. Which was actually really excellent seats. I had a pretty good view. But not as good as 4th row, which I had last year. But oh well.

But let's start by saying that I LOOOOVE Scene Pavilion. It's such a perfect concert place. It's so intimate and awesome and great and beautiful with the lake right behind the stage. It's really pretty cool. And the weather was absolutely perfect....:cloud9 The place was almost full, except the very top of the bleacher sections, which was the general admission sections.
Clay even commented on it during the concert...awww, I hope he wasn't disappointed. I don't want him to feel bad. :( It was still a pretty packed place though. The floor was completely filled at least and the entire upper middle section.

Anyway, Clay was really funny and chatty and just...great!

A few funny moments were when he chose the 70s dancer, he had Doug and his wife from Columbus come up on stage to pick the new guy! Clay said how he's been noticing Doug at all the Ohio concerts enjoying himself more and more ever since he participated in Columbus. :laugh

Well when they picked someone, Clay went down into the audience a few rows in front of me, in the MIDDLE of the row! he just made his way in front of all the people...it was so crazy! I'm surprised he didn't get completely mobbed and grabbed by everyone....the chosen guy didn't seem too talkative at first, but when he went up on stage for the 70s, he really got into it! He was dancing and really hamming it up.

I'm skipping ahead here but during "Can't Touch This", Clay spotted some girl in the audience doing some really wacky dance moves and he just kept cracking up about it and thought it was the funniest thing, so he invited her on stage to show everybody! She was dancing CRAZY, and Clay made Quiana, Jacob, and Angela copy what she was doing...then he made Felix come around and do it too...Felix got crazy and started doing that snake thing on the floor...it was funny. Clay didn't really do any dance moves except that little arm thing. Which called "foolishness" because it looks like you've got a seizure. :hehe

hmmm what else... "I Can't Make You Love Me" was one of my favorites from the night. His voice was just so pure and perfect, and not many people screamed out during it, so it was really, really nice. I really just got into the song and felt Clay's emotion and....*sigh*....it was beautiful. hehe

No 'stump the band' tonight. But that's okay I guess.

1000 days was WONDERFUL and I'm really, really, really starting to LOVE that song. He puts so much emotion and power into it. AMAZING.

Back For More was rocking, of course. :rocker The audience really got into it, just as we did with Invisible.

That's about it, I think! People were waiting around the fence by the buses, but I didn't wait because I had to get home...but just as we were getting in our car, we heard screaming, so we think Clay must've went out to the busses right then! It was really quick...like literally 10 minutes after the concert ended....not positive if it was really him or not, I'm just assuming since I heard the screaming. I'm sure someone who waited there can fill us in on that. :nod

But it was just an awwwwwesome concert, and now I'm incredibly sad and depressed because that was my last concert of the tour, and I won't be seeing him for awhile. :bluesniff But I have amazing memories. Clay just keeps on amazing me more and more every time I see him. :cloud9 :ya

Oh, and my dad went with us this time, and on the car ride home, my mom asked him if he enjoyed it...and he said "How could you NOT enjoy that?" Exaaaactly.
Seriously, how could you NOT? Clay concerts are the most enjoyable days of my LIFE! :lubdub

I'm sure there were a lot of other things that I forgot to say, but I have to get to bed because I have work in the morning. Ick. :x
Good niiiiight, everyone! :grin

Concert recap courtesy the CB's heavens2:
Tonight was fabulous! I"m logged on from the hotel's TV Internet service and can barely see the screen from across the room, but wanted to at least drop in for a minute and give a quick recap.

This was the first time I'd ever had front row and it's everything I ever dreamed it would/could/should/might be! Clay looked drop-dead gorgeous as always!

The Scene Pavilion is gorgeous there on the river. There was no set backdrop as in other shows and I found I didn't really miss it, because the Cleveland city skyline served as a perfect backdrop for Clay's show.

The Pip sequence was hysterical, especially watching Clay try to make his way over to the poor unsuspecting victim. The guy sounded absolutely miserable but once he was up on stage in that freaky afro wig and yellow feather boa, he let it all hang loose and seemed to really be enjoying himself.

Bob and Linda were there tonight -- it was their 97th concert -- and Clay acknowledged them from the stage.

Clay didn't seem quite as chatty tonight, certainly not by comparison to how he was in Kettering. There was no stump the band and barely any lead-in to the new songs. However, he ridiculed a lady on the 4th row center for using her binoculars. LOL!

Oh, I almost forgot -- it was MY quarter that Felix put in the jukebox! :-) The stage was a bit higher up than I'd expected so I tossed it vertically up to him and somehow he managed to grab it!

Near the end of the show when Clay's introducing the band members (several of whom we saw afterwards at a nearby restaurant, including Andy, Felix, and Clarence), he reached out and played a couple of notes on each instrument! He was like a little kid about it. So adorable!

The number with Angela and Quiana flanking Clay as they sit on the steps (60's song, can't remember which one) was even more priceless than usual. Clay took both his legs and draped them over the girls' legs so that they basically couldn't have moved even if they wanted to! It was so funny and I managed to get a picture of it.

Speaking of which, I had originally thought I wouldn't take any pics tonight and just absorb the experience of front row but when he was so very close, what choice id I have?!? So I took about 100 pics with about half turning out pretty well. I won't be able to post them until next week when I'm in Atlantic City and can borrow Clazy4Clay's computer, but will do so as soon as I can.

One last thing -- there were two women a couple of seats over from me who apparently aren't mega-fans like we are. They were incredulous that I would travel all over kingdom come to see Clay multiple times and that I'd often go by myself. They also said they preferred hearing him sing his own material rather than cover songs. :-( Oh well, to each his own -- I hope the smallish crowd that was there tonight enjoyed the 5000% that Clay gave to us. I know I sure did!

Betsy

Concert recap courtesy the CB's All4Luv:
What a perfectly beautiful night!!!! AS others mentioned, the backdrop for the show was the Cleveland skyline and it was a great visual to support our "King of Song"!!!

For anyone who has not seen or purchased the tour program...do it!!! There's one photo, in particular, Clay in a tuxedo shirt...an amzing profile which will take your breath away:thud Several women stopped to look as I was sharing the pics with a friend and they just had to run over to the tour merchandise stand!!!!

I am blessed...Clay came into the audience exactly two rows behind me, to the seat!!! I'll never fully recover:thud I can't believe he is so confident in these situations to jump into the crowd...but I'm soo glad he does it!! Jerome would never tolerate that(not a diss to Jerome, please!). All those lucky people he used for support as he walked on the chairs to reach that guy!!! The rows in the center section on the floor had at least 50 seats with no aisle. I could count his freckles!!! I didn't touch him as everyone else was grabbing and he made the comment about hoping to come out of the audience with his clothes ON!!!

Clay really does love to play with the fans and it is such a great part of his show! The dancer was hysterical, Felix tried to imitate her and was soo funny!! It is really a family up there on stage and i wish the tour was at least 10 days longer, as it just keeps getting better every night!!

I'm from Cleveland and was also disappointed that the venue did not sell out. Q194 did give awat tix last week, but generally they don't get it...sattelite radio is gonna crush these stations. Did q104 play a clay song after talking to the ticket winner...NO. They gush over Rob Thomas!!!Enough ranting. I decided to give up on feeling bad about the unsold seats and enjoy the majic of OMC!!!

Clay DID come out to the busses and over to the crowd with a quick touch and "thabks", then signed his love for us and smiled that fabulous smile as the bus inched away from the parking lot of the venue. It's so hard to go home after that. You seeks out other fans to relive the moments, to cry, to plan for a future encounter with that so-very-special young man. I thought I would be extra weepy yesterday, as I spent the morning moving my youngest child(son) into college. But all of that and the concert did not hit me until about midnight!! Now I'll probably cry all day. No more Jukebox shows for me, but I saw three, which is three more than many of you, so I am blessed and my son told me to have a good time at the show before we parted yesterday...he understands in his own way.

Concert recap courtesy the CB's hpchica:
Whew! Now that I have a few hours of sleep, I'll try to explain some details.

I ALWAYS dance like that during "Can't touch this", but I haven't had a seat as accessable to Clay seeing it. Usually I just get a rise out of the people around me, but I figured "Hey, if Clay can see it, maybe he'll get a giggle out of it". so I did. I danced and he looked at me and said "See now you're doin' it too..." and while I was doing it, I couldn't hear much of anything until he said "I want YOU to come up HERE".

I thought to myself, "HUH? Is he serious? Alrighty then!!!" So I went around the back and got onstage (it seems like it took shorter than it actually did...in the video it seems longer. hm.) and I COULD NOT hear a word he was saying. I couldn't! All I knew at that point was that he was asking my name. I had to have him repeat the other question (where I was from). After that, I couldn't hear what he said.

So when he said, "I want you three to do everything Ariel does. Ready?" and I said to him, "I can't hear a word you're sayin'!" and he pulled the mic away and yelled "JUST DANCE!" and I said "ALRIGHT!!!!!" LOL. so I did! I just made it up on the spot. Just a bunch of nonsense that we do in dance class when we're bored and the teacher has to cue up the music or take a phone call.

All the sudden I hear "GO ARIEL! GO ARIEL!" while I"m doing the Cabbage Patch and the Running Man, and before I knew it Clay's hand was on my head!!!! LOL!!! (and what a large hand it is.....the bottom of his palm covered my ENTIRE forehead and his fingers were sprawled on my hair...OH THAT WAS HEAVEN LET ME TELL YOU!!!!) I knew what he was doing, so I just went along with it. I thought it was Jacob behind me but it turned out to be Angela.

Looking at the video now, his reactions are priceless! To when I was dancing in the audience, to when I was dancing onstage. But I feel SO FORTUNATE, because I really wasn't trying to get onstage. I just wanted to get a giggle out of him for imitating Quiana, Angela, and Jacob! :laugh And it was awesome. I think he remembered me from earlier because he called on me when he was asking for events in the 70's.

It all happened so fast! And everyone wanted to touch me afterward, LOL. Everyone was talking to me. S'von came up to me after the show and said "Ariel! I didn't know you could dance!!" I was surprised he remembered me....we met in Kettering and Toledo. He pulled me into a big hug and I said "You remember me?" He goes, "Yeah!! You're my biggest fan!!!" lol. That was cool. :lubdub

I'm still on cloud nine....If anyone has any pictures from last night, please email them to me at Cottontail381@hotmail.com, or put a link to them in a PM. If there wasn't video, no one would believe me! but I figure taking pictures to work is easier than taking my laptop. :laugh

Toronto Sun Review

2005-08-26T20:19:00.000-04:00

Lounge Star
Too much cheese spoils mostly competant Clay Aiken show
By JANE STEVENSON

THERE'S A showroom in Las Vegas with Clay Aiken's name on it.

At least judging from his medley-heavy and costume-friendly show last night at the Molson Amphitheatre.

Aiken's so-called Jukebox tour -- marking his first-ever solo concert in Toronto -- covered pop music from the '50s to the early 21st century.

And I do mean covered.

At last count, Aiken -- the second season runnerup of American Idol -- and his nine-piece band performed over 60 songs, mostly snippets mind you, although some got the full treatment.

It often felt like an exhaustive, decade-by-decade examination -- as the show dragged past the two-and-a-half hour mark including a 20 minute intermission -- when it had all the makings of what could have been a decent night of music.

While it's not my taste, Aiken does have a No. 1 album, 2003's Measure Of A Man, that he's numerously toured in support of in the U.S.

He said he felt compelled to do a different show this summer but I might have waited until his sophomore album was released.

The real revelation was Aiken himself, the self-professed nerd from Raleigh, N.C., who is quite charismatic in a live setting, friendly and funny and in complete control of both his band and the audience, while not at all willing to take himself too seriously.

When he introduced the Canadian executive producer of his next album, Jaymes Levy Foster (sister of David Foster) in the audience, he said of the delayed disc: "It's going to have Canadian flair to it when it comes out in 2025!"

Another funny bit saw him taking requests from the audience -- everything from Guns 'N Roses Sweet Child O' Mine to O Canada -- while fighting against the noise from competing fireworks courtesy of the CNE.

But the first clue the cheese was coming was the way the concert started: Three of Aiken's musicians asked for quarters to put in the small jukebox on stage.

Of all things, one of the worst songs in rock history, Starship's We Built This City, came blaring out and then started skipping crazily before a black leather jacket-clad Aiken appeared on stage and pounded the jukebox to make it stop.

From there it was non-stop '50s classics such as Twistin' The Night Away, Let's Go To The Hop, The Great Pretender, etc., plus the obligatory Elvis tribute.

A wardrobe was also dragged on stage so that Aiken could literally change clothes with each new decade of songs -- the white polyester suit for the '70s, spandex for the '80s.

Maybe Aiken's just pandering to his wide-ranging audience, given the cross section of women of all ages, families and the occasional couple -- one was celebrating their 25th anniversary and let him know it -- in the seats.

When he did stop long enough to deliver a song in its entirety -- Unchained Melody, Love Me Tender (which he performed solo on piano), Suspicious Minds, Solitaire, Mandy, Bridge Over Troubled Water, When Doves Cry, I Can't Make You Love Me, and his own hit Invisible -- he had the vocal goods.

And some much needed soul was injected into the evening by his two astonishing female backup singers who took over lead vocals on such standouts as Midnight Train To Georgia, Rescue Me, Think, I Feel The Earth Move, and I Will Always Love You.

Naturally, this review will not go over well with Aiken's devoted fanbase, apparently not as healthy in Toronto given the low-turnout, estimated at around 5,000 people making for the smallest audience I have seen at the amphitheatre this summer.

But I'm sure I'll hear from all those Claymates (females) and Claydawgs (males) -- and even Claynadians -- who feel their beloved Aiken can do no wrong.

I just think he can do much better.

---

CLAY AIKEN

MOLSON AMPHITHEATRE

'HUMAN JUKEBOX'

-- JANE STEVENSON, SUN

Sun Rating: 2 out of 5

8/23 Merrillville, IN Recaps

2005-08-24T09:45:00.000-04:00

Concert recap courtesy the CB's Starrgirl01:
Well...I'm home safe and sound and want to apologize to those receiving cellcerts from me and my daughter. Neither or us can figure out why we kept losing connection. Both of us were using a plugged in mic with our phones closed and still couldn't keep a connection. Clayhottie87 :waa . Kris tried to call you back and when you called, it disconnected. We were discreet, but a woman next to me said if I opened my phone again to call she would throw it out the door:yow .

This was my one and only JBT concert and it was better than even I expected and I had watched about half the show on video so far. Clay walked out with a James Dean swagger and the look on his face has the Fonz beat to smithereens. When he went to jump on the piano the lights were still low and we could see him flailing his arms as his feet skittered across the piano. Thought for sure he was going to go flying into space. When he was finished with the song, he said he even thought he was going to end up in S'von's lap. I didn't hear it (loud crowd), but my daughter said that Clay mentioned putting bathtub stickers on the bottom of his shoes next time. MOre in a minute. Gotta clean the litterbox....

Clay was chatty between songs. It's still a blur. His Elvis medley was perfect. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Suspicious Minds. My daughter likes Clay's music but not obsessed. She was a row in front of me and 2 seats to my left. I kept watching her face and was pleased to see her mouth drop open and then snap shut and then a huge grin would spread across her face. Then she was singing along. The Clayton has worked his magic on another victim:laugh . During Happy Together, Clay would switch his attentions back and forth between Q and A. Q would pout and Clay would sing to her and then Angela grabbed his tie and held onto it so he would sing to her. Very low key, but cute. Clay didn't go into the audience to select a man. Michelle and her boyfriend came on stage and it appears HE is the fan and brought his girlfriend along. He had them both dance to Car Wash and Michelle had on the black wig and red sunglasses and rocked out better than her boyfriend.
When Clay asked what happened during the 70's, it was hilarious. The lights were up and I was watching the crowd. Maybe 40-50 were standing up and had their hands raised and were waiting to be called on. Very organized. Clay would point to the person and he/she would call out a memorable moment from the 70's. Landing on the moon, John Travolta, the death of Elvis, Iran hostage crisis (it was like a history lesson:laugh ) Finally someone said "You were born" and Clay went into song. The same thing happened when he asked for songs for stump the band. Fans weren't quite as polite, but still they held their hands up and waited for Clay to call on them. We are nothing if not fast learners. I think Clay loves this control. I had to hold onto the chair in front of me when Clay sang "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me". Please let their be clack of this. Amazing!!! Someone requested "Impossible Dream" and the whole audience begin hollering NOOOOOO and BOOOOO. Gee, I would like Clay to sing anything, but I found myself hoping he wouldn't sing it also. Very strange. He did sing a few bars of "Brown-Eyed Girl" and then said they were running out of time as this was a union theater?? and they had to be done on time. Gee, sorry, I'm just all over the place here but it's all still a blur. I do have one complaint. During the piano intro to ICMYLM, several girls kept screaming "I love you" and people would shuush them. Someone else would scream out and then a man hollered "me too". It was good to hear the entire theater trying to shush them. Once he started singing, they were quiet for the most part. He did his new songs and they were great. The crowd all sang along to BFM and Invisible and Clay shared the mic ALOT for Invisible. I will say that my section had poor quality sound. Others agreed. Other sections said the sound was great. Those near the speakers had their hands over their ears. It did distort the piano and some of Clay's songs. Still, he was better than any other singer I have heard in concert. Quianna brought some people to their feet in the front row who had been seated all night. Even Clay came out and told them that Quianna had done what he hadn't been able to do..bring those 4 or 5 people to their feet. He was proud of her.

I'm sure others will have more memory of what went on, but I do want to say that I loved every minute of this concert and Clay is magnetic on that stage. When he banged the juke box at the end I got hit with about 10#'s of streamers and like a teen-ager (which I'm not), I dragged them all out to my
car:laugh . I am such a dork. I'll drag them around to entertain the cats tomorrow.

Toronto Fashion Monitor Pre-Concert Article

2005-08-23T14:15:00.000-04:00

Clay Aiken in Toronto: Join The Clay Nation
Clay Aiken performs in Toronto tomorrow, August 25, 2005, at Molson Amphiteatre at 7:30 pm.

There's something you need to know about Clay Aiken, who melts his audience into clay each time he performs.

Clay Aiken, born Clayton Holmes Grissom on November 30, 1978, rose to fame on the American Idol TV show.

The American Idol judges first saw Aiken as a nerdy type unlikely to be any kind of idol, but they were immediately impressed once he began singing Heatwave's "Always and Forever". The clip of the judges' surprise during this audition performance would be replayed many times over the course of the competition.

Clay Aiken's single "Bridge Over Troubled Water"/"This Is the Night", released June 10, 2003, has gone platinum. It was the fastest-selling single since Elton John's "Candle in the Wind" and the best-selling single of 2003.

In October of 2003 Aiken released his first solo album, Measure of a Man, which debuted at #1 on the "Billboard 200" and was, with over 600,000 copies sold in its first week, the fastest-selling debut for a solo artist in 10 years. The album eventually went triple platinum, and spawned the hit single "Invisible."

Later that year Aiken won the Fan's Choice Award at the American Music Awards ceremony, and his CD single "This Is the Night/Bridge Over Troubled Water" won the Billboard award for the Best-selling Single of 2003.

Due to speculation within American popular culture that he is gay, Aiken has been the subject of gay jokes by Conan O'Brien, Kathy Griffin, Saturday Night Live, and Mad TV, among others. Clay Aiken denied he was gay in a Rolling Stone interview in June, 2003, and, in fact, he good-naturedly lampooned such speculation in the opening monologue featuring him as a member of a gay men's chorus when he appeared as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live.

Apart from his music career, Aiken has been dedicated to advocating for education and for children's causes. His interest in autism issues led him to set up the Bubel-Aiken Foundation, which supports the integration of children with disabilities into the life environment of their non-disabled peers. Clay Aiken also serves as an ambassador for the Ronald McDonald House Charities® .

Clay Aiken also has donated his time to multiple benefit events and concerts, including performing at the NBC4 telethon, which rose over $10 million, and recorded public service announcements in support of South Asian tsunami relief. He later recorded a video, featuring the song "Give a Little Bit," to be used as a public service announcement (PSA) to raise money for tsunami victims.

As a special education teacher, Aiken has also been active in lobbying Congress in favor of education. In 2004, he was appointed U.S. Fund for UNICEF National Ambassador. A budding philanthropist and longtime education advocate, Aiken uses his Ambassador status to help ensure that children everywhere are afforded a primary education. "Education is the best investment any society can make for the health and well-being of its children," said Charles J. Lyons, president of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. "Clay Aiken, like all of our National Ambassadors, was chosen based on his compassion and deep commitment to helping children around the world. We're very pleased to have him join the UNICEF family."

In March 2005 Aiken visited the tsunami-stricken Banda Aceh area as a UNICEF Ambassador to raise awareness for the need to restore education quickly to the children who survived this disaster, to provide stability. In April 2005 he appeared before the United States House of Representatives Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs of the Committee on Appropriations, on behalf of UNICEF.

In May 2005 Unicef sent Aiken to Uganda to raise awareness for the plight of children in this civil-war torn country.

Source: Wikipedia, other news sources.

Meadville Tribune Reviews/Article

2005-08-22T12:13:00.000-04:00

The Meadville Tribune published a review of the concert/an article about Meadville Claymate Shirley Schlosser (who posts at Clayversity and CB under the screenname angelty).

Faithful fans flock to Clay Aiken performance
Jean Shanley

WEST MEAD TOWNSHIP -- Shirley Schlosser lobbied the Crawford County Fair Board last year to sign Clay Aiken to appear at this year's fair.

In May when the tickets went on sale for the concert, she was among a group of women who stood in line outside the courthouse for one week to get front row seats.

From then until Sunday, she and other members of the Crawford County Clay Club have traveled to several counties promoting the concert -- convincing newspapers and radio and TV stations to let the world know Clay Aiken was coming to Crawford County.

She wanted others to know the joy she has had since she became a Clay Aiken fan -- to hear his music and see his energy for life.

Her mission was accomplished Sunday evening. Not only did 3,100 people attend the concert, Schlosser got to shake hands with her idol in a private "meet and greet" session with the star.

To say she was ecstatic is an understatement.

Meeting him was the thrill of a lifetime, she said, declaring Aiken "the most handsome man I have ever met -- except for my husband, of course." She raved about his eyes and his smile and was pleased at the opportunity to shake hands with the man she has worked so hard to promote. She and her sister-in-law, JoAnn Bidwell, had presented a card to Aiken's assistant notifying them of the large check to come from proceeds of the local group's efforts.

Told she could not ask questions, Schlosser had decided "I'm just going to look in his eyes." And that she did, content to see the smiling eyes that have soothed her soul during tough times.

She was part of a group who met Aiken and he had no idea that Schlosser was responsible for spreading the news to a good many people that Aiken would be singing in Crawford County. But that recognition didn't matter to her. She was just happy he was here -- and she was shaking his hand.

During the concert which followed, Aiken took the audience through 50 years of music, starting with the rock and roll era of the 1950s.

The audience on the racetrack, obviously devoted Clay Aiken fans, were on its feet for most of the first half of the show.

Starting from the time Aiken came on stage, the racetrack audience danced along, gave him standing ovations or (at his suggestion) sat quietly, mesmerized by the voice as he sang ballads from the 1950s and 1960s.

From traditional rock and roll to the Elvis hits and Motown, Aiken made his way to the 1970s, singing one or two verses of many of the hits from that era. He was equally as powerful on the ballads as he was on the fast songs, moving quickly from such songs as "Rocking Robin," "The Great Pretender," "Mr. Sandman," "That'll Be the Day," "Great Balls of Fire," "Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay" and "Unchained Melody" to an Elvis medley which included many of the King's hits including "Love Me Tender," "Don't Be Cruel," "Heartbreak Hotel," "I Can't Help Following in Loving With You" and "Suspicious Mind."

The Motown hits also were on the program with backup singers adding to the sound of the 1960 with "Downtown," "Solitaire" and many others.

Joking with the audience at times, Aiken spotted a couple in the audience with a sign, "He thought he was going to a heavy metal concert." He invited them on stage and joked about having the entire band touching the sign -- and inviting the man to dance with the backup singers.

The couple was Christy Lisska and her boyfriend, Jason Schlosser (Shirley Schlosser's son) from Columbus, Ohio. At intermission, Schlosser said he was nervous about what Aiken would have him do. His mother encouraged him just to have fun -- thrilled that he would be on stage.

When the second half of the concert started, Jason was on stage in disguise -- with big boa feathers and a huge wig, dancing along to the music of the 1970s.

From there, Aiken moved into songs such as "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" and others which touched the audience which roared with approval.

And Shirley Schlosser couldn't stop smiling.

"This is one of the best days of my life," she said, pleased with the audience response to the man she worked so hard to bring to Crawford County.

Her son's girlfriend, Christy, was also happy -- not just for Shirley but because Shirley's influence had made her a Clay Aiken fan.

And Clay Aiken's influence had done more than entertain her. Because of his work with children with autism, Christy has changed her career goal and decided that she, too, wants to work with children in special education.

Another member of the audience was Sherman Allen, a member of the Crawford County Fair Board, who said he pleased with the show.

"I think he's very entertaining. I'm enjoying it," Allen said at intermission.

For Shirley Schlosser and the many other Clay Aiken fans, it was a night they will long remember -- not just because of his music, but because he reminds them life is good.

Jean Shanley can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at jshanley@meadvilletribune.com

8/21 Meadville, PA Recaps

2005-08-21T17:33:00.000-04:00

Concert recap courtesy the CB's StarshineAngel:
I am very thrilled to say that this was my first JBT concert and I was NOT disappointed. Having not seen any pictures, clack, or any set lists I had NO IDEA what to expect going in, except for a few teeny tiny spoilers from the friends I went with.

It was amazing. Clay was having a rough night with his voice, and I did notice he had some trouble hitting some of his notes, but Jacob was right there in the background to help him. Having NOT seen the IT, this was my first time EVER seeing WDC... and I think I died. :thud It was absolutely incredible. I LOVED LOVED LOVED the new songs he performed and I was so excited to see him sing WAMLAW. You guys think the MP3 and the video are awesome? You should have BEEN THERE! It doesn't even DO it justice. It seemed like he was trying to make up for the rest of the night with this song and afterwards. It seemed when it was time for Clay Aiken's set, he got a second wind or something. I'm going again Wednesday night so hope everything is good! :)

P.S. Meadville fans aren't dead from Clay (I don't think) but I do think most of us are still in shock! ha.

Concert recap courtesy the CV's starhorse:
O M G!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Clay has killed me... slain me... I don't think my brain is functioing... cold20shower.gif th_ThudMats.gif th_ThudMats.gif

Before I go on: Mr. Dancermom videotaped practicaly the entire concert. He is a beginner I remind you. I watched some of the clips and they are pretty good with excellent sound. We can't upload them till we get back into the city which is tomorrow unfortunately.

Meadville was THE most amazing clay concert I have EVER been to! Clay was right on vocally. The crowd was great and had alot of teens, tweens, families, little kids, males, boys, girls, women etc. Well I don't think I can write a functioning recap right now but here's what I can say:

- Clay KILLED me with WAMLAW. He actually picked the right person in the crowd who said WAMLAW! A fan even gave him the lyrics. He had a chat with the band and back up singers and then he sang it. Looking down at the lyrics sheet once in a while. But dang did he perform that well! wub.gif cold20shower.gif

- Clay's voice was in tip top shape

- He did AMAZING changes to Solitaire cold20shower.gif

- Clay is HILARIOUS. Well I already knew that, but the banter tonight was great.

- A fan passed out 400 flyers that said TOUCH on them and people were told to hold them up after the 90's. Then Clay said I am not singing touch, there isn't enough of you holding signs. Then more people held up signs and he goes, well I guess there are more then I thought... How about we see how long you guys can hold up your signs? And the band puts on the Jeapordy song.... But we kept holding our signs. But everyone needs a sign in order for me to sing it. And that is what pushed him into doing stump the band.

- After Clay did WAMLAW he was sitting on the stool and people around us and different areas in the crowd plus dm and I started to yell THANK YOU to Clay for finally singing it. He actually looked puzzled for a second and sat there staring at us like Why are you thanking me? But we kept yelling Thank You and he put his chin in his hand... It was a great moment.

- I felt this very strong emotional connection to Clay and 1000 Days when he sung it. It was really intense.

- Both BFM and Invisible the crowd was REALLY into it. I could feel the energy in the air and Clay was definately feeding off of that. Giving that much more to his performances.

- At the end the energy of the crowd was still VERY high and the cheers were enormous. I don't know if he has done this before but he points at Angela, Quiana and Jacob for us to cheer for them. Then he pointed to each member of the band and motions with his hand "more". You know that motion he did in Rosanna... So the crowd still screams finally he waves and we cheer for him. He hits the jukebox and it's done.

- The only bad part of the night were the security guards at this fair!!!! We were waiting for Clay's bus. We weren't being roudy it was only maybe 30 people by an iron fence. This security guard comes up to us and goes "The fair will be closing in 10 minutes. Clay is gone. If you don't leave you will be locked in here till morning..." All of us are like yeah sure clay is gone... His bus is still in the lot with all the other buses. People start caling this security guard a liar. He claims he isn't lieing. Then Felix comes towards the fence to sign a drumstick for this little girl. We ask if Clay is still here. and Felix goes "yeah of course he's still here..." The security guard(s) just lied directly to our faces. mad.gif dry.gif Well they corralled us all away so the bus situation didn't pan out.

Concert recap courtesy the CB's MarLovesClay:
Okay, I want you all to know that I drove 4 hours after the show and got 3 hours of sleep, and I'm at work on a quick break. But I know what it's like to be waiting for reports!!!

This show was amazing! He is SO chatty and he has SUCH a good time. My brain is fried, but I'll try to remember some highlights. He looked amazing, hair short, blondish small spikes.

During So Happy Together, it was cute, Quiana at one point was tapping his leg and patting her chest so he would look back at her, and she wrapped her arm around his calf to keep him there, very very cute.

At the end of the Elvis microphone leg wrap, he really smiled (almost laughed) at someone in the band, either Felix or S'von. I wondered what that was about, again, very cute.

For the man in the audience, he didn't come down, but talked to a guy in the front row who had supposedly come for some heavy metal band (don't know the name) and this really seemed to crack Clay up. He made the man and his girlfriend come up on stage, and when he found out they were from Columbus, he actually laughed and SNORTED into the microphone. I sure hope this is on video.

He also was very interactive with people in the front row, he said something about the woman having her sign complete tonight, not like the other night.

For the 70's, he was asking for what happened again, and people held up a lot of signs. He was very funny and snarky as usual.

He seemed to have a little less contact with Angela during WDC, but he makes it hot just standing there, LOL. And at the end, when he went back up on top of the stairs, he did a shirt tug (you'll have to see my video when it's up!!!) without realizing it, I think, ha ha. Maybe a shirt scrunch. He really gets into the performance of this song.

He promoted both Angela's and Jacob's CD, and wanted a lot of applause for the backups. He spent A LOT of time introducing the band and support folks, and was very cute and funny about it.

I thought his voice was superb, but the acoustics weren't great last night where I was sitting. A couple of raspy moments, especially at the end, although he hit the note on 1000 Days better than ever, in my opinion. It was clear, loud, and pitch perfect. Someone told me that he sang parts of BOTW in a lower octave, instead of going higher.

Now, Stump the Band was SO FUNNY. The best one yet. He took FOREVER with it, and even said that he couldn't keep us there all night (but it was due to him, LOL). He mentioned the signs for Touch, and said he MIGHT sing it if EVERY person in the venue had a sign for it. I took that as - he ain't ever gonna sing it, 'cause that ain't ever gonna happen. He always seems snarky/sarcastic when Touch is brought up. Someone behind me tried to get him to sing "Time for me to Fly" from REO, but he didn't know it, nor did anyone in the band (that surprised me!). Someone requested Bohemeim Raphsody again, and he said they already tried that. Finally, someone said "WAMLAW" and when he said it, the crowd went wild. He tried to get it together with the band - you've probably seen on the video - and I almost cried when he did. You can see how amazing it was to FINALLY hear it! He was so cute.

For Invisible, he did a full shirt tug, then the second time, he was just standing there, and just tugged with a smile as if to say "here's the tug", it was cute.

The place really rocks with the new stuff. He seemed more like a rock/pop star at the end there. I really prefer the songs that show off his voice more, but I believe the new stuff will be radio friendly, and it will be great to see more people turned onto Clay. There will be lots more time to show off the range of his voice in the future.

BTW, video cameras galore! I even took my first video as you can see in the video/picture threads. I have several snippets of the banter that I'll try to get to MOAF later, even though they will be annoying as not together. First day with new camera taking video, ha ha!

That's all I can remember for now. GREAT SHOW. It just gets better every time!

ETA: I love the way that when Clay is talking to someone in the audience, he tried to shush everyone else, and holds up his finger saying he's trying to talk to someone now. It is SO funny. I think the audience laughed more last night than any show I was at.

Oh yeah - something else. When he sat down to play piano, he was looking off, and there was a big field area within the fence. Someone who must have had connections had their vehicle there, and he looks at it and says, "Look, someone just drove up with their car, took out chairs, and is going to sit there and watch. Well, if they don't like the music, they can turn on their radio." I can't tell you how much of this stuff that just keeps coming off the top of his head and out of his mouth. He could practically be a stand up comedian at times!!!

Edited again!!! (and then I have to go back to work)

Thought he made two funny church references, and I was just reminded of one from the Meadville review. He told us all to sit down for the first slow one (I think UM) and he said, "It's just like being in church - you may be seated." Then for the 90's, Ange was wearing her orange and black as usual, and he asked if she wore that to church, and she said yes. And he said something like "what kind of a church is that, where you wear spandax!!!" Like I said, he was ON last night!

8/19 Interlochen, MI Recaps

2005-08-19T20:55:00.000-04:00

Concert recap courtesy the CB's Debmeister221:
Greetings from the Econolodge. Just got back from seeing Clay. He was great of course. The audience was very reserved and most did not stand at the beginning of the show. Then Clay asked Ethel and Spike what was wrong and they told him that we were told we could not stand and he said if the ushers have a problem to come talk to him and if we wanted to stand or dance to go ahead. After that, most people stood up.Clay played "stump the band". Some songs the audience chose were "Stairway to Heaven, Rosanna, Bohemian Rhapsody and something by "Mr. Big. Clay sang some of stairway to heaven, rosanna and he and jacob sang a little of bohemian rhapsody. For the last one, he asked the audience member to come up since he didnt know the song. After she started to sing it, he recognized it and sang along. It was great. There were alot of people at the buses and security was a little rude. We didnt have to wait too long today, as Clay waved from the bus as he left after a short wait of about 45 minutes. So we are very happy and content. See you all soon....Deb

Concert recap courtesy the CB's kalacoze:
Went to the Interlochen concert last night and had a great time. It had been raining for two days straight, but the weather cleared up in time for the concert and the temps were moderate. The venue has good acoustics and the sound was really good except for a mic cutting out briefly a couple times. I rarely post, but saw only one review, so thought I'd add mine. Went with two 20-somethings who also had a really good time and raved about what a good show Clay puts on.
The ushers (all volunteer) took their instructions maybe a little too seriously and were telling people to sit down throughout the '50s medley, which put a damper on the beginning for those of us who wanted to be up and moving, but once Clay announced we should get up and dance the crowd responded! It was a mixed group, all ages.
Clay made several mentions about being nervous performing at a music school (especially playing the piano for Love Me Tender).
The crowd was quiet throughout all of I Can't Make You Love Me, so if there's Clack it should be really good. The lighters and lights were waving and flickering during 1000 Days and once again the ushers got a little overzealous with the admonitions and flashlights in faces (I was blinded by one and wasn't even holding a lighter). Fists were pumping during Angela's Freedom and seriously going to town for Back for More. I had a really great time.

Concert recap courtesy the CB's Pattilynn:
The Interlochen concert was fabulous. It was a beautiful night and the place was pretty crowded. Once Clay told everyone it was OK to stand up and dance, that's what people did. A lot of these attendees are regular patrons who aren't use to these kind of cocerts. Clay seemed to be having so much fun that he didn't want it to end. The prolonged "Stump the Band" was definite proof of that.

When Clay accidently spit in Quianna's face, he had a hard time not laughing whenever he looked at her, but he held it in and maintained a professional attitude. When he came over to the side where the teen girls were jumping and screaming, he gave them big smiles and sang directly to them for quite awhile. It was so cute and the girls got very excited. He also winked at the little girl sitting in the front row. She was so surprised, she covered her face.

The lady taking the tickets, asked me where I got my program and I told her I bought it. She took one look and said she had to get her hands on one too. Because it is a music camp, there were a lot of high school students walking around while we were waiting to get into the the venue. One group of high school boys walked by, carrying their instruments and one said, "I wish I could hear Clay sing". His buddy said, "Just open your window tonight. You'll hear him alright. He can wail." All in all it was a great night. I just wish I could go to another one.

Concert recap courtesy the CB's LUVclay26:
I am like that Amish kid in the movie "Witness" right now. I am as speechless, catatonic, dumbstruck etc as they come after Friday. (I may or may not post my recap in this "Official thread" business. So my recap will fall off after 20 pages. You guy's loss - not that anyone cares about my recaps so it is fine.) I think other folks are probably on their way home or lost - I am SHOCKED folks like me get lost in places OTHER THAN North Carolina) and I'm one of the first to get to a computer.

Anyway, I don't know what to say that I won't way in my recap. Interlochen was SO WORTH getting lost and traveling from Indy. It is SO WORTH maybe being labeled a stalker for traveling all that way. I think this was my favorite show of all the shows of all the tours I have seen.

Let me just say the acoustics were phenomenal. I think since this was a performing arts school they have the acoustics be so good. The music was great. The performances were on. I am unsure how to write all this because I am still processing the whole experience since I was at Indy as well.

For those that care, my quarter started the jukebox. There was me and the other person that handed the quarters. I tell you it took all my guts to go up and hand that quarter over because I WAS PETRIFIED. But, I did it. Yes, a small victory (I'm shy as shy -social phobic even- as can be though sometimes you'd never know it - YES you can CAN believe some of what you read on the net *shifty eyes*) for me to even go up to (it was either S'Von or that dude that was called "The Bishop") whomever and say my name. The first quarter (the other person's quarter - I feel bad that someone else wanted to do it, but I so badly wanted as well since I was front row) didn't start it. Then they go how they wanted to try again. They said something about tryng "Erin's quarter." Oh man. As terrifing as that was, it was awesome.

As for the songs, um, they were all great. Like I said I am like that Amish kid on that "Witness" movie cause I don't think I can express everything with just going and doing my long rambling "takes 20 days to read why did she go into that much detail" recaps. I am speechless for VERY MANY reasons.

WDC was the hottest I have ever seen it. Let's say Angela has a great gig. :) LVL was awesome! GBOF on the piano was the BEST I have seen it done. He added a bit of vocal nuances either there or somewhere that were just fitting and awesome. Motown was ON and Angela (I hope I have the right singer) was ON for "Think!" Aretha better watch out. Quiana was ON for IWALY as well.

The stump the band thingy was funny. Yeah, he did "Rosanna." For performing a HARD song like that off the cuff like he did, it was good. Believe it or not, he did do a small bit of "Bohemean Rhapsody" unless it was Jacob. I am amazed he can actually get his voice up that high. Somewhere in there he did the "OMG" voice thingy. That was funny. Someone wanted him to do the 1991 one hit wonder monster hit "Be With You" by Mr. Big. He had no idea what song it was until the girl was told to go up on stage and she sang a bar or 2. I tried to sing it but I can't sing. They then sanbg it a little.

Oh man there is SO MUCH MORE I will write later. Sadly, Indy may be unfairly pale compared to the Interlochen portion of my recap. I just have so much to say. I'll try to stay away from inside jokes too so we don't have to say we know inside jokes to be cool. ;)

Rock on guys. I'll try to make it not too rambling when I get that recap up. If y'all want to read it, that is cool. If not (I know my grammer and such sucks - why I am a chemist NOt a writter), well that is fine too. This was just a taste of Interlochen.

Rock on.

LUVclay26

Meadville Tribune Pre-Concert Article

2005-08-19T18:16:00.000-04:00

'Idol' runner-up won't guess what future holds
Jean Shanley
Meadville Tribune (Fair Supplement)
August 19, 2005

Although he is known for his music, Clay Aiken is also known for his work as a UNICEF ambassador and as of the founders of an organization that helps children with developmental disabilities. He recently took two trips as a UNICEF ambassador -- one to Uganda and one to Indonesia.

Aiken said in a phone interview with The Meadville Tribune that the trips "put things in perspective. After seeing things in Indonesia and the resilience, hope and belief they have, their faith and how resilient they are, how they want to continue to move forward, I (realize I)should stop complaining about traffic and stop whining about it being hot," Aiken said.

After seeing people who have been forced to kill their family or others, Aiken said, he realized again how "fortunate we are" in being part of this country and having the freedoms people here have.

Aiken had written a book, "Learning To Sing" about his life before he became a recording star. But he's not sure he will write a sequel.

"That was about my life," he said, laughing at what he might write next.

Asked about the Clay Aiken trading pins his fans have developed and trade, Aiken said he was aware of them. But he doesn't know how many there are.

"I want to collect them all," he said, laughing.

"I laugh a lot," he said, responding to aquestion about what makes him laugh. There was no immediate one thing, although later in the interview he said, "I laugh at myself a lot."

Asked what makes him cry, Aiken said, "I cry a lot -- over the same things that make me laugh."

Getting serious, he recalled his two foreign trips recently and that he didn't cry during the trips despite what he saw.

He said he did what his job was -- fact-finding.

But enroute home on the plane "I realized what I had just seen. That was pretty powerful; I cried about two hours," he said.

Although the fans know a lot about Aiken, he said they would be surprised to know his favorite color. But he declined revealing it, keeping one secret to himself.

He's not sure what the future holds.

He ahd been quotes in TV Guide as saying that someday he would like to be a talk show host like Larry King.

In Tuesday's phone interview, Aiken said he had no particular subject (person) he would like to interview or any particular topic to be discussed.

But, he said, the Larry King one-hour show format "intrigues me." He said most talk shows all one hears about is a newly released album or movie and then a few quick questions.

"Even then they only get 15 minutes," he added.

"They (the short interviews) don't focus on the real person; they don't get to the meat and heart of a person," Aiken said.

He believes the one-hour shows such as King's does allow the audience to get the opportunity to "really get to know the person and what he is thinking."

Aiken said some of the most amazing stories he has heard have been ones of people who have helped another person.

"I have traveled the country and found real stories from real people," he said.

He plans to continue his work as a UNICEF ambassador and to work with the Bubel/Aiken Foundation which he help start which seeks integration for children with disabilities. [sic]

Regarding his future, Aiken said in five years, "I would hope people will still say nice things (about me)."

However, he said, "I have a hard time making plans and setting goals for where I want to be five years from now. It shortsights me," he said. He wants to to [sic] "open and willing at the right time" for any opportunities.

By setting goals as to where he wants to be one year, two years or three years from now, "It doesn't really allow me to be other possibilities." He said, "If I were going to set goals, I'd make sure I was open to things on the periphery, not shut myself out to other opportunities. I don't want to try to guess, I just want to be able to say I did it in the way I thought was the most honest, the most scrupulous for not only me, but for those around me."

Aiken will be at the Crawford County Fai one Aug. 21 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at the Crawford County Courthouse.

Erie Times News Article on Meadville Claymates

2005-08-19T14:23:00.000-04:00

FANS DIG DATE WITH CLAY
by JoLayne Green
contributing editor, Erie Times News

MEADVILLE---Shirley Schlosser gushes about her favorite pop singer--about how hot he is, how beautiful his voice is, how much she loves him.

Doris Northrup seconds those views. She has second row center seats to see the same pop singer at the Crawford County Fair on Sunday. She camped out in the rain and snow at the Crawford County Courthouse to get them.

Northrup is 69. Schlosser is a 63 year-old retired schoolteacher. Both admit to being as giddy as teens about their 26 year old "American Idol", Clay Aiken.

"He's just a perfect entertainer, and he is hot," said Northrup, of Union City. Even old ladies appreciate that. He makes you feel like a teenager."

Schlosser, of Woodcock, has seen Aiken in concert 25 times since March and has tickets for 10 more performances, including his Crawford County Fair concert this month.

"That makes me sound a little strange," Schlosser said between trips. I never thought it would be what I'd be doing in my retirement, but I'm not hurting anyone."

Northrup nearly cried when Aiken didn't win the second season of TV's "American Idol". She voted for him and was dismayed when he finished second.

"I was devestated. I couldn't sleep that night. I think I almost cried., Northrup said.'I couldn't believe he didn't win, but I think he did win. He's just too good to fade away."

Schlosser was also disappointed, but knew that Aiken would make a name for himself anyway. She typed his name into an Internet search engine and found numerous fan sites.

"He's not going anywhere, and I'm going to find him," sher told herself.

She not only found him, she's been following him from concert to concert since. Her husband , Ron, is unperturbed.

"She's having the time of her life," he said. "And it just means I can play more golf."

Northrup has only attended a few concerts, but her husband wonders at even that much fuss, she said.

"He thinks I'm a little crazy, Northrup said. "He thinks I'm going through a phase."

Other family members wonder, too. Northrup's daughter and grandchildren will accompany her to the concert--as chaperones. She says she is going to keep me in line," Northrupsaid of her daughter.

There will be no worries about tossing inappropriate personal items or rushing the stage, though

"We respect Clay's space, although we'd all love to hug him to pieces," Northrup said "We're all hoping we're going to get that someday."

Fans admire more than Aiken's voice and good looks. His foundation for special needs children and UNICEF and his family-friendly music are key reasons why fans are devoted gto him.

"We pray for Clay every day, because, you know the music business is a rough business,"Northrup said. "He is a Christian young man, and we appreciate his morals."

Helping to raise money for Aiken's charitable foundation has helped to heal Schlosser, too. She is grieving a dead son.

"The music had gone out of my life, and hearing his music went to my heart, to my soul," she said. "It made the difference between life being good again to being exciting again."

Schlosser is doing her best to make Meadville exciting for the visiting pop star.

"I knew I had to do whatever I could to make it a good stop for him and his fans, she said. Schlosser and other local Aiken fans will host a brunch at the Day's Inn Sunday at 10:00 am. Proceeds from the brunch and a silent auction will be donated to Aiken's charity.

The group has also prepared a large basket to give to Aiken. The basket will include Northrup's Maple Syrup and maple-candy letteres spelling out'sweet on Clay". There are candy coated peanuts only because Aiken is allergic to all other kinds of nuts. The basklet also holds items for Aiken's beloved dfog.

Fans aren't thinking about the letdown when Aiken leaves Meadville. What matters most right now is that his local concert is just days away.

"God has blessed him with a beautiful voice and a beautiful soul, and that's why we love him," Northrup said.
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Indianapolis Star Review

2005-08-19T09:43:00.000-04:00

Aiken's 'Jukebox' covers the basics
By David Lindquist

Clay Aiken is putting in the work that's likely needed to maintain his status as a star.

Although he has no recording to promote, the former "American Idol" runner-up sang dozens of hits from the rock 'n' roll era Thursday night at the Indiana State Fair.

Aiken's "Jukebox Tour" spotlights each decade from the 1950s to today, with his own material capping the 21/2-hour journey.

The concert scored points as a showcase for Aiken's durability and flexibility, not to mention as a bargain for his highly devoted fan base (about 60 songs for a $35 ticket).

Meanwhile, it raised questions about the public's taste in music. Why did some of these songs -- Heart's "Alone" and Petula Clark's "Downtown," for instance -- become chart-toppers?

For Aiken, "Jukebox" brings the risk of reinforcing an easy (and valid) criticism of "American Idol": Karaoke singers don't deserve to be celebrities.

At least his theatrical reworking of "When Doves Cry" added a gothic twist to Prince's original version. Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul surely would rave to see Aiken stretch out.

The show's art direction would have benefited from similar inventiveness, as the backdrop curtains designating each decade were a low-rent disappointment.

Wardrobe did its part, outfitting Aiken in a leather jacket, a leisure suit and a casual vest as the years rolled on.

But he looked or sounded his best when sporting a basic black suit and offering a string of Motown classics.

Supporting vocalists Quiana Parler, Angela Fisher and Jacob Luttrell helped approximate the sound of the Supremes, the Miracles and the Temptations.

Aiken himself brought the intensity and purpose to the Four Tops' "Reach Out (I'll Be There)."

If "Jukebox" were to be interpreted as a competition among eras and approaches, send the trophy to Berry Gordy at Hitsville, U.S.A.

After an intermission, Aiken meandered through the '70s, '80s and '90s. Momentum stalled during selections popularized by Barry Manilow and Christopher Cross.

Luttrell and Parler actually kept things lively thanks to spot-on tributes to Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston.

Finally, in an odd bit of 2005 fair trivia, Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire" has been performed by three Grandstand headliners: Rascal Flatts, Garrison Keillor and Aiken.Computer/Web Hosting Services Provided by Blogger and HostDepartment.com. Thank you.

8/18 Indianapolis, IN Recaps

2005-08-18T21:25:00.000-04:00

Concert recap courtesy the CB's LUVClay26:
Howdy all. I am at my hotel internet business center to just check in and say howdy. I am exhuasted as I have been up 28 hours now. I drove after 5 hours of work at 3am from KC to Indy (8 hour drive). Here I am just not myself.

Where do I begin?

It was overall a GREAT show. That is no suprise. I think I saw folks video so there, of course, will be Clack. There were no mentions of the net tonight. Oddly, he and Angela BEHAVED tonight. They made it through the 60s medly without cracking up.

He was kinda chatty with signs tonight and interactive with some parts of the show. My mind is fuzzy so bear with me. I also had some personal issues tonight I won't get into here.

WDC...GAH!!!! It was a VERY NICE version of it tonight. It was complete with the repetoire of the tummy touches, the whole dance thing (featuring flexible bendy movements), and Angela putting her fingers through his hair. It was hottness. WDC segement should be renamed the "It is so good to be Angela" segement of the show.

"Solitare," UM, and the whole song of ICMYLM were DEAD ON tonight. BOTW was good. "Invisible" tug count tonight was 2. He looked like he was enjoying himself tonight so that was good. He CLAIMED again he can't dance. *sigh* I give up. I just give up on that dude. He messed the words so badly to WYSYLM, but it was all good. It is kind of a hard song to keep track of I guess. (I am trying to be sypathetic here.)

1000 Days is way better than when I saw it in Cary. It has been improved a lot. Quiana TORE IT UP on IWAOY and Angela was AWESOME on "Think!" The later was a huge show stopper on the Motown medly I think. Everyone was vocally on tonight despite it being so humid.

My favorite comment of the night was in regards to maybe having the concert going at the rate it was it will last next week. This was something that made us all cheer cause that would be awesome to have a concert last a week. he said something like too bad he'd leave by tomorrow anyway. :)

So I guess those were highlights. He was hott in all the usual spots. I will have a painfully detailed recap when 1) I have had sleep 2) when I am not having a personal issue now-long story that involves struggles of my own 3) when I am back to KC after Interlochen tomorrow and 4) I am more myself.

I hope this gives a taste of the show tonight before some others post better reviews I can possible give in my mental state now.

LUVclay26

Concert recap courtesy the CB's vse323:
I can't begin to tell you how great the concert was. I am so sad already that it is over. Clay sang his heart out. It was so hot and humid I felt sorry for him in the long sleves. Everyone loved, loved, loved, him. It was a great crowd. My favorite part of the night was "Back for More". It is so much better when you see him sing it in person. I can't tell you how much I love that song. They were all a little hoarse by the end of the concert I thought. Good old Indiana weather. It didn't phase Clay though. He hit the glory notes and sent chills down my spine. I was lucky enough to have box seats in front of section 5 center stage. I couldn't have had a better view. The tickets were given to my daughter so she gave them to me and sat in my seats in section 6 with another daughter and friends. They all loved the concert even the one's who are not real "Claymates" and said they thought he had a beautiful voice and they couldn't imagine anyone not loving him. They got a kick out of him dancing and thought he had a great personality. Which we already knew of course. It's nice to see new Clay fans in the making.

Concert recap courtesy the CB's producelady4clay:
Just made it back home after a two and a half hour drive.

The show was a blast, from start to finish. The rain that was predicted never materialized but it was hot and humid. The venue was pretty full. It ranged from children to seniors, quite a few men. In front of me was a young man that had come by himself and he seemed to be really enjoying the show.

This is my only concert this tour so I personally haven't experienced another one to compare it to. That being said - I THOUGHT IT WAS FABULOUS!!!! Clay was so on tonight. He renditions of UM, Solitaire, BOTW, ICMYLM and 1000 Days just blew me away. Quiana totally brought the house down with IWALY. What I noticed was how much fun they all have on the stage. I'm not talking about the joking around (which there wasn't any tonight) but the joy in which they perform.

ICMYLM was just beautiful tonight, almost scream free. I heard a few I love you Clay's, but they were so high up in the stands that I doubt you'll hear any of them on the Clack of this song. From where I was sitting in the grandstand I could see quite a few people recording.

Met a lot of Clayboard members - CMP, Clayperfect, Windstar, Clazycrazy, PreciousRfew, Halloweengirl, MaryKlay, Spartus and a few other Cellmates (whose names escape me at the moment - my apologies to those I left out.) Also saw quite a few of the Omaha Clayfans.

I wish I could remember more, but I am falling asleep in my chair. Tomorrow when my mind is refreshed I will post anything I might of passed over tonight.

Hugs, PLFC (Mary)

Concert recap courtesy the CB's starttheclaymotion:
Well, I read the cellcert thread and they did a good job of reporting just about every detail of the concert. I'm not sure what to add. I did see a lot of guys there of all ages and they seemed to be enjoing themselves. I noticed one young guy in particular who was really grooving to the music. I thought that was great. I noticed the lady in front of me dabbing her eyes with a tissue quite often. This made me feel better, because I was doing that too. I don't know why I can't listen to Clay sing, or talk or anything without getting tears in my eyes. Why does he have such an effect on me. We spent the first half of the concert sitting in the wrong section. I kept wondering why we weren't closer to the stage, like it looked on the seating chart I printed off the internet. When I returned from the ladies room I noticed we were in the wrong section. I had let my husband find our seats. I'm trying to rely on others and not be so controlling. I made him move to our seats which were much better. So much for the progress I was making.

Clay was wonderful. He sounded awesome! I was sad when it ended. On the way home we stopped at a restaurant. A lady and her preteen son came in. I could tell she was a Claymate. She was decked out in Claywear. It was my first Claymate sighting outside of a concert. Except of course when I look in the mirror.

Concert recap courtesy the CB's clangel13
It's 1:30 AM in the Indy Best Western and there are still a dozen people in the lobby watching Clack and eating pizza and generally enjoying each other after the show.
As said in previous reviews, it was fantastic, Clay was so on and so joyful. He performs with such a joyful, contagious passion that of course we are all still wanting more. He seems so comfortable and playful with the audience with lots of comments about posters including teasing a front row fan who appeared to be working on her poster right then and there, saying that would never cut it in his classroom, then he had people share what they remembered in the '70's. He asked all the cast what they did on their day off yesterday and said he stayed in his hotel and watched the news. He then extended the conversation to the audience asking what we had been doing.
He of course introduced all the crew and cast, giving thanks to all and then pointed out in the audience his professor who had given him permission to miss class to try out for Idol.
He also mentioned that he got his hair cut yesterday, and it does look fantastic (IMO).
The forecast thunderstorm seems to have held out just long enough to give us beautiful concert weather and now we are having spectacular lightning outside.
The pre-concert party at Smokey Bones was packed with over 200 people and lots of fun with plenty of raffle give-aways.
Be sure and watch the downloads on ATCA. We had a great videographer in the center of the arena. One commented "it's like a lap dance with Clay tonight" since the video is so close.
It was such a privelege to go to this concert and hard to believe the tour is almost over. What a great middle to our cross-country motorcycle trip!!

I think he's invented a whole new type of concert...2 1/2 hours of sharing the stage with the highest caliber musicians with pure music.
And now it's 2:00 AM and we're all still watching and listening to ICHFILWY right now!

Concert recap courtesy the CB's calcody:
Hello Clayboard friends....I shared this with the HR's, but wanted to share more broadly here...I hope you enjoy...calcody,phyllis

Oh, dear, dear friends.....I am just totally amazed....Clay Aiken is indeed a PERFORMER, SHOWMAN, MEANT FOR THE SPOTLIGHT....

If you have not seen Clay perform in this manner, with so much variety in music and mood...well, it is just ...ahhhhh....I don't have words....

He really can sing anything...ANYTHING....he is gifted, talented....his voice has such range, such such depth, so many nuances....he can sing folks...sing anything....I am really astonished at the Clay Aiken that I saw and heard in concert tonight.

I don't think any of you could ever have imagined just how much variety Clay has in his voice...I wish I had the musicology to describe it...
I always thought he had a great voice, you know, the Clay Voice, but he has so many voices, so many styles....variety...
I don't think that I could truly say that any one song/medley was my favorite because each was a new Clay for me...a new performer...he was relaxed, happpy, sexy, adorable, snarky, dancing his botay off, engaging, warm, silly, full of himself, charming, groovin' and movin', and the audience was hanging on every syllable that came from his mouth and every muscle that moved in his body...
Clay Aiken is gifted...he is a natural entertainer....and, lol THE MAN IS HOT....YEP....EVERY INCH....EVERY SINGLE INCH OF HIM...
In watching the clack that I had of the various concerts, I had not gotten the sense of how easy and naturally he moved on stage. He does have rhythm, he can dance (and not just the rehearsed routine) ...he let his body move to the music...he let his body respond more naturally and those moves really added to the quality of the performance...little things like tapping his feet, the rhythm of his shoulders, the deep bends, the lean back and deep, the clutch, the various stances of his body...the rhythm as he moved about the stage...I'm not talking just about the Doves Dance, but just great movement as he sang everything...as though he finally was relaxed and confident and was just goovin'...Now, the Doves Dance...dang, double dang, lol, wowser, HOT, HOT, HOT, HOT....It did NOT FEEL OR LOOK LIKE AN ACT!!! He was feelling the music, the prince vibe, and he was letting his body respond....it was just .................good..............real.............mesmerizing................whewwwwwwwwwwwww
GOSH I LOVE HIM....
I just cannot believe how he can sing soooo many different styles of songs....with amazing quality and uniqueness...He is soooo entertaining....he sings so effortlessly...the words just kinda purrrrrr out of his mouth....
His facial ex-pressions, his banter with the audience, his unselfish sharing with all the performers, his body language...just everything about him screams that he loves, I MEAN ABSOLUTELY LOVES BEING ON THAT STAGE PERFORMING....LOVES IT......i HAVE READ ABOUT OR SCENE PERFORMERS TRY TO EXPLAIN WHATIT IS, WHAT IT IS LIKE, WHAT CONNECTION THEY HAVE WITH THE AUDIENCE, WHAT ELECTRICAL IMPULSES THEY SAY THAT GROUNDS THEM TO THEIR AUDIENCES...AND before tongiht, I don't think I ever understood....now I do....
Clay is energized, transformed, sparked when he is on that stage....yep...
And he is sexy....it just must be said...he is sexy...he is hot....'nough said - - -

And the choreographed moves/dances are excellent and realistic...and HOT....
I am tired now, and will probably have more to add later, but needless to say, the show was so wonderful....I just love him so........

Susie(teatime) and I met up with Clazy and Chris, her relative, twice before the concert...so easy to talk to and such terrific women....then we met Deanie and her Aunt Ann right before the concert...Deanie and I ran around trying to choose someone to give away the three tickets that someone had given Deanie...found a mom and teen daughter that were thrilled and took the extra one for someone else that they were with...way to go Deanie...such a sweet thing for you to do....

I also saw and spoke to Clayniac2(Trudy), the woman who editswrites ClayNews, 2 of my table partners at the Hawaii Benefit whose names escape me at the moment, and the cutest teen sitting in front of us who was Mrs.Loki's daughter, and I sat beside the most wonderful man whose wife was sitting up front in a wheel chair(broken leg) and who was just there to bring her in and get her settled and someone walked up to him and gave him 2 tickets, dead center stage, 12 rows back...he ran to his car and got his video camera and taped every min. of the concert and is going to send a copy to me and teatime....I CANNOT WAIT TO SEE IT.....

We saw Mary and Jacob before the concert...Jacob was walking around with several women and Mary was just entering the grandstand area...tea and I looked high and lo for Clay or Kelly, but did not see them....IT WAS SOOOO HUMID....SO STICKY....but the sound was great and did not feel like we were outside...I'm going to post all of this before I lose it

Now, there...I have lost so many messages here by accidentally touching the wrong key, I thought it best to post and then continue...

Let me see...we saw Ethel, the crazy dancer and lots and lots and lots and lots of Clay tshirts...There were some men and some younger women, but by far, the crowd was made up of 30-90 year old women....
Such a polite crowd...a few signs, but displayed only when Clay asked them to...just a tiny bit of the "IloveyouClay"...everyone sat down during the ballads...very polite crowd...tea and I even met one of Indianapolis' finest, a deputy sheriff named John McCann...he was helping us tell a taxi how to find where to pick us up....I was soooo impressed that the deputy sheriffs and state troupers were giving rides on their little gold cart like vehicles to women with babies, people with casts, really elderly people, people whose wt. made it difficult to walk in the heat and humidity...just soooo nice...
It was such a great experience....Clay, the crowds, Deanie and Clazy and all the Claymates there.....such total fun...
More later my lovely ladies...I am tired and sleepy and in love with Clay Aiken...nite nite....

calcody,phyllis.......I am not checking for spelling, grammar or even to see if this makes sense...too tired....

Concert recap courtesy the CB's Galadriel:
I was there and I really can't add to what has already been posted except that the humidity was nuts. It was like having an extra person in the seat with you. BTW, the dancer tonight was awesome. I hope there is clack of it because he was very good! Clay mentioned Ethel from the stage. It was some crack about her standing on her chair and he didn't want her to fall off, He was both snarky and teacher Clay tonight.

I thought he was a little more relaxed and having fun in Kettering but he seemed to be having fun with the audience tonight, too. I thought the sound system was good. I thought Clay sounded good but maybe a little tired vocally compared to Kettering or Columbus. I only noticed it once or twice. I enjoyed the show tremendously. My sister in law said she was pleasantly surprised and my other sister in law said she would go to a concert with me again! eta: She also commented on his vocal versatility compared to other artists.

I would like to know how the one lady who bought her tickets like today or yesterday got seats way up front when I bought my tickets at the first second of the presale and was way behind her! If you are here, what was your secret?

I have also seen lots of the lighted Jukebox pins at every concert and tonight was no exception.

Did anyone else driving in from Ohio find themselves in that traffic snarl on I-70? What a nightmare! At least the drive home was sweet.

Wonderful Story from Clay Ticket Donation Project, "The Way We Make A Difference"

2005-08-17T12:55:00.000-04:00

From the CB's linlas:
Morning everyone!

I want to share this experience from last night because it is critical that your story be told.....the beauty of the work related to providing tickets for individuals who may otherwise not experience Clay must be shared...so here is our experience from last night's concert in Toledo.

I can not tell you what an emotional high we are on this morning....What a night for us last night and 28 lucky individuals that benefitted from your hard work and others great generosity!

I attended the "Claying" last night in Toledo....and was sitting in the second row on the left...just moments before the concert was to begin they wheeled in a disabled woman and parked her wheelchair next to me......

We made eye contact, spoke and that was it.... until the intermission. I was cellcerting Hopelessly Devoted and we had just hung up for the break when I entered into conversation with this woman. As soon as she started talking I immediately knew she was part of the ticket project. I said ...."are you here through the donated ticket project?" And she said "donated ticket project?, "yes someone donated these tickets for us to come and I can't believe it! I'm having the time of my life and I haven't been out of the house for 10 years, I'm not able to go anywhere, but they got me out tonight and I intend on having the time of my life!" I put my hand up to stop her at that point and said, "wait, I need to call my friend, she works on the ticket project and I'd like her to hear what this has meant to you." I quickly redialed Paula who in turn quickly got NYMom on the phone...and the rest is history. It was a total "tearnami" after that.....HD and NYMom were crying, Jeanne(lady in wheelchair) was crying, blushnlavender and I were crying......we were all crying!

She couldn't stop thanking those who made it all possible enough.....she had such joy on her face.....she was bobbing and a rockin' in her chair and loving him to pieces!!!

She wrote this down for me to share...."I got here through the Abilities Center, I didn't know how the tickets were donated (but knew it was because he was involved in Special Ed) My daughter is 17, a cancer survivor and vision impaired. I fell 10 years ago and have been wheelchair bound and home bound for the last ten years. They got me ready as I am in constant pain. My daughter got me the ticket to surprise me. She is awesome! Thank you to all who made this possible."

Jeanne truly enjoyed every second of her "claying". She was the ultimate chair dancer, bopped with the best of them and swooned in all the right parts.....she loved her night and her experience. At times she would pull herself out of her chair and stand for a quick minute in order to get a better view of him. She had joy and glee in her heart for 2 1/2 hours, and her pain and suffering were put on the back burner for a short period of time while she became "whole" for the first time in a long time.....

Your work makes a difference.....your work changes lives, if only for a short moment in time....you removed the pain and hurt of illness and isolation and replaced it with pleasure and joy for someone who otherwise would have never experienced Clay "live".

My hat is off to all of you this morning......:bighug

Continue to "Use Your Voice"......it is making a difference!!! WEB HOSTING COMPUTERS

8/16 Toledo, OH Recaps

2005-08-16T21:10:00.000-04:00

Clay visits the penguins at the Toledo Zoo.

Concert recap courtesy the CB's imsnoqueen
I'm proud to say that Clay rocked the house in Toledo, my hometown, tonight. I never in my life thought Clay would come here...ever. The house was sold out. I was told that the venue could hold 5,000, although it says 4,400 on the website. No one left early, and they gave Clay the love.

Eveytime I see Clay perform in concert, I think back as to how Paula urged him to dance...and show passion. We all now know what Clay is capable of. I have friends who have never seen Clay live, and I so enjoy their amazement in seeing what an awesome performer he is. If they've only seen him on American Idol, it's a mind-bending jolt to see him perform now. Clay works his butt off during this show. It's amazing. No one can say that he hasn't "paid his dues".

When I saw my first JBT concert in Darien Lake, I was struck with how thin and small Clay looked when he first came out. But, by the end of the concert, he looks like a BIG MAN...so confident and in control.

:lubdub I love Clay Aiken. :lubdub

About tonight's concert...It was a beautiful evening...perfect weather (okay, it was a bit muggy). I was lucky enough to be in the second row, dead center, and I saw Clay's sparkling eyes throughout. They lit up the night and my heart. Clay seemed to be so happy tonight, and so adorable. His hair looked great too...love the new look. :claywink The sound was great, which was a welcome occurrence, since I've noticed problems at other venues.

Highlights were I Can't Make You Love Me....the crowd was quiet and respectful. It was beautiful. No antics during Sailing. He was HOT singing Iris, which is quick becoming one of my favorites. Of course, his Ricky Martin was so entertaining...the backstroke moves at the end of La Vida Loca crack me up every time. Clay changed up when Doves Cry, dancing with Quiana first. I think she was surprised by that. During So Happy Together, Clay had a death drip on both Angela and Quiana. It was so cute. I think the crowd thoroughly enjoyed it.

Clay went quite far back into the audience to recruit a gentleman to dance onstage. He also recognized and acknowledged Doug, who he had selected to dance at the Ohio State Fair.

Before singing his new songs, Clay put in a plug for the Cleveland concert. He wasn't sure of the date, so he asked for help from the crowd. Of course, several people yelled out "the 24th".

Clay sand 1000 Days with such passion...he looks like he's about to come out of his chair. I could hear the words better tonight. As I said earlier, I thought the sound was much better than most of the other venues. A fan from Toledo hung a large sign that said "God Bless You, Clay" on the right side of the stage. I'm sure Clay saw it.

Back for More and Invisible were great fun. When Clay did his shirt tug, he pulled another button open, which meant that the 2 bottom buttons were undone, and the t-shirt exposed. :yow Unfortunately, I had run out of film, but I think some people in the front row got some pictures. :thud

This concert was outstanding. It's neck and neck with Clio, as far as I'm concerned. Toledo has never seen Clay, and when he appears at venues he's never been to, he can sell out. I'm hoping that there are fewer repeat venues, because I think that has hurt his sales.

There should be lots of Clack...I observed many taking video and pix in the front. The crowd was fairly orderly...I didn't see people coming up into the aisles to take pictures, which was a pain at the Ohio State Fair venue. It was distracting for me.

When I was leaving, I saw The Ability Center Van loading passengers. I was very pleased to see that the venue was able to accommodate many in wheelchairs. I had been concerned about that. And thanks to Cynthia, who got last minute ticket donations into the right hands. My understanding is that we donated 28 tickets. Thanks to all who donated. And thanks to NYMom4Clay for coordinating.

What a great night for Clay and Toledo! :clap :clap :clap

Have I said that I'm proud to be a Clay Aiken fan?
Clay...you rock!

Concert recap courtesy the CB's easterseal
Hi everyone, the fun started at 5:00 with the pre-party, I just want to thank all the wonderful people who helped me with it and the awesome people who donated prizes and made special rememberance gifts for the partiers, especially I want to thank Jean for the awesome picture ( I tried so hard to get it signed by OMC, but it wasn't to be), we did get a good donation from it though. Thanks to Jane, Jabrin, Carol, Ange53, Cindi, and so many others. You all make my heart happy!!!!!

Now for the concert, OH MY GOD, I am so in awe of this young man of ours, he has grown so much in his stage presence, his dancing, his banter with the audience and most importantly in his own peace. It was one wonderful blast from the first note to the last, everyone of them has so much talent and it certainly shows in their performances: muscians, back up singers, and no one can top Mr. OMC. I am a people watcher, there was a little girl sittng next to me, maybe 10 yrs old, she was just having the time of her life, young people swinging and swaying to the music and rocking with him. and people my age (mother types) having a blast from the past.
His voice was perfect tonight, he looked healthy and happy and I think he really enjoyed himself. Everybody left this concert in great spirits and remarking about how Clay just keeps getting better and better and better. I wish I could go to every concert. Can't wait for the christmas concert, and he did say maybe aonother summer tour in 06!! Mary Kay

Concert recap courtesy the CB's Sandy CHA
I was at Toledo tonight also - I took my older sister - who WAS not a Clay fan - it just so happened that my twin could not use her ticket as she is having major emergency surgery tomorrow - so I took the other one! Needless to say - she quickly turned into a "Clay Lover" after tonight!

The concert was great - not as good as Clio in my opinion as Clio will be hard to top! I think Clay's voice was going a little tonight. Perhaps too much singing in too much muggy weather too many nights in a row. He was really raspy towards the end and didn't do the request number that he has been doing.

It was my first time at that amphitheater and it is truly beautiful! We had fantastic seats, the sound was great and he did a lot of change ups tonight. Like WDC - everyone was surprised that he changed up the dancing! When he sat down at the piano to do Love Me Tender he forgot the whole speech he was going to give and finally just said forget it - let's just do the song!

He was gorgeous as usual! It was a great night in Toledo and we now have a NEW CLAY FAN!

Concert recap courtesy the CB's SoliTaire52
Good morning everyone......

Last night at the Toledo Zoo Amphitheatre was so much fun. I was a bit worried as we could not leave for the concert until 5:30. My friend is diabetic and just had foot surgery and is in a wheelchair. I'd heard there was only a small city lot across from the amphitheatre, and if you could not park there, you had to park on the other side of the zoo, use a crosswalk over the street, and walk through the zoo to get to the venue. We arrived at about 6:45 and sure enough that lot was full up. However folks were parking along the road in the park next door, and that's what we did. It was tough manuevering the wheelchair through there but we made it! Once inside the amphitheatre, the ramp to get down to the floor, where our seats were, was so steep! My friend put her feet down to stop the chair from going too fast - she should not have done that as she could have hurt her surgery foot!!! ACK!!!! Down on the floor we asked where we could put her chair - and they told us - up front! So - it was worth all the trouble to get down there as she had a front row seat for the concert. Since the stage was up high, even when people were standing she could see. Awesome for her!!! She was off to the right side so if everyone was up on the risers she couldn't see - but all the rest she could - and she was thrilled. When Clay came down from the stage - he walked right past her - and looked at her and smiled. It made her day, week, month, year...LOL!!! She talked about it all the way home. I sat in the regular seats and guess what? He walked right by me, too, going back to the stage, singing. I was very thankful to have an aisle seat! ;)

The concert was - as usual - wonderful. Some goofing around with Clay and the girls but it was so cute and funny. He had them both in a headlock, how they all managed to still sing like that I'll never know. They enjoy performing with each other and seem as if they are having so much fun - and that makes it fun for the audience as well.

At the beginning of the concert, quite a few in the crowd had these really cool little flags that said "Clay" on them, and they were being waved around. They came from the pre-party I think. Clay liked them and joked "Y'all planned that, didn't ya?"

In my review for Clio I neglected to mention Jacob, Quiana and Angela.......I should not have left them out as each one shines as a solo performer. They each deserve their time in the spotlight! Jacob's "Rock With You" he does this so well, it truly makes me smile, and remember a different time in Michael Jackson's career.....(it also sticks in my head, thanks Jacob....LOL!!!) ....Angela's "Black Velvet" is smokin'!!! .... and Quiana's "I Will Always Love You" is breathtaking. So much talent, individually and collectively. They are a perfect accompaniment to Clay.

I've heard others talk about a "rasp" in Clay's voice - I didn't hear it at all. He sounded perfect to me.

There was a time at the concert, since I was sitting by myself, that I just closed my eyes and got lost in the music......"I Can't Make You Love Me"........and Clay, S'von on the piano......were being harmonized by nature as scores of crickets lent their voices to the melody. It was one of those moments where I felt perfectly, unbelievably happy.

Thanks, Clay, for sharing yourself with us this summer.

Interlochen next then my concerts are done for this summer.....sigh.........good thing for all the CLACK! LOL

At the end of the concert, the Clayfetti machines shot out their streamers and I was wondering how we were going to maneuver the wheelchair UP that hill........but guess what? There was another way in, off to the side of the stage, gated off, with a much gentler slope - so that's how we left. I sure wish we'd known earlier!!! LOL!!!

So that's my recap and I'm stickin' to it. :hehe

With love, and hope,
Terry
PS No acronyms were used in the creation of this post! LOL

Clay Aiken The Ideal Idol's Clio Review

2005-08-16T16:29:00.000-04:00

It was more than just a Concert at Clio
by Chloe ("PinkShoelaces01")
Age 15

August 13th, 2005 was so much more than just a concert at Clio. To me, those simple two hours meant so much. Clay Aiken was there, he was actually there and he rocked the house! Now, this is not my first Clay Aiken concert, it is my seventh, so, I think I could say that this concert was one of the best he has ever done. Clay Aiken was so on, he was so sexy, he was like a fired bullet out of a shotgun.

There are no words to describe how much of an impact one man can have on thousands, even millions of people from around the world. I will never forget looking out at the crowd during 'Back For More'. You had to be there. You had to see people’s faces. You just had to see over two thousand Clay fans rocking out full tilt to this song. It was mesmerizing on how we were all pulled together by the voice of one man, it is amazing how one man, one song, one beat can get 3 year olds to 90 year olds up out of their seats and jumping up and down just to be a part of it all. It is like seeing one jumbo collaboration of colours coming together in unison and the result is that of a beautiful painting.

The screams were deafening, and I am sure I probably blasted out an eardrum or two of the people around me. But, when you think about it, how can you not scream when a vest or a robe gets torn off of his body and thrown away like a piece of yesterday’s newspaper? It’s amazing! I love that we all have the same, “Oh my gosh!” thoughts running through our brains at the same moments. Do you know why we all have that? It’s because of that one man. He has the complete and total power to make us all scream with one tug of his shirt. He owns the power to make us all melt into a pile of goo with a growl into the microphone. Thank God for the Thud EMS!

I still remember the feeling that I had that night. It was so strong and powerful that I began to cry full force. He was singing 'End of the Road', and I was listening to him belt out the lyrics. I looked up into the dark night sky and saw the moon shining down behind a few clouds and I thought to myself, we are all people of this world, even Clay. We all look up into the same night sky, we all see the same sun and moon each and every night. It amazed me. Reality gave me a slap in the face and I cried. I cried because I saw how small we were underneath the blanket of black sky. I even saw how Clay was just one of us, how he was so real. There were trees behind the amphitheatre and a big rolling park. And Clay looked so real because I could picture him somewhere other than on a stage or through the eyes of a camera on television. I could finally see him as just a regular person that would stroll along in the park and maybe sit underneath a great big tree and look up into the same night sky. For those few moments I saw him not as some unobtainable symbol, but as just a regular 26 year old guy.

So I looked back at Clay Aiken again and I thought of all the things that he had done in the past 2 and a half years. It really did shock me. Because the man standing in front of me had been on SNL, Leno, Letterman, GMA, the Today Show, toured 5 times, and had a past, some good, and some bad. And then the tears fell from my face because one man had done all that. One man had traveled to Indonesia and to Uganda to share some of his light with the others there. One man had an influence so strong that everyone he met had a smile upon their faces. I don’t know of anyone else who can do that for the millions of people that live in our world. I don’t know of anyone who can sing like they’re aiming for the heavens. And I don’t know anyone else who could even come to a close comparison to one man by the name of Clayton Aiken.

So the Clio concert was so much more than a concert to me. It showed me how real we all are. How real Clay Aiken is. I know Clay would probably laugh at this, but I truly believe that he is an angel sent down to earth to spread his joy and light upon the faces of others. He makes me the happiest person alive. I just want him to know that. Clay Aiken is my hero, my inspiration. I would just like to thank him for altering my life in such a wonderful way and for showing me that one person can really make all the difference in the world. Thank you Clay Aiken. Thank you for being you!

Cute Mother - Son Conversation - Son Danced With Clay At Kettering

2005-08-16T14:25:00.000-04:00

Thanks to the initnotofitchristiangal (mommy), whose son danced on stage with Clay at last night's concert at the Fraze Pavillion in Kettering.

Just had to give you Alex's review of the show as told to his brothers. I videotaped it because it became so comical:

Alex: "It started with these people coming out and the one boy said to us.."someone give me a quarter to put in the 'juicebox' so I can play the music."
Evan: "Juicebox?..what?"
Alex: "yeah...there was a big 'juicebox' on the stage...you know that plays music when you put money in it..like at Johnny Rockets."
Ethan: "You are using the wrong word. That is not the right word. Let me think about what the right word is."
Alex: "Mom, tell them about the juicebox, they don't believe me"
Me: "It's called a 'Jukebox', it sounds very close to the word juicebox"
Ethan: "I knew he was using the wrong word. You can't put money in a juicebox"
Alex: "A very nice lady gave up her money to him and he put it in the juicebox."
Evan: "You could put money in a juicebox if you cut open the straw hole to be a little bigger, but it would never play music"
Ethan: "I could make music come out of a juicebox if I used my circuit board"
Alex: "I am getting very mad, you are not listening"
Evan: "I am listening"
Ethan:"I am listening. It is polite to listen to people when they are talking"
Alex: "The juicebox got broke some how. The song kept saying the same thing over and over again"
Ethan: "The CD was scratched"
Alex:"So all these people came out and tried to fix it and they hit the juicebox and it still didn't work. Then Clay Aiken came out and just put his thumb on it and it started working"
Ethan: "YOU SHOULD NEVER HIT A JUKEBOX, THAT IS PROBABLY WHY IT WAS BROKEN BECAUSE PEOPLE WERE HITTING IT"
Alex: "It was broke before they started hitting it."
Ethan: "I am sure that made it worse."
Alex: "It didn't make it worse, it was because it only works for Clay Aiken"
Evan: "Oh, it was a special jukebox"
Alex: "yes..it only works for Clay Aiken, did you hear me say that already?"
Ethan: "How much money was it?"
Alex:"What?"
Ethan:"How much money did the lady give up to hear the broken jukebox?"
Alex:"It was a 25 cent one. She found it on the floor" (?)
Ethan:"Magic jukeboxes don't need money, they play on their own like grandma's piano"

After about 20 minutes of bantering about the "juicebox" , the money, and why Clay licked his thumb before he touched it.... they determined it must be that Clay has "magic spit"...the conversation went like this:

Alex: "Then he walked off the stage and came right over to me. He said he saw my shirt dancing, I think,... you know I weared my orange shirt with the beach designs in it"
Ethan:"How close did he get to you? I don't like orange. I really don't like orange"
Alex: "He was only this far away"
Ethan:"Was he too close?...you can't get too close to people it will make them feel uncomfortable."
Alex:"He was not too close"
Evan:"Why are you holding your hand up like that?"
Alex: "I am pretending to hold a microphone like Clay Aiken was holding a microphone"
Evan: "Why was he holding a microphone if you were this close already?"
Alex: "Mom, why were we talking in the microphone if he was this close to me already?"
Me: "Why do you think?
Alex:"oh yeah..so everyone else could hear us...you guys are making me all confused...stop talking and let me talk only for awhile"
Ethan: "If he was that close to you, I hope he wasn't talking to you with food in his mouth. It is rude to talk with food in your mouth."
Alex: "He did not have food in his mouth Ethan. CLay Aiken was not eating anything while he was talking to me."
Ethan: "You saw into his mouth and there was no food?"
Alex: "I did not look into his mouth, the microphone was in the way."
Ethan: "He may have had food in his mouth, it is rude to talk with food in your mouth."
Alex:"Mom, make him be quiet right now!"
Me: "Tell them what happened next"
Alex: "Oh I forgot to tell them about when I fell off my chair because it was wet and I fell really hard on my bottom. Remember that mom? What did that lady say?
Me: She called you bottom, your bon-bon. She told you to shake it off--to shake your bon-bon---I think it was because of a song that Clay would sing.
Alex: "Oh yeah, then I cried because I got scared to go up on the stage because I didn't want people to laugh at me..but I did go up on stage didn't I Mom ?, and I did shake my bon-bon (he laughs hysterically)"
Me:"Yes, you did, you shook your bon-bon...but we will not be saying those words anymore from now on okay?"
Ethan: "It's rude to use naughty words. That sounds like a naughty word. We don't talk about certain body parts"
Alex: I went on stage with Mom after she said 'YOU CAN DO THIS...I KNOW YOU CAN' oh...the most important part was we prayed about it, didn't we? After we prayed and the one lady gave me bubble gum (Ethel) I wasn't scared anymore. But I was cold. It was cold back behind the stage. There was a fan blowing and it was making me cold. Then we went on the stage and danced and Clay Aiken finished his singing, and he wasn't eating anything either so don't ask. He gave one of his shirts to me to keep, here it is. Don't touch it...wait okay...you can touch it. Then after Clay Aiken finished his singing, the juicebox came back on the stage and I knew he was going to hit it, so I said 'don't hit it, don't hit it'...because that means the concert is over. But he hit it anyway and then it was over. I fell asleep in the car on the way home.
Ethan: "It was good that you said 'don't hit it!' because that's how things get broken. That is why the jukebox is not working right... what's for breakfast?"

8/15 Kettering, OH Recaps

2005-08-16T10:05:00.000-04:00

Concert recap courtesy the CB's broomykisser:
whoops, sorry guys. i got distracted... *guiltily minimizes clack*

um. yeah. i'm lazy and i don't feel like typing a lot.

i got there from columbus at about 6:30 and got a ticket, it was 17th row center and was actually excellent... and this is coming from someone who's in the first five rows at like every concert (clay and non-clay) she goes to. LOL. the venue was awesome.

but it was freaking RAINING and i was soaking wet.. i know i should've gotten a poncho but i'm stubborn and didn't want to wear one, so finally i covered my head with the clay shirt i bought. lol.

anyway, it was my third concert of this tour and it was really excellent (minus the rain! :laugh ). clay sounded INCREDIBLE tonight and he was even chattier and more sarcastic than he usually is. he seriously had me cracking up! the crowd definitely wasn't as enthusiastic as columbus, but people were still having a good time despite the rain. clay was like 'wow it's great weather here! good thing i'm under this shelter. i love all those colorful ponchos y'all are wearing!'

near the beginning of the show when he sat down to play the piano he said something about his shoes not being on right, and everyone tried to look at his shoes, so he took one off and held it up. then he pulled out a febreeze pad and was like 'this is my crew's way of telling me i have smelly feet.' :laugh

he went into the audience and picked this little boy to dance onstage, and the little boy was like 'no.' LOL. so the mom went to and all was dandy. it was REALLY cute.

it was so hot when he went into 'teacher clay' mode... he was asking everyone what big things happened in the 70's and people were all yelling things at once, so he said something along the lines of 'if this were my classroom, y'all would be raisin' your hands!' so everyone raised their hands and he was calling on people. LOL. it was adorable, hilarious and sexy all meshed together. :drool

there was MAJOR clangela flirage going on tonight, OMG. they were totally playing it up... for example, at the end of 'sailing,' clay grabbed angela and kissed her... it was hard to tell if it was on the lips or not, but woah. then at another part of the show, i think during 'can't touch this,' he kept getting closer and closer to her and she kept backing up... :lol then near the end he was like 'ah have a crush on angela' like three times and took off his orange shirt (ohh baby) to expose his white t-shirt with angela's face on it! :yow wow.

i saw in the cellcert thread that some people mentioned the 'WHERE'S WALDO?' yell at the beginning of 'when doves cry.' yeah, that was me. :lol and we found him a minute later! :drool achem.

i'm trying to remember more highlights, but i'm dead tired. *yawns* we waited at the buses afterward and he came out and waved... he couldn't really shake hands because security was (#&*#(& stupid and wouldn't let us move up to the tape barricade thing. urgh! oh well. it was still worth it to see him. then i drove back to columbus and here i am!

that's it for now. oh, did i mention that i want to have his babies? just in case... I WANT TO HAVE CLAY'S BABIES.

Concert recap courtesy the CB's CocaColaDragon:
Ok, so this is my first review type thing ever and I just got home, it's 2:14 AM, so please bear with me, lol.

Before the Concert

My friend and her friend decided to go up to the Fraze at 10am, she asked if I wanted to go but I said I'd still be asleep and I didn't think Clay would be around that early anyway. So I went up later w/ my sis, around 5pm, and Clay's bus was already there along with several other lined up. There was a medium sized group waiting on the sidewalk across from it, my friends were part of the group.

We stood there till 7 something...and they kept teasing us. Nick walked in and out several times, always opening the door slowly. One time sticking a foot out to make us wonder and then popping out himself. Another time a different sandaled foot apeared, and I like to believe that was Clay's. Some Fraze worker..was moving a big white van back and forth over and over trying to block our view point..extremly annoying. Then just as my friends who'd been waiting all day went to go put their stuff up, Clay appears from the bus. I think he was wearing green, I remember thinking he looked very tall..that's the closest I'd ever been to him. Then he waved, smiled at us several times, before going to the meet and greet table I think.

Did I mention most of this time it was raining? 0_0 And me without an umbrella or poncho.

During Concert:

So it's raining... a lot now. And if you didn't know The Fraze is an outside venue, by now we're soaked but we pick up ponchos anyway. When we walk in they ask us if we're under or over 21... I said under, got a green wrist band... I couldn't think why till I realized they were selling beer there. (uhm.. 0_o )

I had a lawn seat with my family, we were on a blanket on the corner and I'd forgotten my glasses so I couldn't see very well. (-_-'') And everything seems to be a blur to me now, it's hard to put it all together lol.

I can't remember everything in any kind of order so I'll just put what I do remember into a list, and sorry if it's confusing:

1. I think the audience noise wise was very good. I read earlier in a thread of people complaining about too much screaming during ballads and such so that you couldn't hear Clay. But we quieted down so much during ballads and slow songs, and during a lot of songs there was the perfect amount of screaming perfect amount of total listening. I mean so many songs it felt like he had the attention of the entire venue. awesome stuff.

2. Clay told us we all looked good in our colorful ponchos out in the rain. which was cute. He told us about his costume change simply putting on shoes at the piano and there was air freshner in the shoes? lol. It was cute because he laughed kinda shakily as he tried to get himself "situated" or what not. Later on in the concert he was telling people to raise their hands because if this was really a class room he wouldn't let us just shout out answers. When talking about what they did last night, Clay said he slept and then someone shouted out what did you do last night. And Clay was something like, "I just answered that question if you had been listening instead of shouting things out, you would've known that." lol, so cute! He asked the audience what we did. Mentioned something about us watching Clack. haha. Some girl had a sign, which after she told him what it said, he quickly changed the subject. All I heard was Touch. If anyone closer knows more.. about what it said, do tell.

3. Before he picked who would help him dance, he said they usually pick a male (something about how these men would rather watch Lifetime at home then attend a Clay Aiken concert so they've been bound and gagged to get here) but tonight he couldn't tell the difference because of the ponchos! Lol! However he did picked the CUTEST little six year old boy (almost seven) to come up and dance, him and his mom. I couldn't even see him because of my blurred vision, but still I could tell by just listening to him talk that he was the cutest little boy ever. And the dancing was great to watch. :)

4. I was in a daze a lot of the time. Clay dancing! Psh, I don't know what he or anyone else has ever talked about. Clay can move! And he looks so good doing it! I mean him doing Elvis Presly, bringing back the whole..hip gyrating movements, the leg shakes, just everything. I totally loved the Ricky Martin arm..swing..thing... was funny and cute and totally entertaining to watch.

5. My personal favorite songs: It's hard to choose, because I knew so many and they all made me sing and dance sitting on my blanket. But I have to say... "When Doves Cry"... I didn't know he could improve anymore from the tour when he last did that song. But mahn, was I wrong! He sounded absolutely amazing on that song tonight! Better than I've heard in other videos of it from other concerts but maybe it was just hearing him in person? It gave me absolute chills though. I also loved his rendition of "I Can't Make You Love Me" but that also has personal meaning for me, but I definetly had tears in my eyes. And the whole Elvis segment..because I love Clay..really like Elvis. Putting the two together was almost too much to bear!

6. All of clay's back up singers were on fire tonight. Especially the girls. Their solo songs..I mean so so many chills when they sang. Clay was taken aback by the sheer amazingness of her singing too, said had to stop dancing and just stare at her, thinking she would keel over or something. :)

7. The audience was all soaked, but the energy and attention level was great! Though i do have some complaints about certain fans and about certain people that attended I'll go into that a bit later.

8. I've already heard people talking about the Clay/Angela kiss. I saw it but I was the only one in my family to. It happened so quickly! In one moment he grabbed her kissed her, and then like ran away. It reminded me of what a little school boy would do to the girl he liked. Kiss her real quick then run away. But he told both girls that he had crushes on them and he was wearing a shirt with them on it at the end. heh. Cute!

so is there anything else to say about this concert? I don't think so. I do believe it's the best so far though. I mean 2 and a half hours of just about pure Clay singing to songs we know and love, revitalizing...what more could you ask for?

After the Show

I went out to the buses managed to get right in front on the sidewalk across from his bus. Jacob came out signed everyone a card of himself which was nice. And then we waited there for an hour Clay came out. But for reasons I'll go into later..he didn't shake hands..and waved at us from across the street. Went back in the bus and drove off.

Complaints

k so I have to rant about this..because I was pretty annoyed/angered several times through the night. All by fellow concert goers.

1. On the lawn... there's only a slight slope. Unless people sit down...no one behind htem can see. I know that it's a concert and it's fun to stand up and dance around. I wanted to too! I really did! However, I wasn't going to do it because people behind me wouldn't be able to see. even if everyone stood up, I'm short so I can't see over people's heads. It's just rude y'know. Luckily there wasn't too much problems with this, but it's like if you want to stand up and dance there were places you could go that was more out of the way and just...grr

2. Why beer at a Clay Aiken concert? I guess I wouldn't ahve minded it so much if there weren't people getting drunk and acting stupid. Some were funny, others would talk loudly during songs. And I dont know... I just figured if you want to get drunk there are plenty of other places and times to do it. *shrugs*

3. Thirty some year old man wherever you are! GRR! Okay, so like I said I was at the front of the sidewalk after the concert was over, right? Well behind me, a lady wheels up an older lady in a wheel chair. So me and the girl next to me makes room so the lady in the wheel chair will have a chance to shake Clay Aiken's hand. Well suddenly out of nowhere this thirtdy some year old man pushes in front of the woman in the wheel chair!!! saying, "I'm sorry I don't mean to butt in front of anyone" And he brings his significant other up there. And I was so so angry. I mean how RUDE! In front of an old lady in a wheel chair? I had a plan to tell Clay about the lady if he were to come. But then the man..was like on top of me the entire time. I squished against my sister and he was always right there. Luckily they got tired of waiting and left. But just makes me angry.

4. CRAZY CLAY FANS STOP BEING SO CRAZY! I love Clay, I'm a huge fan. But gosh..what I saw tonight. :/ Totally dissapoints me in Clay Aiken fans. We were waitnig there for an hour... Clay comes out, goes to the left to start shaking hands I assume. And suddenly there's a rush from where I'm standing, so many people are rushing at him! And I'm sorry but in his position I would be SCARED out of my mind! I mean this girls are screaming acting crazy and running at you like there's a fire in the other direction. I know this freaks Clay out he's said so before, so he comes back to where the bus is...walks over, waves at us across the street and goes back in the bus. If that's not all crazy clay fans chase his bus, which I'm pretty sure he's said in his book he doesn't like at all. Which who would like people chasing after them in a car.

then people were acting dumb again, not listening to the fraze personell and then cussing them out. Trying to start a fight with them or something for doing their job and trying to keep them from getting run over by a giant tour bus!

and if you were one who rushed or what not. I'm sorry I'm not trying to cause trouble with you, it was just frustrating. And I think he would've shook hands, had their not been that wild huge rush at him!

*ahem* I'm sorry for the complaints but..haha they're part of the review. When people ask me how the concert was I'll tell them, Clay and all his folks were amazing, but some of the concert goers totally made the evening otherwise a pain.

And sorry for the length of this review. I don't think I said anything very... entertaining. But then again it's now 3am..

Concert recap courtesy the CB's initnotofitchristiangal:
I'm not very active on the board, I don't know all the ins and outs of fandom so forgive me if my post goes awry. :pray I only found out about the board from a dyed-in-the-wool fan I met at a Clay concert a while ago. I have not been a Clay fan from the beginning like most of you, I was taking a night class when Clay was on Idols, so I never saw it. But I kept hearing about Clay and that I would relate to him because I would love what he stood for. I am a teacher also, (although you'd never guess it from all my dangling prepositions...sorry, I write like I talk...which is why I stick to the primary grades!), but I'm a mom first and have a 9 year old son with autism. I also understand Clay's BAF connection because during the summer I volunteer at an inclusive camp that teaches social skills to children on the spectrum. Neuro-typical siblings and friends are also campers, so my two younger sons attend also, and the camp is very similar to what Clay promotes. (full inclusion done responsibly!):lubdub ---Of course, knowing that this was a man that worked with children with exceptionalities and was planning a career around it, I immediately wanted to support the career of a person like this before I even heard a note float out of his mouth!
So why am I posting this story on the review thread? Because after attending tonight's concert, I have an even greater appreciation for Clay than ever before. My son Alex was the 6 year old boy that was invited up to dance. Alex is a huge Clay fan, and he loves to dance. He can hear two spoons "clacking" together in the dishwasher and dances to the beat. I have always tried to take him to see live concerts so he can actually see musicians playing instruments (He used to think music was just created by the DJs on the radio.) I'd take my other two, but sensory issues and concerts don't mesh. ...So when Alex was given Clay's MOAM CD awhile ago, and wanted to go to a Clay concert, I was first a little hesitant, but when he hoped the tooth fairy would leave him Clay tickets instead of money when he lost his first tooth, I knew I had to take him to one. ( And having just completed a master's class on multiple intelligences, I was running with the idea of Alex having a musical modality that I needed to encourage!) :)
We attended the Ohio SF last week, and afterward Alex asked if Clay only brings "daddy-aged" boys on stage to dance, because he would really like to do it sometime. He started dancing and said "Look Mom...I can ‘bring it'!" (Where he learned that phrase I have no idea...probably church...go figure) When we went to the concert tonight, we made a sign that said "Need a lil' pip?" The only problem was that they confiscated it at the entrance. Alex cried and cried. But when we got to our seats, Alex ended up being right on the end of a very visible aisle. Clay started the show and Alex danced and danced. Either Clay or Nick knew that the sign was from Alex, or he just caught Clay's attention dancing, but when Clay started walking toward us, Alex just froze up. But as Clay started talking to him in that very reassuring tone---Alex opened back up. (And yes, as I remember it, Clay said that he liked Alex's orange Hawaiian shirt and that it was his favorite color too! Although I think he could have simply said it to put Alex at ease or I simply heard it wrong---don't quote me on that---the clack will have to make the ruling there):??? When he first asked Alex if he could come on stage, Alex said "NO". Clay looked at me with a little bit of bewilderment, and then told Alex that I could come with him. I think Alex still said "NO". I told Clay that he would surely do it, and then Clay said to go with Nick and so we did. Well, Alex panicked and started crying hysterically. :bluesniff I felt horrible. I reminded Alex that this is what he was hoping for, and that he had an opportunity that almost everyone in the audience would love to have. I felt like a total stage mom and it was making my stomach turn.. I despise moms who pedal their kids for their own interests, but I knew that Alex would regret it if he didn't do it because he was a little nervous. After I got him settled down beside the stage, with Ethel's help and some deep breathing, he finally said "but I don't know how to dance like they do and everone will laugh at me!" That was his worry! Nick told him that he could dance however he wanted and to just have fun. This greatly eased Alex's mind. So to make a long story even longer...here's what happened and the only part most of you will be interested in knowing about...We went behind the stage with a very nice and considerate man named Nolan (?). He offered us something to drink (Fiji water, my favorite), gave us a mini-tour of the backstage area, and showed us the 70's getup. Alex said he didn't want to wear anything at first (whispered to me that he thought it was all girl "stuff") but he later agreed to a yellow boa and a funky hat. A few minutes later Jacob and the girls came back and they all knelt down to talk to Alex. They were so polite and I can't begin to tell you how beautiful the girls are up close. Seriously breathtaking. Alex was acting a little shy. Then Clay came in. He was in that 70's suit and he extended his hand and said something like "thanks for helping us out" or something like that. I responded with "Thank you for being such a good role model for Alex." We only chit-chatted for a minute, I had told him I was a teacher and he asked if I worked with children with hearing impairments because he had seen me signing to Alex. (not sure when, I don't always realize I'm doing it) I then told him about everyone learning to sign because Alex's brother Ethan was "autistic" then I corrected myself and said "has autism", (sorry when he was diagnosed years ago, people first language was not used, and old habits are hard to break!) Meeting Clay in person is not like I thought it would be. He and all of his crew are so down-to-earth likeable. (This I did expect.) But he is very "normal" and not affected at all. He actually looks at you when he talks to you. He actually looks at you when you talk to him. Very odd, that I didn't feel tongue-tied or silly, but I think it was really Alex's moment anyway. Anyway...here's what I came away with---if I had a dollar for everytime Clay or anyone in his crew, (Nick, Nolan, Jacob, Quiana, Angela, security) said something polite or thanked us, I'd be a rich woman right now. :cuddle What a class act!

Oh by the way, since I am clack-retrieving-challenged, can someone tell me how to access a picture of Clay and Alex?
Also, I have two close-ups of Clay from when he was talking to Alex, but I wouldn't even begin to know how to post them. If you pm me, I can try to get them up. Thanks gang...good night. :sleep

Concert recap courtesy the CB's cookiemonster5050:
These are great reviews. Clay looked and sounded AWESOME. That orange shirt is soooooooo HOT! Here are a couple awesome things that happened to me:

1) I was in the front row and during End of the Road Clay's stool was directly in front of me. He reaches down shakes my hand and asks me how i'm doing...of course I say great!

2) Then....as if that isn't enough for me to take....he sings like half of the song looking directly at me! I could barely stay standing up! :tasty

3) During invisible he held the mic down between my friend and I and let us sing!

This was an amazing concert...definitely the best I have seen so far!

Kettering Review- Dayton Daily News

2005-08-16T10:03:00.000-04:00

Claymates enjoy night with Aiken
By Kim Margolis

Dayton Daily News

He has an audience that ranges from preteens to older ladies, and Clay Aiken put together a concert for all of them.

Aiken performed songs from the 1950s to the present for his Jukebox Tour. If you're a hater, you'd say Aiken was ready for his Las Vegas show.

If you just want to have fun with the kid who made good on American Idol, you would have had a ball at Aiken's Fraze Pavilion concert on Monday.

The show started with Aiken in a black leather jacket dressed as the slimmest Fonzie ever seen. The giant jukebox on stage was skipping. Like Arthur Fonzarelli, Aiken gave it a pop and the music started. Twistin' the Night Away, At the Hop and Johnny B Good kicked things off.

A salute to Elvis featured Aiken playing the piano and singing Love Me Tender. His Hound Dog, Jailhouse Rock and other upbeat Elvis tunes showed the admittedly awkward dancer testing his feet with Elvis' moves.

He struggled with hoarseness throughout the evening, likely due to the wet weather, but pulled out strong vocals for Unchained Melody and Solitaire. In fact, his most difficult times were when he was singing quiet or up-tempo, but when it came time to sing out strong, he pulled it off. He hit his stride with a restrained I Can't Make You Love Me.

A gracious headliner who often seems like he's having as much fun as a kid in a high school musical, Aiken shares the stage with his background singers, especially Angela Fisher, who put together a rousing version of Motown's Think.

There was a bit of personal drama as Aiken, whose persona is squeaky clean, had a sultry performance of When Doves Cry (yes, Prince!) with Fisher. Then during Sailing (a much better version than that of Christopher Cross), the pair got close again.

This is how rumors start.

Aiken pleased fans as he performed music of this decade: He sung his own songs, including two from his eventual next album. It wasn't his way of saying this decade is his; it was a way of honoring the rabid Claymates.

Flint Journal Clio Review

2005-08-15T14:09:00.000-04:00

Aiken croons and Claymates swoon at concert
FLINT JOURNAL REVIEW
CLIO
Monday, August 15, 2005
By Misty R. Gower
mgower@flintjournal.com • 810.766.6338
Journal review

CLIO - In 2003, he captured the hearts of gals ages 7-70. In 2005, he's captured the soul of five decades of rock 'n' roll.

"American Idol" standout Clay Aiken brought his Jukebox Tour to the Clio Area Amphitheater on Saturday night, singing rapid-fire snippets of hits from the 1950s to '90s to a crowd of about 2,500 at the 3,100-seat venue.

Make that a crowd of about 2,475 women and 25 men, a lopsided fan base that didn't go unnoticed by Aiken.

"I know you've either been bribed, threatened or tortured to be here," he told the men in the audience.

From the time Aiken stepped onto the stage dressed as The Fonz, licking his thumbs and bumping a "malfunctioning" jukebox with his forearm, the Claymates were on their feet and screaming.

Fans sat silently only when Aiken belted out ballads, the only songs he sang in their entirety throughout a 21/2-hour show that felt like part Broadway musical and part rock 'n' roll history lesson.

Aiken - decked out in costumes from each era - introduced each decade of songs with a narration about what was going on in the world at the time and who touched the nation's hearts with their music.

Of course, the 26-year-old crooner wasn't shy to admit that his vast knowledge of each decade wasn't firsthand.

"Truth is, I was a fetus in the 1970s," he said to a roar of laughter.

Covering the 1950s and '60s during the first hour of the show, Aiken embraced the aw-shucks corny factor that made him a star on Season 2 of "Idol" - think judge Simon Cowell telling him to never dance again - and he ran with it, knowing that each shake of his tush and wink of an eye would send the crowd into a frenzy. A jump on the piano during "Great Balls of Fire" had women fanning themselves.

In addition to seeing Aiken's ever-improving dance skills and his ability to play the piano, fans got to hear quite the range in his voice, often amazing listeners with low tones that many didn't know he had.

He adapted well to the style and sound of each artist whose songs he sang, but in true "American Idol" fashion, he, well, made it his own.

He also unselfishly helped his fantastic band and three phenomenal backup singers make things their own, often singing backup for them.

But there was no doubt that Aiken was the heartthrob star of the show. His grinding dance with a backup singer during his version of Prince's "When Doves Cry" during the '80s segment had many swooning.

"This is too much for my heart," said Jean Roman, 65, of Toledo, who had never attended a concert until Aiken stole her heart on "Idol" in 2003. The Clio show was the third Aiken concert she had attended in a week.

It was Aiken's six-song set of his own works at the end of the show that garnered the biggest applause of the evening, proving that while he has built a 2005 tour around songs of the past, he's going to have plenty of fans in the future.

MusicNewsMagazine.net Review of the Vienna Concert

2005-08-15T10:33:00.000-04:00

Clay Aiken Rocks Wolftrap Ampitheater August 8, 2005 during his Summer JukeBox Tour

staff writer: Mary Ann Everett

Take one spectacular venue on a rainy, hot summer night. Add 7000 Clay Aiken fans and you will have a mix that is sure to "Clayvert" the season ticket holders. That certainly was the case Monday night at The Wolftrap in Vienna, Virginia. Clay and his crew packed the two plus hour show with so many great tunes I can't remember them all. Tunes from the past 50 years took the audience on a trip down memory lane before catapulting them into the future by rocking the house with "Back for More", a strong contender from his next album.

Despite the heat and cumbersome attire, including black leather and polyester, Aiken's voice ranged from "Love Me Tender" sweet to "When Doves Cry" seductive. At a few points in the show I thought the vocals were somewhat overpowered by the crashing drums but the purity of his voice was quite poignant during the 60's medley of "Daydream Believer", "Sugar-Sugar" and "Downtown". The medley's moved quickly as did Aiken from atop a Baldwin grand piano belting out "Great Balls of Fire". The audience enjoyed his full versions of such chart-toppers as "Unchained Melody", "Solitaire", "Bridge over Troubled Waters" and "Mandy." Manilow would be proud. Clay has obviously been working on his dance moves as evidenced by his fancy foot work while posing as a "pip" on the "Midnight Train to Georgia." and his hip swivels during the Elvis Medley. (I thought Grease was cute) I believe his rendition of "Suspicious Minds" would have been lauded by "The King" himself. He chose to leave the Michael Jackson moves to his back up singer, Jacob Luttrell. How-ever, it should be noted that Aiken's backup singers are on the stage for far more than vocal support. All three are quite talented and are an integral part of the show. Quiana Parler earned her own standing "O" with her powerful rendition of "I Will Always Love You." Move over Whitney. With this being the fourth tour for this foursome, it seems that they have "bonded", so to speak. It also seems that Mr. Aiken chose this show to possibly repay Ms. Fischer for some past misdeed. Throughout the evening, she was the target of his jokes and mischievous looks. He acknowledged their behavior to the audience by explaining that Ms. Fischer had crush on him and he had let her down easy.

From the enthusiasm of the fans and abundance of Clay-related regalia, it is apparent that Ms. Fischer is not the only one enamored by Mr. Aiken. Even though he has sung his new song, "Back for More" only a few times since the tour started, his devoted fans had no trouble singing along word for word. As they said back in the day, "The joint was jumping". The song has a great "hook" and if the passion for it at Wolftrap is any indication of it's mass effect, DJ's will be spinning it every hour on the hour. His other new song entitled "1000 Days" is a typical Aiken ballad but has potential as well. For those wondering, Aiken says the new album will be out "when it's ready", apparently a joke among anxious fans.

This highly energized show was a treat for all in attendance, even those with lawn seats at the bottom of the hill. Despite white caps lapping at their backs from the run-off, these concert-goers hung in there 'til the end, a testament to the quality of the show.

8/13 Clio, MI Recaps

2005-08-14T10:48:00.000-04:00

Concert recap courtesy the CB's SoliTaire52:
Home from Clio and I am still feeling so happy and wide awake, thought I'd stop and give a quick review. Was at Meadowbrook last night and have to say - Clio had a much better crowd. Meadowbrook is a beautiful ampitheatre and the concert was wonderful, don't get me wrong, but there was just something "different" about tonight vs last night. I do believe it was the crowd. They were on their feet from the first!

The only downside to that is my friend that I came to the concert with, just had foot surgery and has to be in a wheelchair.......she couldn't get down the stairs to our seats...so we sat in the back behind the regular seats. When the whole crowd was standing she could not see at all. But - she could still hear it all!

And what we heard - was awesome. Clay was (insert adjective here) - LOL - snarky, fun, happy, HOT, amazing, incredible, fabulous, did I mention HOT, sexy, tremendous, superb, oh and SEXY. Everyone did a superlative job.

One of the highlights for me is when Clay was sitting at the piano and teasing a lady down front about being slow to sit down because she was videotaping. He joked "God forbid the clack should skip!" which I'm sure has been reported on the cellcerts already - but oh my gosh the reaction of the crowd was so hysterical. Then he snarked....."Yeah....I know your words." I laughed so hard the tears just ran!

Got to love him.

People have been teasing me because I'm going to four concerts.....after seeing him last night and again tonight....I'm sorry that it's only four! I wish I could go to every one. He's that amazing.

The new songs....both got great response from the audience, last night and tonight. 1000 days sounds better each time I hear it. It's beautiful. And - Back For More needs to be on the radio, the radio, the radio....right NOW!!!!

Another highlight - I Can't Make You Love Me......I think only one fan yelled anything during this song. The audience sat mesmerized, with Clay's voice floating, wrapping itself around us, and touching the deepest part of our souls, leaving us wanting more. Oh yeah I love that song the way Clay performs it, and it was wonderful that the respect was there for a truly stellar performance.

Clio is Clay Friendly! Next year, skip Meadowbrook and do back-to-back nights again at Clio! Something about that venue is magic.

Thanks again, Clay, for everything.
With love, and hope,
Terry

A little more from last night.........

The reason Clay was talking to the lady video taping - is that he was telling folks to be courteous of the people behind them when taping. Someone yelled something about being able to see the videos, and his answer was "Yeah but that lady can't see ME!" - or something to that effect. This was all just prior to the Elvis segment, and he started to do his rehearsed intro - and said "You got me all flustered"...and skipped it. LOL! He does such a great job with Love Me Tender but the rest of the segment is pure melt-down sexy-hot-cool! Where did that boy learn those moves? Whew!
Same can be said for Livin' the Vida Loca. He so outshines Ricky Martin on that song it's not even funny.

Same thing for Daydream Believer. Now, back in the day, I was a huge fan of the Monkees. I remember my best friend and I would race to the TV to watch that show and how adorable Davy Jones was. Now, Clay has once again taken over a song and made it his own! Gosh almighty he is so friggin' cute doin' those 60's songs!

Other great moments......so many.......so hard to name a favorite when everything was wonderful.......Solitaire, perfect, gorgeous. Mandy, one of my favorite songs, and Barry, sorrry, I love you too, but Clay blows your rendition out of the water. Why is it when Clay covers a song, it immediately becomes HIS???

When Doves Cry.........there are no words. I told my friend - you aren't going to be able to see in a minute.....a lot of folks were sitting during the first part of the song......must have been their first concert, tee hee. But when that choir robe came off - um - no one was in their seats any more! Oh my. I'm older than Clay's mom but I can still drool. That voice. Those MOVES! I still can't believe this is our little "Ah'm the American Idol........" Clay! Oh he so IS the American Idol, and then some. Whoot Whooooooo!

Wish I didn't have to wait until Tuesday to see him again!
:lubdub
With love, and hope,
Terry
PS - No acronyms were used in creating this post...LOL...I hate having to figure out WYSYLM, etc.
PS2 - Our local TV station, TV2, just announced that Clay Aiken is the most loved Reality TV star! Well, duh!

Concert recap courtesy the CB's Unchainedmelody:
It was a great concert. Clay was in the "Clio Spirit". He remarked on how close everyone was to him a couple of times and I noticed he never strayed too far beyond the edge of the black carpet (?) of the band shell. The song progression was fabulous and his banter very good. When he was at the piano I thought he was gonna carry on the "Clack" conversation for ever:) "This is our own forum. you say what you want and I say what I want and its all over the internet tonight" Too funny.
I just have to mention Jacob and the Michael Jackson song. That was fabulous. You forget how good Michael was at one time and Jacob had every dance move down to perfection. Great Job. I also love when Quiana did the robot dance plus some other moves she was doing and Clay was just watching her.
All the songs were sung to perfection by everyone. Clay did WDC to perfection and gave it respect and justice. UCM, mandy (which I don't usually like) Solitare. All beautiful.
The Touch chants and banter were too funny.

Back for more is a fist pumping little rocker and I love it. I hope in studio that its allowed to keep the organic live band feel. The bass player and drums and guitar just tore it up on that song. Hopefully if recorded it doesnt obtain that canned music pop feel and gets runined. Clay has a winner here.
Great to hear invisible again. Transported me right back to the Joe Louis arena 2003.

I thoughly was captivated by THE VOICE Clay Aiken.

Concert recap courtesy the CV's clay-d-bug:
I am back from Clio and it was incredible. The Clio Amphitheater is the
most amazing place to see Clay. I just wish the stage was larger as they
could not put up the JB curtain across the back. Both concerts last year were
just the best and I really think Clay loves performing there.

The concert tonight was so much better than last night. The crowd was on
their feet almost all night. He definetly felt the love tonight and gave it right
back. He was wonderful! wub.gif Last night was the first time I heard 1000 days
and did not like it but tonight I didn't want it to end. He was sooo into that song.
Like others, I don't care about the words, its the music and the passion he put
into it. I now hope it is on the CD. When he stated singing BFM I looked around at
the audience and No one was seated. I think everyone was pumping their arms
to the music. This has got to be his first single...just has to be. If he gets help with
permotion (sp) there is no doubt in my mind it will be a hit. The person that
went with me tonight likes Clay alot (just does not love him like I do) but she is alittle reserved. Oh she stood and clapped with a big smile and got into the
music but when I seen her pumping her arm to BFM, I knew right then she was hooked. She absolutely loved this concert. Loves him now. biggrin2.gif

Sorry this is so long. I could just go on and on about how happy, funny and
hottttt he was but will leave that to the next person.

hello.gif to yoyo who I saw at the preparty.

Concert recap courtesy the CB's yoyo4321
It's early in the morning. I'm catching up here since I can't sleep. To repeat what I posted in HDD a few hours ago:

OMG - WHAT A FREAKIN AWESOME SHOW. My friends and I all agreed that it was the best ever!!!!

Last summer, Clio #2 was my favorite show but I had forgot what an incredible, intimate venue it is. My seat was in the 2nd row, off to the side, but quite acceptable. OMG, he was so-o-o close.

(I'm reading the cellcert thread and I'm commenting as things jog my memory)

We all agreed the the Clack comment was the best comeback of the night.

Daydream believer - my three friends and I had our arms around each other and we were singing along.

toni7babe walked in front of me after the M&G and I saw her signed picture - a GMA print, it is awesome. I didn't see her picture with Clay but I saw her friend's which was really cute. She said she would be back on the boards Sunday afternoon.

Miss Michigan was in the front row about 10 seats down from me. She had her crown on. She was a really good sport and danced well for a cello player. His mom was a judge for that one, right?

The stage WAS really crowded. A couple times I was blocked from seeing Clay by the other musicians. I had to watch the beanbag chair segment through the legs of Clarence's keyboard (I would have said organ, but I was told last night that that was really smutty). I thought Andy was going to block me during ICMYLM but he moved back. And no, they did not use the backdrops. Somebody said they didn't for Musikfest either? Since the stage was so small, they were doing a lot of re-arranging right after the concert started with all of the mic wires. There were so many that it could have been a hazard. It got worked out within a couple of songs.

My sister and her fiance also came to the concert. I went up to see them at intermission. The fiance is a real music buff with around 2000 CDs. His first question to me was "Is there a DVD for this concert or a music CD?" I told him I'd take care of it. He is really impressed by Clay's range and commented "Wow, he can sing anything." They also came to the Allegan Fair and he was impressed then.

WDC - I was on the grinding side and OMG!! I just don't have the words to describe. I'm hyperventilating just thinking about it. smile.gif

1000 Days - didn't much care for it when I first heard it but WOW, was it something last night! (small voice: not sure it would do well on radio. /end small voice)

Back for More - audience was really into this - so much fun!!

This was a great crowd and like clay-d-bug hello.gif said, the crowd was so much more into it. Much more standing and dancing than last night from what I could see. The venue looked pretty full to me.

Also went the pre-party where I met clay-d-bug who I had met before but hadn't know her screen name and kwhite1022 and her sister who lives nearby. I also saw my FL traveling buddy clayoradoan. The pre-party was in the middle school across the street which was nice for the parking, but it was not air-conditioned and it was so hot that I spent most of it sitting on a desk outside the school. The pregnant kwhite1022 also spent a lot of time out there.

It was sprinkling some before the concert and I thought I was going to need to use my rain poncho but the rain never came to pass. They were confiscating umbrellas and hanging them on the fence by the gate. Hope my sister got hers back. smile.gif

That's all for now. Hope it is literate. I've only had about 2 hours sleep.

8/12 Rochester Hills, MI Recaps

2005-08-13T11:02:00.000-04:00

Concert Recap courtesy the CB's sah pa:
OMG I'm completly done in!!!!!!!!The concert was just wonderful. We had great seats-the third try as we bought others, and then sold them. The weather was great-rain was in the forecast, but held off just for Mr. Thudmuffin. The show started promptly at 8:00 with the decade of the 50's. Clay was HOT, HOT, HOT. Looked like he was having a super time and really enjoying interacting with the audience. It looked like a sold out crowd. Most seats in the pavilion were filled, and many on the lawn. His voice was in top form, and that boy is learning some "moves.'

The audience was very receptive, standing and clapping to the upbeat songs, and mostly quiet for the ballads. Standing O"s for UCM, BOTW, ICMYLM. He sang 1000 days, I think I might like it a lot, but was hard to hear the words. Also BFM, the crowd loved it and stood the whole time. Only one little hitch the whole night. There was a couple in front of me who talked the whole time-during the whole concert. they were asked by several to be quiet, but did not. I really wanted to hit them upside the head with a smart stick!!!

I really hope he is in Detroit for a Christmas concert, I'm already having withdrawal!!!!!

Concert Recap courtesy the CB's gloriousrose:
This is my morning report of the fantastic concert at Meadowbrook. It's lucky Clay is only doing 25 shows because this show is so enegetic and so full of powerful glory notes that his voice would be strained. The sound at Meadowbrook, in my opinion, wasn't so great, especially during the first half of the show. It seemed better the second half, so maybe they fixed it from the earlier tiney sound. Their were lots of young women and girls in the crowd mixed in with more mature women and couples. One older gentleman had a tshirt which read on the front. My wife didn't drag me here. On the back of the shirt it read I actually like Clay Aiken. Clay got a young man up to do the dancing schtik whose 23 year old sister made him come with her or she wouldn't cash his checks. Clay snarked that the man was going to Stanford University but wasn't smart enough to get his sister to sign his checks.lol
The highlights for me were Clay's renditions of You Can't Make Me Love You and Mandy. These should be recorded sometime in the future. Just glorious. His new songs 1000 days and Back for More were beyond fabulous. I am so looking forward to his next album. As to his singing Touch, when Clay asked for requests, someone in the audience yelled Touch. Clay said I ain't gonna sing it. So he must truly have a personal reason to avoid this song in concert.
As to his clothes, he looked so good in that leather jacket and well-fitting (cough, cough) black pants. The Elvis segment was hottttt.!

Concert Recap courtesy the CV's clayoradoan:
Quick commentary sort of related to Clay-d-bug's re-cap.
As we were driving along to our hotel, Clay's bus caught up with us as we turned into University from N. squirrel Road. We were stuck behind the bus which was moving a little slowly and they headed our route. Thought they would go to our hotel, but they turned into Wendy's Restaurant...Nick and Mary got out and waited some time to get their order.

Venue looked pretty full to me...that was very pleasing to see! My poor hubby was totally blocked by a lady who continuously danced and swayed and her 2 young girl companions who stood up 80-90% of the time. ..we were 15th row and there was no reason for the 14th row to stand the whole time.

I moved to an empty aisle seat. The security guy was nice to let me stay the whole time...probably saw the problem. Hubby was not too happy but said he enjoyed the concert. Hopefully he can really enjoy it at Clio tonight but we will be again separated.

Clay is an awesome performer and it was great that he had a full house. At restaurants where we ate, the waitresses all recognized him and knew he was in town.

If I am have my wits with me, I hope to do a cellcert with smz.

It was a perfect night for a Clay concert...no rain (was very rainy earlier in the moring) and not too warm.

Concert recap courtesy the CB's Clayfantical:
The best thing (besides Clay singing) about a Clay Aiken concert are the Claymates., Claniacs, Clayconverts, and all remaining members of the Clay nation. We are so different, yet so similar. It occurred to me that if I was starting a new nation, the members would all come from the Clay Nation.

Note to myself: Spend the money to attend only those concert halls rated to have the best sound system for VOICE.

Note to self: Ignore the first note. Wherever Clay sings, I will follow.

Clay is beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Quiana can sing. Move over Whitney! Quiana, Angela and Jacob really make it a 2.5 hour of pure entertainment. WDC was just about right. Anymore, and I might have had to close my eyes. I really enjoyed watching Quiana move…she soooo gives herself over to the joy of the moment. Love her hair.

Clay Aiken is the most unselfish performer I have come across. (Note to self: you can’t really say that, since you were not really interested in any performer really, before Clay. OK, maybe the Judds.)

And Clay can Dance, Dance, Dance. He has beautiful motion. He is just gorgeous with the new dance moves when he is a back up singer and just flips his right arm repeatedly on the steps. Wow..that was new to me and I was just mesmerized by this action.

There is nothing else to be said. I love Clay Aiken. And where he goes I follow.

Another great thing about this trip for me (since I flew from Dallas) is that I had the extreme pleasure of meeting Clayniac2. She is the lady who so unselfishly and with great faith in humanity, helped “bluemoon”and her brother in Malaysia to attend a Clay sighting. That sequence of events, the story that unfolded, the outpouring of love that nourishes the soul, the trust that was so richly rewarded. Clayniac2…it was my sincerest pleasure to meet you. May you have joy and peace for as long as life shall last.

Thank you MiClaynation, for hosting such a terrific pre-party. How about that Heather singing the song about making a difference. I was just brought to tears. And that Shelly…just everything was perfect. The entertainment, the subway sandwiches, the venue, the people.

So great to meet Carolyn and others. So funny how I flew from Dallas to Michigan to attend this concert, which means I knew no one in Michigan except for a friend I was taking along. Then I entered the Claynation community and it was like I was seeing old friends everywhere. I was not a stranger. I was just like a “cousin” from out of town – despite being the only African-American in the room.

If anyone is going to a concert along…don’t worry. Just go. You are never alone. Just start speaking with the person next to you, and make a friend for the concert.

Also enjoyed touching the Ugandan Beadforlife.com beads. They are truly beautiful up close, and sooooooooooo well made, I cannot believe, I cannot see how they can only be made of paper. They are so well put together and so durable looking. Can’t wait until my order arrives.

Clay definitely will end up being able to entertain both in song and dance.

I predict the following: Raleigh, NC will be established as another Branson, MO. Tickets to the performances will be as highly prized as tickets to a Celine Dion show.

Everything has already been said about the concert.

Love how everyone tries to fix the jukebox, including the stage hands at the beginning.

Love the Way Clay comes on like the Fonz.
Love each solo number, even Jacob’s
Love the changing of the wardrobe on stage.
Love the rhythm of the show.
Love the message in the song: I can’t make you love me if you don’t.
Love Clay’s clowning with the audience, and saying hello to someone on the phone from a distance.

Love the new songs. I cannot judge if they will be radio friendly. Not an expert. I just hope Clay as good advisors. The question I ask myself…will the songs be memorable? I can only hope..

Concert recap from the CB's ImaFanOfClay:
I'm raquelsg, but am using my sister's computer. I attended the concert with my sister who lives in Michigan. (I'm from California), and we were thrilled that the weather cleared up and it was beautiful! Not too warm at all (at least not under the cover) and no rain - yeah! It was a fantastic concert, with the exception of the occasional times when his mike went out. We did miss a few words now and then at the beginning, but as you know there are SOOOOO many songs, that this really was a small thing in the overall picture. I didn't have the closest seats (Row Y), but it was a great view of the whole stage and various backdrops, and of course I had my binoculars for those close-up views. No jumbotrons, which I missed. I hope they have some for Clio tonight.

I hadn't seen how the show starts, and I loved the whole Fonzie vibe at the entrance, and he plays it off so well! He DID sing an extra verse in ICMYLM, and I was thrilled, as I love that song. Yes, there were shout outs at the wrong time as usual, but I think the sound was spread out so far that it didn't really disrupt it too much. They're all having so much fun on that stage! The man in front of us was having a great time, just bopping to the music, and at times just shaking his head back and forth at Clay's slow, beautiful songs.

It was cute about Jacob in the background. A few times when Clay was talking, Jacob would make some move or dance and wave for us to react, which we did...so Clay had to keep turning around to see what was going on behind his back. Normally I don't think Clay would like these kind of surprises, but he sure played it off well and we all had a great time with it, too. Jacob can really dance, and Clay highlighted him during the end of the "Can't Touch This" segment. All three backup singers did a great job on their solos, and it's so generous of Clay to let them shine a little, too. He even called out their website addresses, helping to promote them.

Well, you've heard about concert details, but I also got a Meet & Greet!!!! I wish I could tell you all the glowing things that happened, but honestly I can't even remember him putting his arm around me for our picture!!! I know he did because he does this to everyone, but once my time was up, I had absolutely no memory of it at all - :bluesniff . I do remember when he asked "howareya", that I was grinning like a fool and said "Thrilled!" I also remember putting our heads together for the (very fast) picture, but I didn't remember touching him or smelling him, or any real details. I wish it was on video. He was so darn cute and bright-eyed and sparkly when we first saw him after being ushed into the side of the stage area to meet him. He had on a polo shirt, army/pea green with small horizontal beige stripes. With the table he was standing behind, I couldn't see his pants or shoes, but he looked gorgeous. Sigh....... Just wish I could remember the little side hug. When my turn was over, I stepped back to the side and asked them if I could just stand there and watch (the others), but they said no, I had to leave the area. Boo hoo. Oh, well. I'm still thrilled I got the opportunity to meet him.

Now off to Clio tonight!!

Musikfest Review from Mcall.com

2005-08-12T18:14:00.000-04:00

Clay Aiken strikes up the oldies
His 'Jukebox Tour' at Musikfest draws a crowd of 4,800.

By Keith Groller
Of The Morning Call

Visit Hersheypark, Busch Gardens, Disney or any amusement park in America and chances are you'll pass by a stage with young people jumping around, changing costumes and singing hits from other eras.

That, in a nutshell, is what Clay Aiken and ensemble did for nearly two hours during his ''Jukebox Tour'' show Wednesday night at Musikfest's RiverPlace stage.

But even though Aiken didn't do any of his own material until the final 20 minutes of his performance, his frenzied fans -- and there were 4,800 of them in full throat -- didn't care.

The runner-up in 2003 version of ''American Idol'' continues to possess what his female fan base, the Claymates, crave -- a cute face, an easygoing, sometimes awkward but always humble demeanor and a powerful voice.

He may never be a consistent chart-topper like Idol's first winner, Kelly Clarkson, but Aiken's new tour showcases the kind of versatility that could eventually nab him long-running gigs on Broadway or the Vegas strip.

There's just something about him that girls -- ages 8 to 80 -- adore.

His musical journey through the past five decades of pop hits -- from Elvis to Boyz 2 Men -- clearly pleased the crowd.

The show opened with Aiken in a leather jacket singing 1950s favorites such as ''Johnny B. Goode,'' ''At the Hop'' and ''That'll Be the Day.''

His Elvis medley drew a laugh when he hit the wrong key at the piano on ''Can't Help Falling in Love.'' Aiken is still learning to play the piano and gave ample warning when, after listing the late Presley's feats, he said, ''And now I'm about to ruin his music.''

Actually, Aiken did The King justice, especially with his own phrasing on ''Suspicious Minds.''

Moving into the 1960s, Aiken delivered the Monkees' ''Daydream Believer'' and deftly handled a Motown medley. He even played a Pip on Gladys Knight's ''Midnight Train to Georgia.''

But it wasn't until after a 20-minute intermission that Aiken found his niche with ballads such as Barry Manilow's ''Mandy,'' Christopher Cross' ''Sailing'' and Simon and Garfunkel's ''Bridge Over Troubled Water.''

You could almost hear sugary Idol judge Paula Abdul coo, ''Clay, you made great song choices and made each song your own.''

Aiken was allowed to catch his breath and let members of his talented ensemble -- Angela Fisher, Quiana Parler and Jacob Latrell -- showcase themselves.

Finally, Aiken delivered some of his own songs, such as ''When You Say You Love Me,'' and even tried out some yet-to-be-released songs from an upcoming album.

He closed with his hit ''Invisible.'' But considering the intensity of the affection, it's hard to imagine him becoming invisible any time soon.

Fayetteville Online Weekender Cary Review

2005-08-12T18:09:00.000-04:00

Aiken takes fans through time
By Stacy Peterson
Staff writer

CARY - The '50s era jukebox center stage said it all.
ADVERTISEMENT

Clay Aiken was back home and ready to take his die-hard fans on a journey back through the radio hits from the '50s til today.

On Friday night, he did just that with songs from The Four Tops to the Goo Goo Dolls.

For more than two hours, Aiken's summer homecoming show at the Koka Booth Amphitheatre at Regency Park, was a little bit of everything for the capacity crowd of 7,000, many of which traveled from states around.

Between songs, Aiken spoke several times about being back home, pointing out that his mother was seated on the front row and that he forgot how a Carolina August could be so hot.

"I'm sweating like Ruben," Aiken said, referring to fellow "American Idol" contestant and winner Ruben Studdard. "You would think for a homecoming it would be cooler."

Aiken's concert was divided into decades, the '50s, '60s, '70s, '80's, '90s and today.

For each decade, a different backdrop set the mood with a different style of jukebox, lettering and hints of things that were in style then.

Aiken, his back-up band of six musicians and three singers, also dressed in the style of the decade.

I'll use the word dancing liberally. But hey, Aiken is trying.

The show felt like a combination TV variety show and a Branson-style show-for-everyone.

It also provided a creative outlet for Aiken's sense of humor and quick wit.

Once, in the middle of another thought, Aiken looked down at the first two rows, looking for a fan to bring on stage.

"What could you possibly be looking at with binoculars from the second row?" he asked.

But it was his vocal performance that showed why fans love Clay Aiken so much.

He hit those famous high notes and held on to them for what seemed like a minute in each song. He was joined by an impressive group of singers who also took turns with songs from the years that Aiken felt they could do a better job with such hits as "Rock With You" by Michael Jackson and "I Will Always Love You" in the way that Whitney Houston made the song famous.

For Rod Edwards, seeing Aiken perform was nothing new.

Edwards, who performed with Aiken in the late 1990s as a member of a house band for local community college performances, saw Aiken's magic years ago. He also played with Just By Chance, a four-man vocal group that included Aiken.

Back then Edwards and others in the variety show band would audition young singers who wanted to gain experience in front of small crowds.

Edwards said he knew from the beginning that Aiken had something special.

"He hit those high notes and would hold it, and it just raised people to their feet," Edwards said as he waited for the concert to start.

That happened several times Friday night.

You could hear a pin drop between lines of "Unchained Melody" as the crowd hung on to every note.

Aiken channeled a slightly higher-pitched voice of Elvis in "Love Me Tender" before tackling a full-on version of "Suspicious Minds."

He brought out "I'll Be There," "Happy Together," "Car Wash," "All Night Long," a gospel intro version of "When Doves Cry" and even Ricky Martin's "Livin' la Vida Loca" just to name a few.

That last song might have been a mistake. Vocally Aiken sounded fine, but he actually tried to swing his hips like Martin. This didn't work.

One particularly strong moment came during Aiken's version of Barry Manilow's "Mandy." You could tell that Aiken really loves this song.

The only downside to the show was that most songs were medleys, which means only parts of the song.

I understand that he wanted to pack as many hit songs in as he could, but it got tiresome not hearing the full song.

On the upside, Aiken did debut new material from his upcoming album. The song "Back For More" sounds much better than his material on "Measure of A Man" and should introduce us to a whole new Aiken.

Not that his fans are not happy with the old Aiken.

Staff writer Stacy Peterson can be reached at petersons@fayettevillenc.com or 323-4848, ext. 384.

Musikfest Review from Allentown Morning Call.

2005-08-12T14:54:00.000-04:00

Clay Aiken strikes up the oldies
His 'Jukebox Tour' at Musikfest draws a crowd of 4,800.
By Keith Groller Of The Morning Call

Visit Hersheypark, Busch Gardens, Disney or any amusement park in America and chances are you'll pass by a stage with young people jumping around, changing costumes and singing hits from other eras.

That, in a nutshell, is what Clay Aiken and ensemble did for nearly two hours during his ''Jukebox Tour'' show Wednesday night at Musikfest's RiverPlace stage.

But even though Aiken didn't do any of his own material until the final 20 minutes of his performance, his frenzied fans - and there were 4,800 of them in full throat - didn't care.

The runner-up in 2003 version of ''American Idol'' continues to possess what his female fan base, the Claymates, crave - a cute face, an easygoing, sometimes awkward but always humble demeanor and a powerful voice.

He may never be a consistent chart-topper like Idol's first winner, Kelly Clarkson, but Aiken's new tour showcases the kind of versatility that could eventually nab him long-running gigs on Broadway or the Vegas strip.

There's just something about him that girls - ages 8 to 80 - adore.

His musical journey through the past five decades of pop hits - from Elvis to Boyz 2 Men - clearly pleased the crowd.

The show opened with Aiken in a leather jacket singing 1950s favorites such as ''Johnny B. Goode,'' ''At the Hop'' and ''That'll Be the Day.''

His Elvis medley drew a laugh when he hit the wrong key at the piano on ''Can't Help Falling in Love.'' Aiken is still learning to play the piano and gave ample warning when, after listing the late Presley's feats, he said, ''And now I'm about to ruin his music.''

Actually, Aiken did The King justice, especially with his own phrasing on ''Suspicious Minds.''

Moving into the 1960s, Aiken delivered the Monkees' ''Daydream Believer'' and deftly handled a Motown medley. He even played a Pip on Gladys Knight's ''Midnight Train to Georgia.''

But it wasn't until after a 20-minute intermission that Aiken found his niche with ballads such as Barry Manilow's ''Mandy,'' Christopher Cross' ''Sailing'' and Simon and Garfunkel's ''Bridge Over Troubled Water.''

You could almost hear sugary Idol judge Paula Abdul coo, ''Clay, you made great song choices and made each song your own.''

Aiken was allowed to catch his breath and let members of his talented ensemble - Angela Fisher, Quiana Parler and Jacob Latrell - showcase themselves.

Finally, Aiken delivered some of his own songs, such as ''When You Say You Love Me,'' and even tried out some yet-to-be-released songs from an upcoming album.

He closed with his hit ''Invisible.'' But considering the intensity of the affection, it's hard to imagine him becoming invisible any time soon.

Home News Tribune Tomsriver Review

2005-08-12T12:01:00.000-04:00

Aiken puts on fun-filled show in Tom's River
Published in the Home News Tribune Teen Scene 08/4/05

Looking around the crowd was a little like going to a family reunion. There were fans of all ages - from tots to teens to grandmothers - and everyone seemed to know each other.

By SHANNA KELLER
CORRESPONDENT

If anyone hasn't seen Clay Aiken since his "American Idol" days, they're in for a big surprise. As he showed New Jersey on July 28 when he kicked off his summer Jukebox Tour at Toms River High School (part of the Toms Riverfest), he's not afraid to move around the stage and show off his vivacious personality while performing.

Looking around the crowd was a little like going to a family reunion. There were fans of all ages - from tots to teens to grandmothers - and everyone seemed to know each other. There was no hesitation to strike up a conversation with a complete stranger because there was always a common thread: being an Aiken fan.

A frequent sight among the throngs of "Claymates" was a cell phone in hand during the concert in order to "cellcert" friends who were not able to attend the show. By keeping a phone on during the performance, the person on the other end of the line could enjoy listening to the music as well.

Aiken's songlist was as diverse as his audience. Starting with the '50s, he treated fans to songs representing each decade - moving from energetic crowd-pleasers such as Sam Cooke's "Twistin' the Night Away" and Bobby Day's "Rockin' Robin" to slower ballads such as The Platters' "Only You (And You Alone)" and "The Great Pretender."

Aiken later dedicated a portion of his show to the king of rock 'n' roll, leaping atop the piano and doing Presley's songs as he sang his heart out to hits such as "Jailhouse Rock," "Heartbreak Hotel," "Hound Dog," "Love Me Tender" and "Suspicious Minds."

Performing such well-known songs may have been overwhelming to some, but he managed to pull them off with ease, exuding confidence as he displayed powerful and rich vocals.

The '70s and '80s also brought a great variety, such as Barry Manilow's "Mandy," Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and Prince's "When Doves Cry."

Although he preferred the selection of songs from earlier days, when the show reached the '90s, Aiken still managed to wow the audience with his lively renditions of the Goo Goo Dolls' hit "Iris" and Ricky Martin's "Livin' La Vida Loca," among others.

This decade provided the opportunity to revisit Aiken's debut CD, "Measure of a Man." He sang "I Will Carry You," "The Way," "When You Say You Love Me," and then debuted two songs: "Back For More" and "Just You."

The new songs brought the crowd to its feet, and then Aiken topped it off with an explosive rendition of his signature hit, "Invisible."

Between songs and medleys, Clay's interaction with the audience, banter with his band and informative introductions gave a personal aspect to the performance. His back-up singers were frequently showcased, as some of the highlights of the show were Quiana Parlor's outstanding rendition of Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" and Jacob Luttrell's solos on saxophone and vocals. The ensemble meshed well - and their personalities and talents complemented each other perfectly.

Regardless of age or background, anyone could find at least a few songs to sing along to and have a blast during this fun-filled, feel-good show.

Teen Scene correspondent Shanna Keller, 19, of East Brunswick will be a sophomore at Rutgers University.

Cary News Review

2005-08-11T14:04:00.000-04:00

Clay-mazing show for faithful fans
By WENDY LEMUS, STAFF WRITER

Friends Jackie MacFarlane and Katie Canning came a long way to see Clay Aiken's sold-out show at the Koka Booth Amphitheatre at Regency Park on Friday night.
So, with general admission tickets in hand, they weren't going to risk sitting on the far reaches of the lawn. The New Jerseyian and Canadian, respectively, were the second and third people to arrive at the gate - at about 10 a.m. - a full 10 hours before the concert.

The friends met through a chat room devoted to their mutual idol, and decided to follow the Raleigh singer's Jukebox Summer Tour - from New Jersey, to New York City, then to Darien Lake, N.Y., and Cary.

"It's like a reunion," said Canning, 18.

Albeit a hot and sticky one. Concertgoers who lined up early for the 8 p.m. show endured sun, humidity and temperatures in the 90s. Some held umbrellas, or waved fans bearing the idol's picture on them, to keep cool.

When the gates opened at 6 p.m., some 7,000 ticketholders streamed into the amphitheater. (The final few tickets were sold a couple hours before showtime.)

Many fans wore signs proclaiming their fan status - T-shirts reading "Jukebox Summer Tour," "Clay Aiken Official Fan Club Member," "Ultimate Claymate" and even "The Future Mrs. Aiken."

"Just the thought of seeing him is so, like, awesome," said 15-year-old Lizzy Phillips of Fayetteville, who shrieked when a nearby group of binoculars-holding concertgoers spotted the singer doing a pre-concert meet-and-greet in the backstage area with some lucky fans.

If the 26-year-old Aiken has come a long way in terms of image from his famous red sideburns-and-geeky-glasses "American Idol" television show audition in 2003, audience members say he certainly has grown as a performer too.

Many in his female-heavy fan base have seen Aiken in concert multiple times in the two short years since he hit the touring circuit.

"He's so much more confident," said MacFarlane, 18. "He has improved drastically. He seems like he's enjoying himself so much.

"I can't believe it's the same Clay that walked into that audition."

Aiken has one full-length album to his name, not including a Christmas song collection. Obviously that means he has to find other material to entertain fans lining up to see him in concert.

With the Jukebox Summer Tour, he made some bold choices. Who dares take on the King of Rock 'N' Roll other than an Elvis impersonator?

In a 25-city tour that celebrates five decades of rock 'n' roll, Aiken could not have left out Presley.

Performing for more than two hours, he belted out some of the last few decades' best-known songs - made popular by the Bee Gees, Prince and Marvin Gaye to name a few.

He has proved - Randy, Paula and Simon, take note - that it is not the song choice that matters.

It is the voice. And he can sing. He is at his best when he does powerful ballads, and there were plenty of those Friday night.

Aiken and three highly energetic backup singers - who also had a chance to show off their vocals with some solos - started in the 1950s with an old time rock ‘n' roll medley of standards such as "The Twist" and "Great Balls of Fire."

An Elvis medley included "Love Me Tender," "Hound Dog" and "Heartbreak Hotel."

A trip through the '60s included "Solitaire," a Neil Sedaka song that impressed the "American Idol" judges and which Aiken later recorded as a CD single.

Then it was on to Motown and kitschy dance steps reminiscent of The Temptations and The Four Tops.

Just before a break, Aiken headed into the reserved-seat section near the stage, microphone in hand, joking, "I know there's some men who were tied to the roof of the car and dragged here tonight. We need somebody who's just miserable."

Guess he knows who is making him rich.

Victim found. During the second half of the show the man was pulled onstage for backup dancing to a collection of '70s hits, which Aiken followed with two popular ballads from that decade: Barry Manilow's "Mandy" and Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water."

Probably Aiken's biggest stretch of the evening was a rendition of Prince's "When Doves Cry." He did not sound a bit like Prince. The performance was, however, spine-tingling. He made the song his own. The "American Idol" judges would be proud.

The show finished with some selections from the new millennium - from Aiken's 2003 "Measure of a Man" CD and with a glimpse of a new CD he is working on.

Then the jukebox turned off (yes, there was a real jukebox on stage), the stage lights dimmed and there was no need for an encore. The sweat-inducing show had included 60-plus songs, in full or part.

Patty Allen of Wake Forest, who attended the concert with her 14-year-old daughter Kate, said the concert was like a trip down memory lane.

And Aiken's performance? In a word, "awesome," Allen said.

The show turned out even better than MacFarlane and Canning had expected; at the 11th hour some reserved-seat tickets had opened for sale and they ditched their general admission tickets for fourth row.

8/10 Bethlehem, PA Recaps

2005-08-11T12:38:00.000-04:00

Concert recap courtesy the CB's Kelly4Clay:
Okay, back from the concert.

There's only one word that can be used to describe this evening...... PERFECT.

Clay's voice was perfect. I have never, ever, ever heard him sound so wonderful. Every note was pure and rich. He hit every high note and every low note with ease. He was effortless tonight and he gave 150%. The man was ON. To highlight just a few of the songs.... Clay's voice sounded perfect on Iris. Tonight it felt like that song was MADE for Clay's voice. When he sang "UM", "Solitaire", and "BOTW", he was spot on and beautiful. I felt all of those songs right down to the tips of my toes. "ICMYLM" made me cry. The crowd was completely silent during all of the slow songs. It was an unworldly experience.

Clay looked perfect tonight. He was absolutely, breathtakingly beautiful. The hair, the face, the body... everything about Clay tonight screamed "gorgeous". (Or was that me screaming "gorgeous" at Clay? I'll have to think about that one.... ;) )

The sound system was perfect tonight. You could hear Clay's voice loud and clear, and there wasn't a moment when he was overpowered by the band. I couldn't have asked for anything better.

The crowd really went crazy when Clay performed his new songs. "1000" Days was the BEST I have ever heard it performed. OMG, that song is so beyond incredible. The band did not overpower him, and OMG that glorynote.... I'm still feeling the effects of that one.

"Back for More" was out of control. At one point you could tell that Clay was amazed that we knew the words to the song. Everyone was pumping their arms and singing along... it was wild!

This was the BEST concert I have EVER been to, and I don't think that Clay has ever looked sexier or sounded better. I was so happy to meet some wonderful members of the Clayboard!! It's so nice to put a name to a face!

Okay, my brain is mush and I think I'm in love, and I'm totally bummed that I won't be seeing Clay anymore on this tour. It was so good, guys.

:hug2

ETA: OMG I forgot to mention!! I prayed that Clay would be wearing the orange shirt tonight and he was!!! Like I said before, everything about the night was perfect. ;)

Concert recap courtesy the CB's PAClay:
Becky,

I was at Musikfest tonight. Clay did get standing ovations for all of his big songs. No worries there.

It was somewhat of a blah crowd. There were, however, plenty of people standing, and BFM and Invisible at end were great.

It was a hot, sticky, buggy night in Bethlehem, PA. Maybe that made some people cross. And some people just plain sluggish.

Some observations. I agree with Kelly4Clay. Clay's voice was perfect tonight. The sound system was also great. I had seen the JBT at Tom's River, so I really relaxed and enjoyed his performance and his vocals tonight. He truly was awesome.

I saw a lot of comaraderie tonight with his backup singers and his band. It is so nice to see that. He seems to have found a group of people to work with who genuinely care about him.

1,000 Nights was very nice. In my section, the second section back, it received a very blah response. Everyone sat down once he started singing it, and no one around me stood after he finished. No judgement on the song here, folks, just an observation on some of the crowd's response.

BFM, though, total opposite. Everyone got up, clapped, pumped their hands in the air. There were lots of "great song" comments after it was over, and everyone gave it a great ovation. I hope this song gives Clay the radio break he has been looking for.

At the very end, as the back up singers left, Clay stood and prompted the audience to keep clapping for them. He stood with his arm out and waved his fingers at us, as if to say "Come on, keep clapping." He did the same thing for each band member. Clay Aiken is a class act.

Concert recap courtesy the CB's belle6827:
Hi-- back from a great concert.

Clay was so on tonight. His hair was beautiful and seemed to be his more his natural color -- red.

I am guessing around 4700+ attended. I scanned the crowd and watched people as they came into the venue. Definitely a predominantly female crowd tonight. However, the men that were there were "digging" it. I saw various men's faces on the screens and they were singing along and bobbing their heads. I also noticed a lot of young women tonight --age appropriate for Clay.

On one of the songs either UM or Solitaire he was working that mic. Walla would have been pleased. Solitaire and BOTW were so spine tingling that I felt my body was there but my emotions and feelings were on another plateau. I was so proud of Clay. When he was singing BOTW, I thought how far he has come. He just sang that song out of the park - perfect, perfect, perfect. I was in awe of him and his performances tonight.

I LOVED WDC. I think the dancing was great but not "over the top" -- just right. His vocals on that song also so impressive.

His banter, wit, stage charisma are only matched by people who have been in the business decades longer than Clay. He is the consumate performer -- giving his all and sharing the spotlight with his very gifted backup singers. Quiana's IWALY was breathtaking. She deserved the standing O.

From where I was sitting, I would classify the response for Solitaire and BOTW as standing O's. THis is such a high energy show and people are already standing for a good portion of the show therefore after a single particular song there is no reason to get up as the fans already are. I will say for the most part, people sat for most of the ballads but immediately sprung up for the uptempo songs.

I did not notice any tugs on invisible. If there were it was while he was turned and perhaps it was not caught on camera but from where I sat I did not see any. Crowd was really into Invisible.

Mandy was beautiful and at the end I would have loved to be in the first row and the receipient of that eyeboink.

I loved BFM as did the crowd - pumping their arms. If that is not a radio hit then I smell a rat. I loved the melody on 1000Days but could not make out the words. I personally would have liked the band to be a little softer on this song.

All in all, a great performance.

If Clay Aiken wants this career to span decades, there is no way it will not happen for him -- the consumate performer.

Oh and last but not least, beautiful black pants of perfection will surely cause me to have sweet dreams tonight.

Concert recap courtesy the CB's ILuvHisIdolEyes919:
OH WHAT A NIGHT

I saved myself on a lot of concert downloads so that tonight would be a huge surprise for me. And I couldn't have been happier about the entire day.

Not only did I travel to Musikfest with three of my best friends, and not only did we eat at the most beautiful little restaurant in Bethlehem, not only did my pre-show text message glory note challenge make it up on the big screen and not only did we eat the best pulled pork bar-b-que sandwiches in Pennsylvania, but the concert far exceeded my expectations.

Hazy, hot and humid do not even begin to describe the fry cooker day we experienced, trudging and dripping with sweat from platz to platz, but on top of the natural heat was a set of the most beautiful green eyes I've ever seen.

Ninety-seven degrees in the shade. One hundred plus degrees when Clay took to the stage.

I absolutely LOVED the way he kicked off the show. The "Fonz" impression was just the right amount of goofy to counter his undeniably capitivating stares. That leather jacket is worth its weight (and his too) in pure gold. It fits him like a glove. At first, I thought his voice was a little nasaly but as the first few songs passed, it sounded normal again.

No download could possibly do justice to the Elvis medley. "Jailhouse Rock" was ridiculously sexy. I don't know where that rock belt voice came from but I would really love to see some of that showcased on the nest album. I was so impressed!

"Solitaire" sounded better than I've ever heard it. Recording or otherwise. I was floored. Completely floored.

Bear with me here, I'm trying to remember everything that I loved. I'll undoubtedly forget some details, so I'll add those in later when I've regained a normal state of mind instead of this lovely concert high I'm floating through.

The girls and Jacob are just phenominal. I understand they want solo careers at one point, but I'd really, really hate to see them leave and Clay bring in new people (unless it's me, of course. ahem.) because their chemistry is just so fun and light and playful and there's no denying those harmonies either. Amazing apart but they're better together. He found the cream of the crop for his band and we're all very, very forunate to listen and sing along.

NOTE: This "singing along" does not include my warbling through Quiana's stunning Whitney cover. Just to clarify...

All of the full length numbers he selected were just perfect. "Bridge Over Troubled Water." Finally. Finally I got to see it live. It never ceases to give me chills. "Unchained Melody" left me speechless. "Mandy." Wow. He made Manilow sexy. Is there anything he can't do?

Oh yeah. Dance.

"When Doves Cry" really doesn't involve much choreography and what not; it's not really all that difficult to girate and grind and rub and such things. He came close to actually showcasing some skills with "Livin' La Vida Loca" but I just wish he would really, truly let loose with that song. It was like he was just skimming the surface of what he could do, dance wise, with that number. I can't lie. The entire time I watched, I imagined him practicing them in front of mirror in the privacy of his home. Heeee.

His face during the last few bars of "Iris" gave me chills. The refrain of "I just want you to know who I am..." really must hit him hard. He had this fierce glow around his eyes (though it was about ninety degrees and humid so it could have been some sweat- not necessarily a bad option either- but it's fun to try and figure out where his head is when he's singing these lyrics) and his gaze was fixated on something far out in the crowd. It was like he was reaching for something. It was awesome.

What else, what else, what else...

Ooo! Jumping back a bit.

Rick Astley? Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. I am officially addicted to his lower register sound. He sounded great on this song as he did with the rest of the 80's covers. Ahhh, "Mandy."

Oh! Back even more. "Can't Help Falling In Love," while the key shocked me a bit (I was expecting it to be slightly lower), his falsetto was divine and made all the more sexy as he cradled the classic mic in his hands, against his lips, across his lap....

:drool

Where am I?

Oh. Right. My review.

I like the sort of stripped version of "When You Say You Love Me." It was like low fat cheese rather than full blown Velveeta and it was a refreshing change. I forgot how much I liked that song actually.

What sticks with me now in comparing his own material to his covers has nothing to do with quality or content but more or less in his presentation. Tonight, that whole medley was sung with his left hand in his pocket. It was a shy sort of delivery as far as what I was seeing. His voice on the other hand was anything but timid. Especially on "Invisible."

Best I've ever heard it. Hands down.

Now on to the new songs. "Back For More" goes without my obsessive praise. I absolutely cannot get enough of that song. It's just so catchy and sticky and sweet and I love it. Love it. Love it. Love it.

"1000 Days (Nights?)" was quite cleaned up from the download I heard. I cheated. Sue me. He clearly sang the crap out of it so much so that I almost forgot about the cheesy lyrics. He hit that glory note like a ten ton Mack truck going eighty at a brick wall. I fell for him again that night bringing the grand total to about 29732462 and 3/4.

All in all, it was an incredible event. Well worth the forty some dollars I paid for it and I'm looking to EBay for a Borgata getaway. First week of school? Please. School Shmool.

Pictures up soon. I have to sift through all 130 of them. I'll be sure to post the link when I'm done.

... what a night!

Concert recap courtesy the CB's LynninNJ:
HELLO EVERYONE!!! :wave

Just home from Bethlehem in NJ with my great friends CA24, Hot4clay and Gonflippin (Hi Heather!!).....from yet another fabulous concert experience! This man is HOT - ON FIRE and just keeps getting better and better IMHO. I don't know how he does it, but it's true, folks!

Clay seemed happy to be back in PA.....the PA Clayfans got a banner for him welcoming him to PA - and the airplane flew over the venue about an hour before the show - great job ladies! You sure give Clay a warm welcome :thumbup

We bumped into S'Von, Jacob, Felix and Clarence at the Fair at around 7pm....they were just milling around talking to folks. They stopped and chatted - actually taking pics of US (!) and then were off - such nice, friendly guys!!! Felix....if you're reading this - i'm the one with Jacob on your camera!!!!! :wave :wave :wave

We were surprised when we entered the seating area that most of Section 1 was empty (this is at like 7:30pm) and fiqured it was the corporate dud section - although there were some great fans there as well. It was a hot night and the bugs were out in full force....godd thing i was jumping around so much, or i would have some pretty nasty bites!!

It's true that the Left Section was really the only one standing.....but i think Clay almost expects that now, and knows that they fans are typically seated in one big section....it's funny how that seems to be working out, huh?
I thought the fans had GREAT representation 2nite....and we were all having a BLAST with him and eachother! Sorry for those around me that i was singing so loud - i just can't help myself (at one point hotforclay told me to lower my voice...that i was louder than Clay!)

I got scared in the beginning because i thought Clay's speaking voice was a little hoarse, but then as he started singing, he was more powerful and perfect as ever!! I was relieved that there weren't as many "jokes" as Wolftrap, and thankul that DOVES was HAWT HAWT HAWT!! :thud Folks, those backbends are TO DIE FOR.....you must download this song when available - but make sure to have a drool bucket handy. I couldn't function enough to grab it on film, but when Angela bent Clay back, he had a bead of sweat dripping down the side of his cheek........ahhhhhhhhhhhhh :thud

The 80's and 90's proved to be my faves tonight....Clay was so "on" and sang each song to PERFECTION! He's captivated me with Iris before....but 2nite it was haunting....and the words are just perfect from us to him - i love it!

And yes, yes, yes to people who have said it already....

1,000 days (nights?) and BFM were SUPERB :clap and could have been the BEST EVER performances!!! It still makes me giggle that Clay introduces these songs as "testers" from a new album they are "just working on" and then you have a couple hundred women singing along to every word and pumping their fists in the air.....i'm sure that really tickles Clay as well!!!!!

Clay did mention that he was at Musikfest in 2004 and then said who knows....maybe he'll be back in 2006. Let's hope they do something about the bugs, or he may choose another venue instead!!!! :hehe

Folks....not to worry about fans showing Clay the love 2nite....we were in the house and we brought it down plenty of times in adoration and appreciation - he certainly left this show knowing we were there for HIM. :wave Hello to all the wonderful fans we saw (yet again!) and new ones we met....

I saw someone that i've seen a few times before in the past two weeks and said "i see you guys more than i see my family these days" and i love her response........
"but we are your family - your Clay family!"

With that....good night - pictures in the morning when i can open my eyes!!!!! (and i got some great ones!)

Sweet Clay dreams to all,:cloud9
Lynn

The Express Times Musikfest Review

2005-08-11T12:25:00.000-04:00

Aiken leaves crowd aching for more
Thursday, August 11, 2005
By SUSAN KALAN
The Express-Times
At Musikfest's RiverPlace stage Wednesday night, "American Idol" runner-up Clay Aiken reached back to last year's hit performance for songs to open this year's concert. They were songs from his double platinum album, ''Measure of a Man."

This year Aiken put the platinum numbers at the end of the show before an audience that numbered 4,800 -- 1,700 fewer than in 2004.

On Wednesday, 8-year-old fan Emily Liros, of Bethlehem, gave her opinion of Aiken, and it might not have had anything to do with music.

"He's hot!" Liros said.

Prior to his performance, Aiken announced to the news media this year's show would be "simple."

It was.

No glitz. No fancy light show. Instead, his musicians casually strolled onstage and placed coins in a colorfully lit jukebox at center stage. The sound of the record repeated as if broken and they walked away.

The jukebox then rolled back and two female backup singers wearing short-sleeved blouses and poodle skirts escorted Aiken down a set of stairs.

The idol himself was dressed in a white shirt, a black leather jacket and black slacks. His spiked, blond hair of the past was now a reddish brown -- sophistication replaced by innocence.

He took off with a medley of the 50s, including "Twistin' the Night Away'', "The Great Pretender" and "Only You," and stood on the piano for "Great Balls of Fire" and "Rock 'n' Roll is Here to Stay."

The show's format was more like a musical retrospective with hits by Elvis Presley, Motown stars and The Beatles. Aiken called it "a journey" for his audience, adding that he chose the "most best and fun songs" for the tour.

His audience absolutely loved the high notes of "Unchained Melody," "Suspicious Minds," and "Solitaire."

The 26-year-old native of Raleigh, N.C., seemed a cool character in this, the fifth tour of his career and that coolness connected with his audience. Susan Kalan is assistant features editor for The Express-Times. She can be reached at 610-258-7171 or by e-mail at skalan@express-times.com.

Toledo Blade: Concert Preview

2005-08-11T12:15:00.000-04:00

Something for everyone: Clay Aiken covers Top 40 tunes from the '50s to today
By DAVID YONKE
BLADE STAFF WRITER

Kicking off a one-two set of concerts by American Idol stars, 2003 runner-up Clay Aiken comes to town for a concert at the Toledo Zoo amphitheater on Tuesday, followed by 2002 champ Kelly Clarkson at the SeaGate Convention Centre Aug. 22.

Aiken, who lost in Idol's second season to Ruben Studdard by a margin of less than 1 percent, is covering a lot of ground with The Jukebox Summer Tour 2005.

The show will feature 100 Top 40 songs from the 1950s to the present, with many strung together in medley form.

A lot of the tunes were on the charts long before Aiken was born in 1978, but said he enjoys music from all eras.

"I thought it would be cool to sing a bunch of covers and relate to everybody," he said in a press release. "There will be songs my mom likes and my grandparents like, and there are a lot of people who love the music of the '70s. I like the '80s, and we're going to have a lot of fun with songs from the '90s."

Among the songs in the show will be several golden oldies with which Aiken is already associated, including Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and Neil Sedaka's "Solitaire." He's also planning Motown medley and doo-wop medleys and will shake things up with a series of Elvis Presley classics.

Aiken, 26, of Raleigh, N.C., had always planned to be a teacher and was working with autistic children when a mother of a student talked him into trying out for American Idol.

"I had my life planned out until I was 50 years old," he said. "I was going to be a teacher and maybe a principal at some point."

But the mother of one of his students heard him sing during a visit to her home and persuaded Aiken to give the Fox TV show a try.

The first time he auditioned, in Charlotte, N.C., Aiken didn't get picked. But he tried again in Atlanta and wound up in the finals with Studdard. Although he lost by a whisker, the charismatic young singer was quickly signed by RCA Records.

Aiken's 2003 debut disc, "Measure of a Man," sold more than 2 million copies and produced the hit song "Invisible." Last fall, he released the holiday album "Merry Christmas With Love," which shipped more than a million units.

Aiken is currently working on his third studio album and is serving as national ambassador for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, for which he visited the tsunami-ravaged region of Banda Aceh, Indonesia, and war-torn northern Uganda.

Clay Aiken will be in concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Toledo Zoo amphitheater. Tickets are $39.50 and $47.50 from Ticketmaster. Information: 419-474-1333.

8/9 Columbus, OH Recaps

2005-08-10T10:59:00.000-04:00

Concert recap courtesy the CB's MarLovesClay:
I just got a full report from my friend Steph. The concert was amazing, his voice, his looks, incredible. She was overwhelmed with the beginning, how he looked, so much older, and so professional.

Items of interest: he forgot some of the words to Solitaire tonight. He joked with the girls again in the 60's medley. Sat in his own bean bag chair later, LOL. WDC, serious again, but she said included the leaning (no grinding) and she thought it was fine. She did say hotter than on IT, just 'cause he dances better, holds her closer, etc. Had a guy up who had to go to 4 shows, it was funny. Loved both new songs, especially 1000 days.

Just posted in the cell cert that he came out to buses but the fence was too high, so he waved, and she thought he was able to touch hands on one end of the fence. Then he was at the front of the bus waving, spotted Ethel and pointed (she thinks maybe winked) and made the gesture circling around his ear like you're crazy, but all in very good fun and nice. Signed thank you back to someone to signed to him first.

They also watched him earlier from a distance at the M&G and he spent quite a bit of time with a girl in a wheelchair.

He also talked about Ohio being one of his favorite places to come. Sounds like a terrific show, can't wait to hear more first hand accounts!

Concert Recap courtesy the CB's clayaikenfancom:
I got to the fair early in afternoon. I enjoyed it for a while, went on some rides... etc. I decided to go check out the bus area and as soon as I did I saw Nick and MAry walk out into the fair. Then I left again. I came back and who was there? Jacob. He was handing out his flyers and taking pictures and such. I reminded him how I made him and everyone else scarfs with their names embroidered on them. He remembered that it was gray and black and said he loved that scarf. I got my photo took with him and then went off into the fair again. I made the wrong choice of riding the Zipper and got really sick afterward. I layed down on a bench for a good hour or so. I started to feel better when the sun was going down a bit and we went inside the venue. I was there with a group of 5 but our seats were split up 2 and 3. I was in 4th row on the side. I hate side seats but at least we were close. They were better than the other set of seats.

The show was awesome. Clay was really funny and sounded amazing. You know the show but ill give you some highlights. The guy in the crowd. They had this hilarious sign with his picture in a jailcell and it says "Clay, Save me from my 4th Clay concert." During CTT Clay did some hilarious dance moves. He was just phenomenal. All of them were. Jacob, Angela and Quiana just rock as well.

After the show I hung out at the buses. There were tons of people there. A big gate surrounds the entire area so Clay was pretty safe. Jacob came out again and did the same as before. He came otuside of the gate. Clay came out and styaed inside. He rounded the fence waving to everyone and then got on the bus. As the bus was leaving he sat in the front and waved goodbye.

Such a good night and I cant wait until Cleveland!!

I am uploading my videos. I sent them to Allthings... and am also uploading to yousendit so hopefully some people can get it and get it on a site!

Washington Post Wolf Trap Review- Negative

2005-08-10T10:49:00.000-04:00

Aiken, Lounging at Wolf Trap

Wednesday, August 10, 2005; Page C07

Who says girls love bad boys? Certainly not the women who filled Wolf Trap on Monday -- paying ticket prices higher than for any other pop, rock or country singer scheduled to appear at the amphitheater this season. They love Clay Aiken.

And while his voice is polished and he moves about the stage quite comfortably, there's nothing about his new road show, tabbed "The Jukebox Tour," that will convert the nonbelievers, those who didn't cheer when he finished second in the 2003 season of "American Idol," nor swoon when his first post-"Idol" single and two full-length CDs hit No. 1.

Aiken put on the sort of show a wedding singer might if given a big budget. The set list was made up of two hours of really famous cover songs -- it included the longest Elvis medley seen outside of a Las Vegas lounge -- capped off by a handful of tunes from his own, thin discography. Tunes from the Beatles ("Can't Buy Me Love"), Frankie Valli ("December 1963") and Ricky Martin ("Livin' la Vida Loca") were broken up by decade and delivered chronologically from oldest to newest.

Aiken, in between period-specific costume changes, sang mainly abridged versions. One of the few songs that the singer, fronting a seven-piece combo, didn't give short shrift to was "Mandy," the pop gem from Barry Manilow, a founding father of the asexual heartthrob realm that Aiken now rules.

As a good wedding singer would, Aiken had the crowd dancing and singing along with every familiar tune. And just as "Idol" contestants get caught up in nonmusical subplots as the season goes on, Aiken let the fans in on a behind-the-tour soap opera. He alluded to romantic and sexual advances a backup singer, Angela Fisher, had been making toward him, then made a big point of telling her to back off, and bragging with an odd cackle that he'd "shot her down!"

-- Dave McKenna

8/8 Vienna, VA Recaps

2005-08-09T12:33:00.000-04:00

Concert recap courtesy CH's DCGal via FindingClayAiken.com:
Tonight was AWESOME - his voice was clear & on, dancing more & more, the banter was witty. I haven't been able to make a concert since IT and he's just miles beyond where he was then.

A few notes on the crowd:
1 - it was packed
2 - it started raining during the 50s medley & continued through the entire show, but there was still a lot of people in the uncovered lawn at the end of the concert.
3 - lots more guys (inc. some teens and 20s) than IT
4 - lots less crazy clothing - definitely various t-shirt, some pins & bags, but I didn't see the facepainting & tiaras like I have before
5 - not many signs & they didn't stay up very long
6 - screamers at the beginning o f ICMYLM suck! but whoever screamed "ok" after "lay down with me" was kinda funny
7 - whoever brought the bag of ice also sucks! WDC sounded great, but the "put the ice down his/her back" was annoying

Love, love, love BFM & 1KD - there's room for improvement in pacing & lyrics, but I just loved them.

Quote:
During the 90s banter, Clay said that he was sure that everyone is wondering what is going on between him and Angela tonight. So Clay said that Angela had asked him out tonight, so he had to let her down gently and insist that they were just friends, and she had been trying to get him back all night. He let Quiana and Jacob stop dancing and made Angela continue. The whole time, Angela was shaking her head, "No, no."

To add to this, he told Quiana & Jacob that they could stop dancing, but Angela had to keep going and he made her do the running man.
After this exchange, the interaction stopped for the rest of the concert. There's a story here & definitely curious about what it is.

When he talked about the 2000s, he said that some people mentioned that Kelly Clarkson was in 2002, but her album came out in 2003 also - the implication being hers was included in the 2003 was good.

When talking about the future, he talked about working hard on the next album and that it would come out in the next year or so or three or four. Someone at the front must have said something because he asked "don't you want it to be good?"

Overall, it was worth every penny and it's taking all my willpower not to run to MBiTs now. I have no doubt that he's loving his life, wants to be a superstar/artist/musician, reads the boards daily, loves his fans and is happy right now.

And I hope the writers for ICMYLM see his version because it's amazing and I want them to write for him.

Concert recap courtesy the CB's shaikenaiken01:
OMG OMG OMG THE CONCERT WAS SOOOO AMAZING!!! HERE IS MY RECAP IN BOLD AND ALL CAPS!!! OKAY SO, WE GET THERE EARLY AND HAVE A PICNIC DINNER. WE MEET UP WITH SOME PPL FROM THE CLACKHOUSE AND LORI AND WENDY, ETC...WE WERE A HUGE CROWD BUT IT WAS SO FUN! WE ALL SANG HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SAHAR AND ATE SOME AMAZING CHOCOLATE CAKE! MMMMMMM!!

WE FINALLY GET IN AT 7:30 (CONCERT STARTS AT 8) AND SKIP THE MERCHANDISE B/C THE LINE IS SOOOOO LONG. THERE'S ALWAYS ONLINE - YAY! ANYWAY, SO BEFORE WE'RE ALOWED IN, NICK WALKS ACROSS THE STAGE. SAHAR AND I SCREAM "NICK!!!!!!!!!!!" SOOO LOUDLY AND HE TURNS AND WAVES. (I LOVE NICK SOOO MUCH JUST FOR THE RECORD!) SO WE GET IN TO 6TH ROW - SOOOO CLOSE!!! TOO BAD OUR CAMERAS SUCK...THANK GOD FOR HOTFORCLAY AND LORI!! HOTFORCLAY AND CLAYFANINVA WERE THE STUBHUB WINNERS AND CAME OVER TO SAY HI TO SCARLETT AND CLAYMYWAY WHO WERE SITTING NEXT TO US. SO YEAH, AMAZING CLACK FROM FIRST ROW AND 6TH ON THE WAY!!!!

RIGHT WHEN WE GET IN NICK WALKS ACROSS THE STAGE AGAIN SO SAHAR SCREAMS "IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!!" AND HE SAYS, SMILING, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!" AND COMES OFF STAGE. WE RUN OVER TO HIM AND THERE ARE A BUNCH OF PPL GIVING HIM GIFTS (INCLUDING LORI!). SO WE SAY "NICK!! IT'S MY/HER BIRTHDAY!" HE GOES "I KNOW, I HEARD YA SCREAMING!" OMG HE HAS THE HOTTEST NC ACCENT EVAAAA AND HE SMELLS SO HEAVENLY!!! AND HIS NEW HAIRCUT IS .H.O.T.T. *THUD* SO WE TAKE A PIC WITH HIM AND HE WRAPS HIS ARM AROUND ME AND GIVES ME THIS REALLY AMAZING HALF - HUG!! AHHHH I AM MAJORLY THUDDING BY NOW. SO HE SAYS HE HAS TO GO AND WE GO BACK TO OUR SEATS....

SO WHO DECIDES TO SHOW UP THEN? LIKE 20 MIN BEFORE SHOWTIME, FAYE COMES AND SITS RIGHT BEHIND US!!! AHHHHHHH FAYE AIKEN WAS SOOOOO CLOSE!!! WE NEEDED TO TALK TO HER. SO WE WENT OVER AND SAID HI AND WE LOVE HER AND HER SON AND BLAH BLAH - SHE WAS SOOOOO SWEET AND COULDN'T STOP SMILING! IT LOOKED LIKE SHE WAS A BIT OVERWHELMED WITH THE PEOPLE COMING UP AND STUFF. BUT SHE LOOKED REALLY HAPPY. WE GOT HER TO SIGN SAHAR'S SIGN (THE HAPPY BDAY SIGN) AND MY CLAYBOARD PASS. SHE SIGNS AS "CLAY'S MOM FAYE" LOL! I WILL POST PICS ASAP!!! WE TALKED TO HER AGAIN AT INTERMISSION AND STUFF...ASKED HER WHY SHE WAS IN DC AND SHE SAID SHE WAS WITH FRIENDS (THE TWO WOMEN SITTING WITH HER) AND THAT IT WAS A DISTANCE SHE COULD TRAVEL. I TOLD HER ABOUT MY NC TRIP. SHE SAID THE VENUE WAS GREAT AND SO WERE THE ACOUSTICS BECAUSE IN GREENVILLE SHE COULDN'T HEAR ANYTHING. ANYWAY, SUCH A SWEET LADY! SHE KEPT LOOKING AT US THROUGHOUT THE CONCERT AND LAUGHING BECAUSE WE WERE SCREAMING SO LOUD!! LOL!!!

OKAY, SHOWTIME. CLAY DOES HIS SETS YOU KNOW HOW IT GOES. I WON'T SPOIL IT FOR ANYONE. IT WAS JUST FANTASTIC!! HE DIDN'T MISS ANY NOTES, BUT HE DID FORGET THE WORDS TO SOLITAIRE!! SO FUNNY!! HE SAID SOMETHING LIKE "AH, I RUINED THE SONG - (TO THE BAND) JUST KEEP ON PLAYING, I'LL CATCH ON..." DURING A FEW OF THE SONGS HE JUST LOST IT...HE COULDN'T STOP LAUGHING! CLAY AND ANGELA WERE REALLY GETTING IT ON TONIGHT, THEY KEPT TRYING TO MAKE EACH OTHER LAUGH. HE SAT ON HER LAP AND REALLY OVER-DID THE "DANCING". HE MADE UP THIS WHOLE BIT ABOUT HOW SHE ASKED HIM OUT BACKSTAGE - IT WAS FUNNY!! MUCHO CLACK COMING FOR MORE ON THAT!!

HE SANG 1000 DAYS, AND NOT "JUST YOU" - HE ALSO DIDN'T DO THE ENCORE - THAT WAS A LITTLE DISAPPOINTING. THE PLACE WAS PACKED, AND IT RAINED HALF THE TIME SO ALL THE PEOPLE ON THE LAWN HAD UMBRELLAS. CLAY DEDICATED BOTW TO THEM LOL! WE DIDN'T WAIT AT THE BUSES AFTER BECAUSE FAYE WAS GONNA HANG OUT W/ HIM BACKSTAGE AND THE BUSES WERE IN A REALLY WEIRD PLACE...PLUS, IT WAS RAINING. WELL, WE'RE STILL TRYING TO MEET CLAY BUT WE'RE GETTING CLOSER EVERY CONCERT!! FIRST JEROME/DANNY, ETC...NOW NICK AND FAYE!! WE'RE JUST WAITING FOR THE MAN HIMSELF! LOL!

THAT'S ALL I CAN REMEMBER RIGHT NOW. THE CLACK IS MOST DEFINITELY WORTH THE DOWNLOADS. QUIANA ROCKED ON HER SONG, TOO. SHE GOT A STANDING O AND STARTED TEARING UP. AHHH IT WAS JUST INCREDIBLE!! PICTURES TO COME!! I'M GONNA TRY AND CATCH SOME SLEEP TONIGHT, BUT I DUNNO IF THAT'S GONNA HAPPEN ANY TIME SOON!!!!

wow. just.......wow....*thud* I.LOVE.NICK.CLAY.AND.FAYE.

Concert recap courtesy the CB's oriolesno9:
It was a great show despite the rain. Thank goodness for pavilion seats, I hardly noticed it except when I had to run to the back to use the bathroom and got drenched! I sympathize with the lawn seaters -- I survived the Delaware disaster! LOL.

Notable moments... (I saw the Toms River show already.) Clay's singing along during Solitaire and a flash of lightning goes.. and he starts to repeat a part and I think "What? He just sang that..." He catches himself after a couple seconds and just blabbers about how the lightning screwed him up... and he's like "Just continue, guys" to the band. And he bursts into the gorgeous sooolllllllllllllllllliiitaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrre glory note. It was great - showed his rebounding stage personality. I couldn't stop laughing.

While Jacob, Quiana and Angela were doing their "Can't Touch This" routine, he goes on and on about how Angela asked him out, but he just wants to be friends... and then he tells Quiana and Jacob they can stop, but Angela needs to learn a lesson! Angela's just mouthing "no!" and shaking her head in between the dance moves and singing "Can't Touch This"... didn't miss a beat! LOL, I love the four of them.

Quiana was again spectacular with her Whitney Houston solo. She is just gorgeous. WOWOWOW.

Clay. I continue to have high expectations and they're always exceeded. Thanks for another phenomenal show.

Concert recap courtesy the CB's redleathergirl:
This was an absolutely amazing, amazing show. The place was packed. Not only the venue, but the whole lawn was filled. Clay was on from the moment he stepped on stage till the end of the show. It was really cute when Clay couldn't find his shoe under the piano. He said "make a mental to note to have a talk to the wardrobe person." He had to reach down under the piano to get the shoe on his foot. He had us laughing.

I just want to say that Clay did not forget the words to Solitarie. I big lighting bolt blasted right on top of us and it startled Clay (and everybody inside the venue for that matter) that he just stopped singing. He told the band to keep playing, but that the lighting took him aback. He did finish the song, fabulous glory note and all.

During the BeeGee's song where they sit on the bean bag chairs, Clay sat on Angela's lap instead singing to her. Had them both laughing.

The other funny thing was during WDC. Either Clay had a bag of ice planted on the stage or someone in the front row had some ice. He went over to Angela singing, and was trying to put the ice down her top. She got some ice and put some down Clay's shirt. So they both were trying to get the ice out of the tops while still singing.

Everything Clay sang was fabulous. He voice was spot on tonight.

He had the place rocking with his new songs, especially with BFM. The place was on its feet rocking the house down. I see a huge hit with that song.

Its too bad that it had to storm on those people sitting in the lawn section. But most of those people stayed sitting under their umbrellas.

Again, it was a great show. Thank you Clay!!

Concert recap coutresy the CB's Missy222:
Hubby just bought tickets off e-bay late last week for face value and got us great seats inside in row 16. That was such a nice surprise plus he really wanted to go see this concert. I sat next to a lady who won Meet and Greet from the OFC and she had a great pic of them together! She said he looked like he just walked out of the shower, so fresh and soooo cute in person. It was cute cause she was an older lady and she was so nice!
Ran into some of my friends from the Baltimore Meet Up and we chatted awhile and had some fun, hello ladies! :wave
The concert was a lot of fun and Clay did sing great! He has really worked on his dancing and was cute up there especially doing the Beetles. Oh, and I LOVED it when he did the Ricky Martin song, one of my favorites tonight! :thud Hubby was amused by the Clackhouse ladies in front of us saying that they were over the edge. :hehe Also, we saw another beauty queen tonight just what he needed to see. The biggest laugh of the night came from a girl in the balcony who yelled out "OK" when Clay sang a line about lying with him. Our entire section cracked up and Clay stayed very serious so I don't know if he ignored it or didn't hear it. :laugh He had some wonderful tugs during Invisible! Hubby got pics of the tugs. The back-ups were good and sang a lot of songs, but I thought it was way :o to many imo. Clay goofed off a lot with Angela with the fake flirting and stuff, ice cubes down the back in WDC and lots of stuff like that. He finally said I bet your wondering about me and Angela. Well, I think he's playing off the threads with this and getting extra mileage. For those who were wondering, it was obvious that they were just goofing off, BUT the clowing/ flirting was way over the top imo. Occasional stuff is one thing but it became the theme of the night and my date paid way to much money to see that Jr. High stuff all night. He can have fun without it being constant and he did look way to old for that stuff anyway. It took away from the songs and the JB theme and the professionalism, imo. Clay had fun and laughed all night about it with Angela but I didn't come to see their silliness all night. I could of stayed home with my 3 kids and saved a lot of money if I wanted an evening of silliness. :hehe Please don't throw your tour programs at me for this bit of negativeness but it's the truth and I hope you can respect my opinion on this cause I'm not happy about the amount of the money hubby spent to see clowning all nght. Even he said it got old and he'd be better off to skip all the stuff with Angela and just sing the songs. It was all way to distracting from the show.
:7up It was great they let us take pics! I loved the new song he sang on GMA, it seems like a keeper but didn't like the other new song he sang. It showed his voice off in a few places but was a very boring song. It was great seeing lots of men there with their wives and girlfriends. It was a beautiful evening for those of us who were inside. I felt for those who were in the rain all night. My favorite part was at the end when Clay was singing his songs. He said the C.D. will be out next year or the next (teasing) and it takes time to pick good songs. (Maybe I could help him out!) :grin Thank you Clay for doing another tour for us and for doing such a good job with it! You seemed so relaxed and in good spirits tonight. Glad your mom was there!

I edited this review this morning cause I felt I needed to be more truthful despite the flack I will take over my comments. You all know I love Clay and support him faithfully so don't go to wild on me. :laugh

Missy222

Raleigh News & Obserever Publishes Fan Reviews

2005-08-08T14:40:00.000-04:00

Cary crowd gives Clay high marks
What wasn't to like about Clay Aiken's weekend show? Not much.
Staff Photo by Juli Leonard

From Concertgoer Reports

CARY -- Clay Nation was content Friday night. The citizens were hot and couldn't buy a breeze, but Clay Aiken's Jukebox Summer Tour made happy campers out of the 7,000 or so people at Koka Booth Amphitheatre at Regency Park.

The songlist spanned '50s to the present -- from "Twisting the Night Away" to "Invisible" is how fan Pamela Broadwell described it -- and included songs that concertgoers expect to hear on his next album.

We asked concertgoers to post their comments on a forum at www.newsobserver.com. Those who responded were all but unanimous in saying that the adored singer from Raleigh delivered the music, the moves and the charm the expected.

Here's a sampling:

* Kay Hester of Raleigh: "I have attended all of Clay's concerts, and each one gets better than the one before. It's so obvious that Clay is maturing in his performance, and he keeps that wonderful ability to connect with his audience."

* Hannah Wolfe of Hillsborough: "He always finds a way to connect with his crowd, and he never ceases to amaze! His dorky dance moves and quirky comments ('I'm sweating like Ruben tonight!') definitely added to the evening."

* Annette Brantley of Middlesex: "He is a beautiful man with a beautiful voice. Even my husband, who is not a major Clay-maniac like me, was clapping and screaming. We thoroughly enjoyed every second of the show."

* Nicole Androsiglio of Raleigh: "I really love his jokes. I liked when he was making Angela, Quiana and Jacob dance and he said, 'I get to make them do whatever i want, cause MY name's on the ticket.' ... I do get a tad bit jealous when Angela and Clay start dancing. She starts touching his hair and pulling his shirt. Then her and Quiana start rubbing his stomach. Could they get any more lucky?' "

* Mike Smith of Raleigh: "It's admirable that he is so generous to his backup singers, but I imagine they sang 25 percent of the tunes. We were there to hear Clay sing. He is a refreshing counterpoint to most of the sleazy stuff that our kids are force-fed, and we will continue to be fans, but this concert was tedious."

* Jessica Woltz of Apex. "It was great to get a taste of his new album. (I am already addicted to the new song.)"

* Aubrey Templeton of Goldsboro: "Clay was totally working the stage, and he didn't miss a beat. He was perfect, and all his performances were so much fun. I got a kick out of watching the security guys boogying to Clay, too. ... I LOVED watching Clay dance (And yes, Clay, you CAN dance!) and just really getting into it all."

* Jen Baucom of Durham. "Grannies bumped shoulders with moms who cheered and sang along with their daughters (and some husbands!) ... a great crowd of very enthusiastic Clayniacs. Clay's backup singers were, as usual, fantastic, and watching him banter with them on stage was fun. The show left us with big smiles on our faces!"

* Neva Miller of Apex: "Who else could sing Elvis, Earth, Wind & Fire, Lionel Richie, Barry Manilow, and Prince -- and sound better than the artists themselves?"

* Pamela Broadwell of Clayton: "Who else would channel Elvis one minute and the Monkees the next? Who else would have the temerity to sing the Archies and Simon and Garfunkel in the same show? Name one other singer who would dare to sing the sweet Christopher Cross ballad 'Sailing' and then follow it with MC Hammer? ... When I spend my hard-earned money on a concert ticket, I want to be entertained, to feel something, to laugh and have a good time. I was, I did, and I can't wait to do it again."

8/6 Valdosta, GA Recaps

2005-08-07T11:24:00.000-04:00

Concert Recap Courtesy the CB's Iseeme:
Hi everybody....I'm writing this recap based on a phone call from Clayanne and the Louisiana ladies who attended the Valdosta concert tonite. They were totally jazzed - said he just rocked the house tonite. Anne said that WDC was incredibly hot and that Clay was uhhhh....cough! cough! into it. He did the same dips with Angela that he did last night. The new song, 1000 Days, really got to all of them. They were oohing and awwwing over it and several of them who were sitting in the first couple of rows thought he had tears in his eyes when the song was over. They said he just really got into the song and that it builds up to a great ending. The best thing for them was they figured out where the busses were. A security guard stopped them and told them Mr. Aiken had left an hour ago. They didn't believe it so stood there quietly (all 10 of them) and waited patiently. Pretty soon one bus went by and they could see Jacob in the front. The next bus came slowly by and they saw someone peeking from behind the curtain. The next thing they knew Clay was bounding out from behind the curtain waving at them. The harder they waved the harder he waved and smiled. Clayanne said he had the biggest smile on his face. And to also say that he did not have to come out from behind that curtain....they didn't recognize him until he was already out!!! SO, he wanted to wave to his fans and did it willingly. As they were walking back to their cars the same security guard made a comment about Mr. Aiken leaving an hour ago and one of them said they knew very well what Mr. Aiken looked like and he had been in that bus!!!! Taaa daaaa! I'm sure when they get to a PC they'll have more details but they were all talking and yelling in the van at the same time and it sounds like a great time was had by all.

ETA: forgot to add that Anne said he was really moving!!! He might have had dancing lessons during his "nap" but alot of it is just natural performer!!!!

Concert Recap Courtesy the CB's gra 8588:
Just got home from what was an AWESOME experience. Took my 14 year old niece for her birthday, as well as her mother. Neither had ever been to a Clay concert. My niece is on :cloud9 ....she was thrilled!!!!! Her mother enjoyed the show also and said that Clay has a beautiful voice
Now....for my thoughts.........:bow :bow :bow :bow :bow
for all you detail folks, his hair was light and had what I call chunky highlights, it was cute.... but everything about him is cute, RIGHT!! He had tons of energy and seems to really enjoy this show. There were no faults, cracks or mistakes that I saw or heard, HE WAS ON FIRE...............he wore the fedora for all you fedora lovers... not my favorite...;)
Solitaire, BOTW were great as always. The 50's and 60's were smooth and effortless for him............ anyone else who was there, did he sing Nights on Broadway or did I just miss it in my clay delirium?????
Well, my personal favorites were Alone and I Can't Make You Love Me..... oh my gosh, he should record both of those..... the screamers were out in full force during ICMYLM...even some snarky guy yelling in a deep voice...We love you Clay... it was a shame cause he was really into ICMYLM, eyes closed, head back, putting his soul into it........... ah, just makes me weak thinking about it.... I wanted to hear him sing the whole version of Alone... that has always been one of my favorites and he sang it with soul and conviction....IMHO...
End of the Road was great toooooooooo
He is just sooooooooo talented. Loved BFM, that is really a catching song and so upbeat... it will be radio friendly and everyone already knows it.....:laugh
1000 days/nights is good, it also has a catchy sound to it... the lyrics do leave a bit to be desired but I really like it and can see it on the new CD for sure...
He made it through WYSYLM, so cute....
well, I have rambled on enough.... now I just have to figure out how to get to another show and how to convince everyone I know that they need to see this show and enjoy the music again. THANK YOU CLAY!!!!!!!!
Gail

8/5 Cary, NC Recaps

2005-08-06T10:32:00.000-04:00

Concert Recap from the CB's hanapepe:
This is Hanapepe, Hosaa and Texasgreeneyes checking in! The concert was absolutely outrageously great! His voice was incredible, healthy, strong, and he was in his element despite nearly passing out from the heat. He said that he needed to take a cold shower due to the heat, and we all volunteered to join him......upon further reflection, he noticed that wasn't the thing to say, and retracted it, and said that he needed to go read a book instead.........

The new song was to die for, and the crowd loved it! It was one big lovefest, and there was a roar when he announced he was coming home!

Tomorrow the "Sisterhood for the Adoration of His Serene Sweetness" (that would be us), are house hunting Sat. morning.....for our group retirement home......!

All in all it was a concert filled with snark, great music, and a night that we will never forget. (definitely worth the trip from Oregon, Texas, and Maryland!)

OK-we're back for more details! Clay's hair was perfect, it got wavy due to the humidity, or the possible shower during the intermission. He was cracking a lot of jokes, he totally cracked up and giggled during a song with Angela and Qianna in the 60s set, and couldn't sing due to laughing. The crowd was huge, and on its feet for the vast majority of the show. The reaction to the new song was very strong, in addition to UM, Mandy, Solitaire, I Can't Make You Love Me. La Vida Loca was hawt-it didn't matter that Mama and Granny were in the front.......(infer from that what you want!) There weren't as many shout outs that interrupted the moving moments of the songs. He said that he was sweating like Ruben, and then said that maybe he shouldn't have said that, but it was the ony original joke that he had made up. Diane Bubel was spotted, and his producer was pointed out by Clay as being in the house. There was an inside joke about biohazard waste with one of the band members, and then he said that he was trying to teach Daniel to not pull off the practical joke that he was planning, and would embarrass him the rest of the tour if he went ahead and did it. Poor baby wouldn't have been so hot if he had only removed those dang T-shirts........! Somebody held up cue cards for WYSYLM, and he noticed that and started to giggle, and then at the end thanked them for the cards, and said that he had forgotten the words for the last 3 concerts. The only negative was the one hour to exit the handicapped lot-otherwise it was near nigh perfect.

love,
Hanapepe
Hosaa
Texasgreeneyes

Edited to add: we need to hear the new song a few more times to really digest it, but it was very emotional, sophisticated, and not cheesy pop. The crowd really sang along for Back For More, and seemed to know all the words.

I turned to my seatmate and said a huge "WOW" after the new song, and she was in agreement. It was entirely different from anything that he has ever sung-not Broadway, not driving rock, we'd call it a rock ballad with some very powerful notes. His tone throughout the concert was gorgeous, controlled, and the lower register was to die for. (we are too thudded out to come up with any more descriptive words!)

Concert Recap from the CB's ClayKeepsOnShining:
I'm back. This is the first concert review I have written. I can't not share this wonderful experience. THe concert was FABULOUS! It was by far the best one I've ever been to and this is my 7th. Clays voice is incredible. I didn't hear one missed note. The acoustics at the Cary outdoor venue are great. The songs he sings in this concert really showcase his vocal range. Some of my favorite vocals were Great Balls of Fire, Unchained Melody, all of Elvis' songs, Mandy, Solitare, Bridge, Alone, and I Can't Make You Love Me. There was only one song in the entire bunch I was ready for it to end and that was Sailing. Vocally it was great but the song is too long. He either remembered the words to WYSYLM or he used the cue cards because he said thanks for the cue cards.

As usual he was funny and spontaneous. He kept referring to the heat (and yes ladies he was sweating) and at one point stated "I'm sweating as much as Ruben." He mentioned going to take a cold shower during intermission and you can imagine the respose he got. He retracted the statement and said he was going to read a book instead. Early in the show he was sitting and singing to Angela and got a case of the giggles. It was cute. He talked about moving back to Raleigh and said he would never camplain about the traffic in Raleigh again after living in LA. He referred to one of his band members as being one the many people he's met from LA whose insides were not rotting.

As far a WDC he did not hold back even with Faye on the first row directly in his view. I will admit I still struggle with advertising this as a family show with that dance. As a women I think it's provocative and sensual but I don't want my 11 year old son seeing it. No one around me with kids seemed to mind. The women in front of me were going ballistic. They were in their mid twenties and had left their husbands at home. My husband was standing next to me so I had to watch my P's and Q's.

I loved, loved, loved Back For More. That song rocks:rocker . The new song was a ballad that replaced "Just You" The first time I hear a new song, I'm trying so hard to listen to it that I can't relax and really enjoy it. I'm going to download it and listen to it again before I give a solid opinion about it. The chorus seemed to be more upbeat then JY.

One of the best parts of the concert was watching 3 fans that don't fit Clay's usual demogratphic. It was a group of one and two guys. Age late teens to early 20's. They were the coolest looking kids. They stood almost the entire concert. They danced, swayed and sang. They rocked out during Back For More and Invisible especially.

Another great part of the concert was I called one of my friends 3 different times during the concert. The first time was with the Elvis melody. After the songs finished I asked her what she thought and she excitedly said it was great and wondered what he was wearing while he sang and when I told her she took a deep intake of breath and seemed like she was about to cry when she thanked me for calling. She won't get to see him in concert this time so I was feeling like I was just making it worse for her by calling but when I called her the other 2 times she repeatedly thanked me and seemed happy. She loved both new songs..The two 20 something s in front of me thought they were great also.

In writing this conclusion I realize it's over for me ( it's my only concert this tour) and I'm sad but so grateful for such a fun, fun experience. I really don't see how he can top this.
I look forward to his new album tour next year and in the meantime I will download all the clack I can get from this concert and relive it that way.

Thanks for reading this. If you have any questions I'll stay up for about 30 more minutes before going to bed.

Concert Recap from the CB's Carol for Clay:
All I can say is Clay has come a long ways since AI. Tonight I as well as 7,000 others saw an amazing entertainer......professional, polished, and mature. Clay is no longer the geeky, squeeky clean little "white boy" we learned to adore on AI. His beautiful voice has not changed, but his delivery has.....and how!!!! Just watching him move around the stage, the interactions with the band and Jacob, Quiana, and Angela was so different than last year. He is at a whole new level as a professional entertainer. What a joy it has been to see this remarkable transformation.
Tonight was magic.......seeing him perform in his own state, with family and friends in the audience....he just gave it his all, I think. God he was so much fun to watch!!!!!

The production was so entertaining, and the song selections for each of the decades were perfect. This tour is truly for every age. If you haven't planned to attend a concert, I hope you will change your mind.......the "clack" does not show the true emotion or excitement you feel when he belts out a song. Also, Jacob, Quiana, and Angela did an outstanding job of displaying just how truly talented they are......they deserve to have careers of their own.

Definitely a night to remember......and I hope we will have many more like this for years and years to come.

Concert Recap from the CB's cc777:
I haven't read any of the other reviews yet. But I went to Cary last night, it is practically in my back yard, for my first JBT show. I had watched all the videos and listened in every other night on the cellcerts so I knew what was coming and I was excited to say the least to see it live.

My seats were pretty good, not first row but about 10th on the side. So I had a great view, just couldn't see the freckles or the sparkling eyes. I could tell he looked fantastic though. In my humble opinion, I honestly don't see how he could have looked any better. The only better would have been seeing him up closer.

I am sure everyone else has given a replay of the show. I will give my quick thoughts in a minute. I just feel the need to say something here. My goal is to keep the feeling I have when I am at a live Clay concert in my real life. The feeling he gives me when I see and hear him is pricelss. How does one describe it. It is like joy and love and humor and fun and yes sex apeal and yes spiritual connection all coming at me into my heart and soul. I definitely feel a connection and believe me it is incredibly amazing and real. When he sings and I am there, it is like water healing the bad and hurt and empty parts of me. This is what I feel.

I absoluley love his singing of Love Me Tender and playing the piano. The thouught that he learned to play this and hearing him sing it at the same time is such a wonderful gift to fans like me. It is truly beautiful. It is the sort of thing that if you could only have a few things in life, a recording of this would be one of the things I would want.

Other parts I love beyond description are his singing "Iriis", he was made to sing this song, or this song was made for him to sing. I wish he would do the whole song on his CD. Jaymes I hope your listening. I can't Make you Love Me is just beautiful, filled with such simple intensity and emotion and honesty and bittersweet life. This song is one of my alltime favorites of his singing now. No huge glory notes, but huge emotional impact. Yes he is selling emotions with this one or giving them away for a mere nothing is more like it. I would buy it package it and treasure it. I never liked Mandy till I heard him sing it, but he puts so much into this song, I just love hearing him sing it, it is sadness and yearning and love put into words and notes.

He is a god given treasure to me. He sooooooo channels Elvis. He has the spirit and soul of Elvis. I love hearing and seeing him do the Elvis songs.

WDC, yes he is sexy, to say the least. Sexy like real southern nights. Any woman that is not dead can see this. Me, yeah I like it.

Loved both new songs. Want to hear Thousand days some more, but first gut reaction, I really really love it. And I was allready addicted to Back for More, know all the words and hear it in my radio mind all the time.

His voice sounded really strong and even better than on Not A Tour I thought.

Love Quianna's song. I am gonna buy her CD. Angela is good too. And even Jacob is very talented.

Clay is very generous to his backup singers. I know of noone else in the industry this generous and giving.

Oh yeah, the man is learning he can move. He moves really really well. Keep dancing Clay. I like it.

Did I like the show. What do you think. Wish all of you could see it. Thank you Clay.

Concert Recap from the CB's LUVclay26:
I didn't know how I would react to being there. It has been 8 months since my last show. I will admit this is concert 16 for me (not including the benefit in April 2004). Sixteen was very sweet too. : )

The Kokula Booth Amplitheater is really cool. Ever see "Return of the Jedi" and they have that Ewoks party scene? It kind of reminds me of that. Ok, so there were not a million little furry dudes running around singing war victory songs with the "Star Wars" folks watching, but it was very pine woodsy. It made me wonder if the forest creatures have their own little shows when it isn't in use like in the cartoons. Hey, it could happen. That humorous thought helped me glide through another panic attack. There were too many folks.

So, I got to my seat and it was a lot closer than I thought it would be. I was like row R to the stage right side (section 2). It wasn't too bad. I think that if I were closer I would have spontaneously combusted. They would have had to mail some ashes and a pair of flip-flops to KC if I was closer. Thankfully, I was in the OSHA recommended distance away from the Clay so I was safe. Indy and Interlochen I won't be as safe.

So, as the preconcert music went on (I LOVE "Wishing On A Star" by the Cover Girls. Good song to whomever chose it. That person has good taste in music.), I got my program (which I have to get another since some drunk jerk spilled beer on it : ( ) and just sat in anticipation. The pix look so good. I like the tux shirt one the best. RAWR! I was so excited to see the Clayton in all his Clayness be the jukebox hottie Clay we all like and adore.

The preconcert music was very good stuff as well as the set list. I noticed the songs. I'll leave it at that (the music was great) and I hope you all note that I am still bold as can be in this recap. So there. Actually, I'm either bold or stupid or a combination of all thereof.

**"Rock and Roll Is Here To Stay" -- Sing it Clonz!!**

The music stopped as this dude goes on stage and asks for money for the jukebox. Someone from the audience had the money and the jukebox starts with "We Built This City On Rock and Roll" by Starship. It then just starts to skip like my heart was at the moment. The 3 folks try to get it to just play. A skipping record is irritating, as it won't stop though.

All of a sudden, like in a dream, Clay was on stage with Quiana and Angela. LEATHER!!! YES!!! **thumbs up and dreamy idiot smile appears on LUV's face** He had this swagger and it was so sexy. The gals followed him like he was the Fonz. It was just so cool. He stands in front and I just about went face first into the grass when he licked his thumbs. He then whapped the jukebox and the music stopped skipping. It was cool and like how I pictured when I read about it in the cellcerts. Woah. Also, I think I saw minisideburns. That made me smile too. : )

**Ladies and gentlemen, 50's Clay**

Wow. From the first note I was dancing and having fun. True, I probably looked dumb, but this was the first bit of fun I have had in at least 5 months or so. It was my first real smile. I just had fun though it is a blur. I will try my best to recap highlights, as there was A LOT of music.

For the 50s medley, I was so surprised he pulled it off. Not that I underestimated him and his folks, but 50s music is music that if it is done wrong it can come off as campy and not as good. They pulled it off very well. (I know. I know. Thanks for the confidence in him before the show -- tee hee.)

"Twistin' the Away" was great. "Johnny Be Good" was awesome as you cannot forget Chuck Berry when 50s are being sung about. It made my mind remember "Back to the Future." It was cute seeing "Rockin' Robin" covered. He was sexy for "The Great Pretender," "I'll be Blue" and "Only You." "Mr. Postman" was great and I LOVED Quiana and Angela's version of "Mr. Sandman." I think it was Jacob that goes "yeeeeeessss??" tee hee. That was cool. "That'll Be the Day" was great as one cannot forget Buddy Holly. Good call to have that in there. "Rock N Roll Is Here to Stay" was good as well as "Let's Go To the Hop." I was just so mermerised by him on stage. He looked as good as I remembered in December.

It was somewhere around here he gets up on the piano. HOLY HOTTNESS!! It was cool as he shook his thang and just sang "Great Balls Of Fire." I was dancing having so much fun watching. He looked out to probably somone in front of or in back of me and just looked like he was happy and having fun too. I felt myself blush and cursed at myself for reacting that way because I'm thinking he was just pointing to someone close to me.

He then explained the tour. He asked how many of us remember the 50s, 80s, yesterday. Tee hee. Talked just about the scripted premise of the tour.

I think this is where he said the best line that made me laugh out loud. See, it was so humid there you could cut the air with a knife. It was nasty hot. Clay goes, "Wow. I think I am sweating more than Ruben." That made me laugh A LOT. Hmmm... sweaty Clay...hmmm I need a cold shower. Ok **yanks mind out of gutter* let's move forward. (I'm working on being banned a 18th lifetime am I? -- as opposed to being banned for life from more Clay shows...)

"Unchained Melody" was heaven. I was angry at the folks that wouldn't shut up when he sang, but I listened. It was just so good. I was just in heaven.

**Ladies and gentleman -- Elvis**

I'm probably in the minority of folks that is meh about Elvis. It took me until I was 19 to get into the Beatles back in 1995. So, Elvis hasn't been a big favorite for me yet aside from knowing they did inspire the Beatles. Clay may have begun my conversion to take a second look at his music.

"Love Me Tender" was great. He goes, "I have some music teachers in the audience. They probably will start crying and not because this is going to be good." (smart aleck) Or something like that. He didn't do too bad playing the piano. Some posters were right about looking at his face while playing. It was CUTE. The faces were kinda like "I hope I get this or that chord right." I almost wonder if he is putting us on by pretending he was nervous. If he was, that was cute. Tee hee. : ) he said he didn't want to move away from the piano because thre was a fan that was feeling nice. It was just opressively warm that night and he was such a trooper to keep going.

For the medley, you better believe I grabbed my binolculars. My lenses were steaming up. I wonder why. : ) I have not seen anything that incited so much jealousy for that hussy mic stand until that night. OMG. Everytime he'd just shake it, I had to grab the chair in front of me and remove my gaze from the binoculars. He so knows he's sexy. Gah! It was bad when he straddled that thing. Man please let me be a mic stand when I am reincarnated. I'll be good. O=)

Lemme see if I can get this right. It was "Hound Dog," "Blue Suade Shoes," "Don't Be Cruel," "Heartbreak Hotel," "Jailhouse Rock" (RAWR), "I Can't Help Falling In Love With You" and "Suspicious Minds." It was just great stuff.

**Ladies and gentlemen -- groovy 60's Clay**

He gets behind this clothing rack as I tried SO HARD NOT to go in the gutter with my mind. There was a voice over thingy and he kinda stumbled when trying to get through the clothing rack. It was hot and humid so it wasn't his fault. I think he wore this black suit and skinny tie.

"Daydream Believer" was cute! He and the 2 gals did the Monkees' tradmark walk. It was so cute. Then, "Downtown" was good too. I felt bad fo Quiana and Angela to have to wear those fur thingies in that heat. Oh yeah and it was warm outside too. **innocent look**

Being a Beatles fan, of course I LOVED "Can't Buy Me Love." They all did this head shake thing and I bet it was trying to imitate when the mop tops do the head shake thingy for "She Loves You." I think it was cute, but kinda made me cringe because the Beatles are so much more than the head shake. Then again, I am splitting hairs there I guess.

"Sugar Sugar" was funny. No, he sang it well. Whenever he would sort of snuggle up to Quiana or Angela though (I THUDDED when I saw those long fingers around her waist), I would put my hands to my mouth and die. I can dream about how good that must have felt. I was just dieing and I bet others were reacting the same way because Clay just starts to get a fit of the giggles. It was so cute. You could tell he was trying so hard not to lose it. He made it through the song, but his face threatened to collapse in a fit of laughter. It was just cute. If it was at me, well, I can't help it he was making me all weak. I'm a hetero woman that appreciates sexy stuff. I won't be so delusional and say it was at me he was reacting to though. I bet there were some other folks making him laugh. He also was giggling a little during "Happy Toegther." I will never forget the image of those 3 sitting together and he looked like he was going to just start laughing. **shakes her head**

After that, "Soliatire" was great. I was SO MAD at the folks next to me and behind me. They kept going in front of me to go anywhere but where they were assigned to sit. Also, they wouldn't NOT shut up. I wanted to ask, "Are you actually fans or are you here to be hecklers? If you aren't, I can think of at least 50 folks that would LOVE to be sitting where you are sitting now listening to this." I should have told them off.

I didn't sense any heavy emotion this time with "Solitaire" but was distracted by the jerks sitting by me too.

** Ladies and gentlemen -- Clotown : ) **

The Motown medley ROCKED. It started out with Angela and Quiana singing a little Supremes stuff with "Where Did Our Love Go?" Awesome. Then Quiana TORE IT UP with "Midnight Train To Georgia." I think that was when Clay came back on stage with Jacob. He was wearing this white and gray checked fedoraish hat. It was cute. They DANCED. CLAY danced. It was great seeing him dance kinda like a Pip. It was cool. It made me smile. I think he made some comment but I forget.

"My Girl" made me melt. "Tears of a Clown" was good as I think they danced there too. Quiana and Angela did awesome with "Rescue Me." Quiana (I think) tore it up with some Aretha Franklin "Freedom." If it wasn't her, someone did. "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" was good. "Reach Out I'll be There" was awesome. They did the Four Tops justice. "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" was good too. It was just so much music and great music too.

Clay then before intermission wanted to go and find someone that was there that didn't want to be there. He went into the audience and I DIED. He almost came down my aisle, but didn't. He saved my life by not coming down my aisle I think. I would have died worse than I did.

There was a dude they talked to and he actually was a fan. Clay was like, "C'mon you aren't helping to play along" or something like that. It was funny. He gets back onstage and I think he sang something. I don't remember. I'm sure there is Clack of it somewhere.

THEN, he goes before the intermission sometime, "I am so sweaty. It is hot. I think I need to go backstage (and I kid you NOT) and take a long cold shower." OMG adjalkfsdhflkahfjqaehrjool!!!!! My jaw dropped and I kept saying to myself "PURE THOUGHTS... PURE THOUGHTS...PURE..." I think he soooooo knows what he said and was like, "Oh wait, I meant I was going to read a book. Yeah, I'm just going to read a book. Woah, that may have been to much for some of you to hear." : ) Well, it WAS memorable.
; )

We then had a 20-minute intermission to cool off as usher out thoughts of a certain cold shower on the premises. Ay-yi-yi.

The intermission music was good too. I noticed some great 80s tunes. Good to have some Men At Work, Dexy's Midnight Runners, and Devo for some music.

**Disco Clay : ) **

The set starts again with "Car Wash." It was funny because some guy was in an afro and this big 70s costume. That was cute.

Speaking of cute, Clay in all his polyester glory comes out for "Oh What A Night." I didn't see any undershirt and man oh man through binoculars...um...I didn't look. **shifty eyes** **coughniceshestcough** O=)

"September" was AWESOME! He danced so well. And, I think through the entire show he did not make one crack about he thinks he can't dance. I was so proud of him. Tee hee at me being proud of this stranger. "Nights On Broadway" was hottness as I died when they sat on the bean bag chairs. He was so hott there. "Too Much Heaven" was just so much hottness that I couldn't take it. I can't remember, but I think they remain sitting when Angela sang "I Feel The Earth Move." It was a good rendition for the old Carol King song.

He goes on to sing "Mandy." I don't remember much as I felt lightheaded myself. The heat (not just Clay) almost had me overcome it was too hot. I had never been in such humid weather before in my entire life being from the midwest. It gets bad, but never as bad as it was then.

After "Mandy" (wish there was a song named Erin, oh well...), he made some comment how he never liked polyester, but he really hated it now as it was too hot for it. You know if he took it... nevermind. (yep, this recap has me in all sorts of trouble already doesn't it and I haven't gotten to WDC yet.) **innocent look** He was by a fan by a fan by the piano that kept him cool. It must have sucked to have to move away from it to sing.

BOTW was AWESOME!! I don't know if he saw me (my guess is no or I was that weird chick that danced like an idiot), but I mouthed toward the end a big "THANK YOU!" I so wanted to hear this done by him live. It was like a wish had been ganted.

**Ladies and gentlemen -- 80s's Clay**

The dude gets out and does the preacher bit. It was cute. I thought it was funny when he mentioed Gary Coleman before he was a security guard. That made me smile.

It then began. (I am so going to hades for having more impure thoughts.) WDC was just...GAH. Clay was in the chior rode and I heard folks yell "Take it off!!!" He sings and then the robe came off. He was wearing this blusih shirt and denimum vest and baggy jeans. OMG OMG OMG. He sang the lyrics as writen and does this sexy move by his collar. He then danced with Angela. They were just dancing really nice. I was going to lose it when he just slid down a little. It just made me just whimper. He then danced with Quiana a little. There was a point where he arches his back when he is dancing. Also, for the stomach line, Quiana and/or Angela (freaking out too much to even notice for sure) got to touch his tummy. It killed me. I was toast. It was so hott. She even stroked her hand through HIS HAIR!!! I am so jealous.

The 80's medley was good. "All Night Long" (now that I think about it -- how appropriate for being after WDC -- yeah I'm bad -- sorry -- yep I'm banned for the 18th lifetime now!). "Never Gonna Give You Up was a great return to PG-ness. "Alone" was awesome. I never thought it would sound good on a male voice. It surprised me.

"Rock With You" was pretty good. Of all the Michael jackson songs this was covered. Actually, FYI, it was a song from around 1979 or 1980 if I am not mistaken. I wonder why that song and not something from "Thriller" or "Bad." It is as if it was on a songs list somewhere or something. It was good though. I though Jacob did a good job with it. It is one of my favorite Michael Jackson songs so I can't complain.

"Sailing" was beautiful. I closed my eyes while listening to this song and tears came to my eyes. It just is a song that reminds me of when I was little and it has gotten me through a lot. It was beautiful hearing Clay sing it. I felt like an idiot crying, but I did a little. It was like the beauty washed over me. Clay isn't Chrisopher Cross (that will always be the definitive version), but he did the song justice.

**Ladies and gentlemen -- 90s Clay!!**

I died laughing when I heard the infamous hook line from "U Can't Touch This." I thought it was funny to remember that those clothes they wore WERE what folks thought looked good. That is so funny the outfits are from each of their own clostets from back then. I loved the comment about the shoulders on one of the outfits. I thought the dancing thing was FUNNY. Clay demonstrated several kinds of dances like this one with the arms and just another one. Quiana and Angela did the dances. He was like "how is this dancing?" tee hee. Clay was assigning dancing to everyone and was like do this or do that. "I can make them do anything because my name is on the ticket." I thought he was being so mean. Tee hee. It was funny. Little brat.

I can't remember who sang "Black velvet." It was good though. The Alayna Miles song rocks. "End Of the Road" was good. "Iris" was hott. OMG "Livin' la Vida Loca" was hott as hottness can allow. I thought he looked so sexy as his arms were outstretched as he danced. When the vest was stripped off and he threw it, I thuded. It was just sexy. I could have imagined it, but when he arched his back (yes ladies he arched his back), I though he made a silly face. I may have imagined it. But he did arch that back. Did I mention he arched his back? ACK!!!!!!!

"I Can't Make You Love Me" was really good. It was another one I never have pictured a male voice to it. It sounded really good.

Quiana TORE IT UP for "I Will Always Love You." That girl can SING. I liked her version lots. She is so good and I can imagine years from now when she is discovered by the rest of America that are not Clayfans I can say I knew her when. Wow.

**Ladies and and gentlemen -- 00's Cl...wait this section WAS Clay**

Clay gets into this spiel (btw I HATE the orange shirt still -- sorry) about the musc of the 2000's. Music from 2000 was just ok as were 2001 and 2002. OF COURSE 2003 had some great music. : )

He did a good version of IWCY. He sang "The Way" decent. I like WYSYLM. He and company jazzed up the routine for that one. I liked the dancing. Said he hoped not to forget the words.

He then said there were new songs. The album will come out when it is done. I am patient. From what I hear so far, it will be worth the wait.

The new song was pretty good. I need to hear it again to see if I like it for sure or not. It wasn't so catchy I knew it later, but I kinda did like it. I need another listen. It was a pretty ballad and the lighting was gorgious for it.

"Coming back For More" was AWESOME. I love this song a lot. His voice just is good on it and I hope it can be a single someday. I think folks that are hearing it are reacting to it well.

He thanked the crew and even said his mom was in the front row. That was cute. He also said the Jaymes Foster Levy was in the audience as well as introduced the folks in the band. He made some comment about one of the folks being a sanitation engineer or biohazard waste person or something like that. It was an inside joke and I DON'T WANNA KNOW. They can keep it an inside joke. The keyboarist was said to be one from LA that had good insides and he joked the next person (drummer?) didn't. Tee hee. He made some comment being happy he is coming home. Said that LA traffic was a mess (I think).

He then closed the set with "Invisible." It might have just been too hot or maybe he is sick of "Invisible" but my reaction in my memory is he looked almost bored with it. Maybe I am remembering wrong and will change my opinion if I see Clack of this. He didn't do one tug. He didn't do 2 tugs. He did THREE tugs and I died each time of course. He so knows. He then whapps the jukebox and the lights go out as "We Built This City On Rock and Roll" plays the audience out.

Concert Recap from the CH's sassafras:
A hellacious day. Clay told us he felt the sweat running into his eyes and he'd forgotten how hot NC was. He loved the fan under the piano, which was blowing his pants legs around. Of course, no matter the heat, he strutted and danced and grimaced and sang and emoted and laughed--giving us really hawt! Thanks to Momo and Lowrider and Cindy, I scored 5th-row tickets that afternoon. On the very right, "possibly limited view," but I was in bliss nevertheless, just knowing that I wasn't in the lawn after all. As we streamed into the glen after standing in line in that sun, a security guard called out for us to pack tightly into the lawn area because they "overbooked." Overbooked by how many, I asked. "500 tickets." So take that, Raleigh and Cary newspapers, who were headlining that Clay was losing fans because the arena didn't sell out. They oversold. (Mini rant: I can't understand why the local media seems to feel the need to downplay, criticize, castigate Clay; it makes me furious. That whole uproar last year about Raleigh-area citizens being upset about not getting tickets was fanned, maybe even started, by the local media. And then WRAL initiated the BAF probe. What's with them?)

My friend settled into the second row of the lawn, center stage. My other friend and I went down to the front. The friends (both virgin Clay concert goers) switched places at halftime, and both of them said they preferred the lawn because they could see the jumbotron. I admit I couldn't see very well even from that far front. My neck was so sore at the end of the concert from peering through heads, especially those of the two very tall ladies two rows up who decided to stand in the aisle, side by side, blocking people who wanted to come through to take pictures. And then I almost got into a fight with them! It must have been the heat making everything crazy. Just before WDC I asked them if I could move in front of them to see better (there was a bunch of space there, you just couldn't get through them), and they were quite rude saying no, which just infuriated me for some reason--who are they to tell others where they can and cannot stand?--so I literally pushed their bodies apart and squashed through. I think I scratched skin. Egads. Who am I?? They were talking to each other about calling security, so I had to remind them that no one was actually allowed in the aisles anyway. And I crouched in front of them to make sure these amazons could see over my 5'2" self, but I was so upset that I went back to my own position after all and missed most of WDC. Soon thereafter the security did come through and tell everyone to go back to their seats, "so there" to them, too. (It seems a bunch of us are complaining about fans this tour!)

Because we were there two hours before concert time, I joined the small crowd to our right, watching for Clay at the M&G. Nick and Quiana came over, Nick accepting cards and small gifts for Clay, Quiana giving a friend of hers a hug. Supercute Nick. Supersmall and gorgeous Quiana. She's really different looking on stage, to me. One technician was wearing bermudas (are they still called that?) and no shirt--I was trying to imagine CAH in the back in similar attire! Another technician brought something onstage: a very interesting guy, with a female tank top and long black hair, shaved head on the sides, and a purple mohawk. Wonder what he contributes to the show. Wonder what he thinks of Clay.

About 7:45 I think, maybe earlier, Clay's mama (he never calls her "Mom"; always "Mama" on stage and in interviews) and grandparents filed through to first row center; then Nana and Joan and a few misc. others who I didn't recognize. Faye is so petite and pretty. She had on a lima green fitted top with a scooped neck and mega-makeup. How old is she? 57? She looks terrific. I don't think Clay played to them at all; in fact, it seemed to me that he purposefully didn't look at them.

During the thank-yous at the end, he mentioned that the woman doing the sign language was Nick's mother (I think he said Debra Lachey was her name, not sure), and then he mentioned and pointed to his mama. Mrs. Lachey seemed to more than animated during the concert; she was swaying and bopping along to all the music as she worked.

One favorite moment: during BFM I looked around at the audience beside and in back of me, and there were all those youngsters, college and high school age, head banging and shaking raised fists along with Angela, Jacob, and Quiana. Felt I was at Walnut Creek (that's an outdoor venue where the rock shows come in here), not Regency Park (which I think of most as the place the Raleigh orchestra plays on July 4th). Most of the time I couldn't pull my eyes away from Clay's face and body, however, and it's true that when he came over to our side and looked into the audience, I thought he was looking straight and only at me!

OMG, I can't get over Clay's mimicking the people who made those songs famous in body and voice. He was just sensational, that's all. Just incredible. This is a show dying to be made available to the great public, and a TV show would be great. Only thing is, I don't think they could find a place to put commercials! It's so jampacked with singing and banter.

In any case, I decided that our clack gatherers and montage makers and DVD/CD preparers are really historians. If it weren't for them, all of Clay's early work, except for his AI performances, would be just memories. 10, 20, 30 years from now, the clack will be used for documentary programs, so thank god for them! In the meantime, it's so wonderful to have those closeups from the various concerts because it's certainly not enough to just see CA in concert one time and be satisfied. We're "never satisfied," Clay, happily never satisfied. Can't wait till Wolf Trap.

Oh, just want to thank Geekette and Careless Whisper for organizing the afterparty at Jack Astor's. It was great to have a place to gather and buy beads from Hockeydonna!

eta: Had to chuckle when Clay came into the audience to pick the guy who was dragged there by someone, he mentioned he'd go past his mama because she wouldn't grab at him. Also, I think he's calling the trio "tools" not "toys." As in there for him to direct, do what he says. He so loves to mention that they're there but his "name is on the ticket."

"Thousand Days" Lyrics--NEW SONG FROM CLAY

2005-08-06T10:18:00.000-04:00

Thousand Days
[Verse 1]
Through my eyes
I see the world start spinning like a ball
Stars lights up and then fall for you.

So then what's a man like me supposed to do?
If I gave you the moon would you notice
That I'm right beside you?

[Chorus]
Well a thousand days, a thousand nights are not enough
Cause I can't hold back the way I feel about my love
Won't let it go, won't let it go
And if the Angels came, I'd fight them back to win your soul
When everything was said and done, they'd go back home
They oughta know, they oughta know
That you're mine, all mine

[Verse 2]
In my world...
You're the sun that shines and lights an evening sky
Clearing up the horizon
Hold on...

Come with me now and I will never let you down, ooh
And in this love we'll drown
This I promise you
They can't hold us down, ooh...

[Bridge]
I would do anything, yes believe it
Your love means everything, yeah I mean it
The heart won't lie
Reach out and love...

[Chorus]

Ooh, ooh...
-------
Credit goes to the CB's UntoldDarkness.

HeraldSun.com Article--Cary, NC Concert

2005-08-05T21:08:00.000-04:00

Aiken measures success despite early goal of teaching
By Alan Sculley : Special to The Herald-Sun
Aug 3, 2005 : 4:37 pm ET

For a few select performers "American Idol" has become a dream vehicle through which to enter the music business. But the fact is, success on "American Idol" doesn't guarantee popular contestants a place in mainstream music once they finish their run on the show.

Just ask Justin Guarini, who has quickly faded from the public eye since finishing second to Kelly Clarkson in the inaugural 2002 season of the hit show.

Clay Aiken, who finished second to Ruben Studdard in 2003, went into the making of his debut CD, "Measure of a Man," knowing he needed to bring more to the table musically than he showed on "American Idol."

"I think that with 'American Idol,' you perform a lot of classic standards stuff and a lot of times people come out of there wondering, Will this person have the ability to compete in a mainstream market?" Aiken said in a recent interview. "I think that's what we were really trying to show with the album. Yeah, I sang 'Build Me Up Buttercup' and 'Solitaire' and 'Mack The Knife' on that show, but that's not all I can do."

Whether fans see the songs on "Measure Of A Man," as adding a new dimension to the musical personality he established on "American Idol" may be open to debate. But there's no arguing with the popularity Aiken continues to enjoy.

"Measure of a Man" debuted in fall 2003 with first-week sales of 613,000, the second highest total ever behind Snoop Dogg's "Doggy Style" CD. The record spent two weeks at No. 1, has now topped 2 million in sales, while its lead single, "Invisible," became a major hit.

A holiday album Aiken released last fall, "Merry Christmas With Love," became the highest-debuting holiday release ever, opening at number four on the "Billboard" magazine album chart and shipping more than 1 million copies.

Not in the plan

It's all an amazing series of events for someone like Aiken, who never saw singing as anything other than a hobby.

The 25-year-old native of Raleigh was an outgoing kid who first began crooning country tunes he heard around the house when he was all of 16 months old. By age 5, visits to a local Sears store where his mother and stepfather worked would often result in shoppers giving the young Aiken a dollar to get up on counters or on carpet samples to sing.

He sang at the Baptist church he attended and, not surprisingly, performed in musicals in high school.

But Aiken said he never thought of music for a career, and in fact was in the midst of earning a degree in education when everything changed. During college, he had begun working with autistic children. The mother of a boy Aiken worked with, Diane Bubel, had heard him sing during visits to her home, and she convinced Aiken to audition for "American Idol."

"I was going to be a teacher," Aiken said. "That's what was my goal in life, to teach and to do that. I had my life planned out until I was 50 years old. I was going to be a teacher and maybe a principal at some point ... Music was not in my five-, 10-, 20-year plan. And so I would have never auditioned had it not been for someone [Bubel] who convinced me to do it."

Ironically, Aiken failed in his first audition for the Fox network affiliate in Charlotte. But Bubel convinced him to travel to Atlanta where national auditions were held. He made the show and emerged alongside Studdard as a leading contender to win "American Idol."

In the season finale, viewers voted Studdard the winner by a margin of less than 1 percent, but Aiken's showing was easily strong enough to earn him his deal with RCA Records.

Artistic control

Teaching went on hold and singing became the priority as Aiken went to work on "Measure of a Man" with the help of label president and music industry legend Clive Davis and an impressive cast of songwriters and producers that included Desmond Child, Clif Magness (who was a major contributor to Avril Lavigne's debut CD), Rick Nowels (known for his work with Cher) and Steve Morales (familiar to many for his work with Christina Aguilera).

Despite the considerable involvement of such heavyweight outside talent, Aiken said he retained a good deal of control over the material that makes up "Measure of a Man."

"I went in with standards that said I don't want to do this, I don't want to do that and I'm OK with doing this," Aiken said. "So they played me like 15, 16, 20 songs. I said 'I don't like this one. I don't like this one. I do like this one. This is the kind of sound I like. This is what I'm interested in doing.' And we all bought into the same type of vision that I have."

That said, Davis -- who as a label executive at record companies such as Columbia, Arista, J and RCA has helped build the careers of dozens of music superstars -- had a considerable hand in shaping "Measure of a Man," both in a production capacity and in helping Aiken choose the songs to record.

"The man's a genius," Aiken said. "He definitely has some history behind him. What he has done in his career speaks for itself. You've got to trust the man. If I could have done this myself without anybody's help, I would have done it without anybody's help."

Stylistic diversity

Aiken has never disputed that the lyrical themes of some of the songs on the CD (for instance, those about romantic turmoil) involve emotions he has never experienced himself. (Aiken claims to have never had a serious girlfriend.) But he said he took it as his challenge to deliver believable performances of such material.

"It's kind of like an actor," Aiken said. "People get Oscars for playing characters that are nothing like themselves." In a similar way, singing "[is] about putting myself in that position and trying to act that role and act that part. For me that's the fun part. That's the type of stuff I listen to, the type of stuff I want to perform."

Trying to describe exactly the kind of artist Aiken wants to be, though, is an elusive topic. Between his "American Idol" performances and the songs on "Measure of a Man," he has sung a variety of material, from classic pre-Beatles pop to adult contemporary fare.

Aiken enjoys the fact that he has been hard to pin down stylistically.

"I think that's part of the reason we've had so much success with our album and what we've been doing, because we don't necessarily fit into one of the prefabricated niches that record companies have put out," Aiken said.

"What's amazing about the show I was on, and the way that I came around is because I came around by allowing the public to pick from day one," he said. "And I think there's no need to put me in one of those niches, [to say] 'This is where he belongs.' It doesn't matter where he belongs. People like what he does and he doesn't have to fit into that. So maybe this radio station does play me, but the public will decide how long they like me and when they stop liking me, they'll stop buying."

---

What: Clay Aiken performs

Where: Koka Booth Amphitheatre at Regency Park, 8003 Regency Parkway, Cary

When: 8 p.m. today (doors open at 6 p.m.)

Cost: Tickets range from $32.50 to $55.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: To purchase tickets, call Ticketmaster at (919) 834-4000 or visit www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets also are available at the Koka Booth box office at (919) 462-2052.

Fayetteville Online- Cary NC Article

2005-08-05T21:04:00.000-04:00

Has 'Idol' superstar Clay Aiken lost his shine?

By Stacy Peterson
Staff writer

Is the Clay Nation crumbling?

That's one question some are wondering as our own Clay Aiken returns for a homecoming concert Friday, Aug. 5 at the Koka Booth Amphitheatre at Regency Park in Cary.
photo
Contributed photo
CLAY AIKEN AND HIS JUKEBOX TOUR

When: 8 p.m., Friday, Aug. 5

Where: Koka Booth Amphitheatre at Regency Park in Cary

Tickets: $32.50-$55. Doors open at 6 p.m. Learn more by calling the amphitheater at (910) 462-2052. Tickets are available at www.ticketmaster.com, or by calling 223-2900.

The basis of the question?

His hometown show is not sold out, even at the 7,000-capacity amphitheater.

For most in the entertainment field, this is not unusual. In fact, concert attendance remains fairly low this summer.

But we're talking about Aiken, the famously overshadowed runner-up of the 2003 Fox TV "American Idol" competition, who has gone on to become a superstar.

Aiken, who grew up in Raleigh and lived in Charlotte when he auditioned for the show, was suddenly everywhere two years ago - TV shows, magazine covers and the subject of lots of Internet chatter.

He became an entertainment golden child, an idol to both young and not-so-young women as the cute underdog who did well.

Just last October, Aiken sold out two back-to-back concerts at the Dorton Arena in Raleigh in about 30 minutes, combined.

The two State Fair shows combined accounted for 12,000 tickets. Scores of desperate fans still tried to get in and many in North Carolina were angry because so many of the fans were from out of state.

He probably could have sold out a couple more shows during his last public visit in the Triangle. The Friday, Aug. 5 show has also sold well and will probably reach capacity by showtime, but it has not sold with the fury of his previous visits.

So what has happened?

"I really think he is preaching to the choir," said Shirley Halperin, music editor of Us Weekly and a contributing editor of Rolling Stone magazine.

Halperin has interviewed Aiken a few times and has seen him from the other side. Aiken was not available for an interview for this story.

She said one problem is that Aiken is not trying to reach out to new audiences like another former idol, Kelly Clarkson. She said he is content to sing carefully chosen conservative songs, like on his new Jukebox Tour, which focuses on older standard pop hits from Elvis and the Beatles.

She also believes his star has dimmed in the shadow of the big marketing machine of "American Idol."

"Other than the TV Guide story and a few shows, I just don't see Clay out there that much anymore," Halperin said. "There's a limited shelf life to an 'American Idol'contestant, and without that media blitz and promotional machine, it is not so easy."

Halperin also pointed out that Aiken has really only had one hit radio single.

"He could easily be a one-hit wonder like anybody," she said. "Being conservative has maybe hurt him."
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Even so, he still has his loyal fans, the fanatical "Claymates," and he is still selling lots of concert tickets from coast to coast as compared to other entertainers. The Raleigh "Claymates" have even planned a special gathering today and have chatted on the Internet for weeks about the show.

It is not a bad position to be in, said Gary Bongiovanni, editor of the concert industry trade publication Pollstar.

He said one reason tickets haven't sold as well is because Aiken played the Triangle less than a year ago at the State Fair.

"I think a lot of his fans just saw him," Bongiovanni said.

Sure, the "Claymates" will be at every show, but other more casual fans may not put down more money for another concert.

In looking back over Aiken's ticket sales in 50 markets last year, Bongiovanni said the once spiky-haired idol averaged about 4,000 tickets per concert. Naturally a hometown show would sell more, but that is still a good position to be in, Bongiovanni said.

The double billing of Aiken and Clarkson sold even better with an average of 8,000 tickets per market. In fact, Clarkson is now the biggest album seller of all of the former idols. Aiken is second.

"A lot of the 'American Idol'artists didn't really build a career outside of the show," Bongiovanni said.

Still, there is a sense of Aiken's own disillusionment with being a celebrity. In the July 24-30 edition of TV Guide, in which he was featured as the cover story titled, "Clay at a Crossroads," Aiken talked about his shyness and his longing to leave Los Angeles. Many believe he wants to make North Carolina his permanent home again.

Recent TV appearances have also featured Aiken longing for a more simple life than the current fish bowl he finds himself in.

But that is really nothing new, Halperin said.

He told her much the same thing even at the peak of his popularity.

Staff writer Stacy Peterson can be reached at petersons@fayettevillenc.com or 323-4848, ext. 384.

Post-Trib Merrillville Article

2005-08-05T20:56:00.000-04:00

'Jukebox' spins the right tunes for 'Claymates'

Aug. 5, 2005

By Bob Kostanczuk
Post-Tribune staff writer

Clay Aiken has sold out his Aug. 23 show at Merrillville's Star Plaza Theatre.

If you're one of those "Claymates" who goes gooey over your guy, the "Jukebox Tour" affords the opportunity to hear him spout archival hits from the Beatles, Elvis and Motown.

That's what TV Guide reported in a recent piece on the "American Idol" heartthrob.

In case you missed the issue, the 26-year-old singer had various thoughts to offer TV Guide.

* On living in Los Angeles: "L.A. is such a lonely city, the most desperate city in the world. Everybody here is concerned with the wrong things ... ."

* On crowds: "I think I'm agoraphobic. You get more than eight people in a room and I just can't handle it."

* On future plans: "I'd love to have a talk show one day. I'd love to do 'Larry King' without the desk."

For those who are bummed that they couldn't get tickets for Aiken in Merrillville, he's also playing the Indiana State Fair in Indianapolis on Thursday, Aug. 18. Visit www.in.gov/statefair for more details.

'Mack' on tap

Those attending the Aug. 13 performance by the Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra in Schererville can expect a big band medley and some John Williams music from "Raiders of the Lost Ark."

The program at Redar Park will also include the classical bent of Rossini and the lounge-lizard punch of "Mack the Knife."

The 7:30 p.m. Schererville concert is one of three summer performances in the orchestra's "Symphony Under the Stars Series," which is underwritten by a couple of familiar corporate names: NIPSCO and Bank One.

Although there's corporate backing, orchestra officials say the communities that host these free concerts "work hard to raise money to fund them."

According to an estimate from the orchestra's publicity section, 3,000 to 5,000 people typically show up for one of these outdoor concerts.

In case of bad weather, the Aug. 13 concert in Schererville will be moved to the Lake Central High School gymnasium in St. John (same time, same date).

Guys that fly

It's not surprising that Hooters Air knows its market.

The airline with the "Hooters Girls" has been advertising this summer on Chicago's WSCR-AM (670) — a sports-talk station.

Flights to Las Vegas from Gary/Chicago International Airport are touted in the radio spots. The plane's manly leather seats are also mentioned.

Play ball, singers

If you can't get "discovered" around here, you're just not trying.

OK, maybe I'm exaggerating, but there's an increasing number of these "Idol" talent competitions.

The Gary SouthShore RailCats have jumped on the bandwagon with its first "RailCat Idol" contest.

Singers will compete at the Aug. 13 baseball game between our RailCats and the Winnipeg Goldeyes at U.S. Steel Yard in Gary. Fans will choose the winner before the 6 p.m. game ends.

Contact Bob Kostanczuk

at 648-3144 or bkostanczuk@post-trib.com

Clay forgets words to WYSYLM

2005-08-05T14:00:00.000-04:00

From the CB:
When Clay did a medley of a view of his own songs, he messed up the words to WYSYLM. Instead of "you laugh like you're really entertained" he went into "I know that the timing's not right", stamped his foot, and exclaimed, "Dang it, I did it AGAIN!" Jacob then began singing the song correctly. Clay shook his head and began to walk off-stage. (Clay had done this at Chastain park, as well as the night before. Poor fella.) Jacob sang us into the chorus, where Clay picked it back up. At the end of the song he talked about how embarassed he was, and then got the guitarist to play the melody for him. He kinda muttered the first few lines before yelling out, "You LAUGH like you're really entertained! That's it." He looked over to see some girls with signs. "You've got queue cards?" He ran over and took them, looking them over. "Good to know y'all had such faith in me that you knew I'd mess up!" He laughed and gave the cards back. "Y'all gonna be there tomorrow? Good, you're sitting right there. See, folks, you bring queue cards, you get front row seats!"