ldyjocelyn

New Hampshire concert, August 27, 2005 Many people told me after this show that he sounded sick, that his energy level was off. Me, I was thrilled by the entire show and did not notice any problems. I guess I’m easy. couchie and I had 3 tickets between the two of us, so we decided to split the show. I sat for the first half in a seat that was 10th row center. Therefore, I got to see the pants up close (man, he is fine in them), and also got to see him even closer when he came two rows behind me for the husband bit. Fonzie developed nearsightedness during his break, for Clay had his glasses on. It did make for a bit disconcerting 50’s and Elvis medley, but after that point, I didn’t care. Remember, I said I’m easy. I love the man in glasses. IMO, the Motown medley was especially good with him in the glasses, for, as someone suggested, the hat/glasses combo really did make him look a bit like Bear Bryant! The vocal highlight for the first set, for me, is the Motown medley. Yes, it is true that Angela, Jacob and Quiana are spotlighted more in this medley…but when Clay sings, he wails. He’s got blue-eyed (or in his case, green-eyed) soul down cold. He could easily be a worthy successor to Darryl Hall. What always strikes me about the first set is the fun he’s having. He really seems to enjoy the early stuff so much, and it comes through vocally. The 60’s medley – I rest my case. For the second act, I sat in one of the side sections, 15th row, about 5 seats from the aisle. Totally different vantage point…but one that gave me some of the best looks at his face. You see, the jumbotrons in New Hampshire are HUGE, and that camera person just loved giving close-ups. Gah. His lips loosen up considerably for this section of the show, and his chattiness was freakin’ hysterical that night. When he bent over to look at Andy Abad’s dolls, he surely must have known that most of the fandom was having heart palpations. And then, the look afterward – “you all should be ashamed of yourselves.” Hee. Then, later, when he introduced Maureen…I could tell he really wanted to say that Maureen screams for his butt too, but was trying to like crazy to keep himself in check. But, in the end (ha ha), he couldn’t resist. I think Maureen might have been a bit embarrassed, but Clay certainly wasn’t. He’s got to be eating this attention up. The Terry banter was so sweet. I could tell that he just enjoyed having someone up front who would 1) just keep smiling and sweetly wave at him; and 2) not scream in his face if he met her later. The highlight of the second set, for me, was twofold – September is the first. That’s always been my favorite EW&F song, and he sings that song with so much fun in his voice. Add to that the dance moves, and I’m in entertainment heaven. The other was my first hearing of Tears Run Dry. On first listen, it is definitely the best of the three ballads, IMO. It’s got a nice rock edge to it, but also a very good melody line. Me likey. OK, so there’s a third highlight – BFM. I think I threw my shoulder out while I was pumping my fist in the air. That song just simply rocks, and I can’t wait to hear it on the radio, the radio, the radiooooooooooo! All too soon, the concert was over. This tour is such an enjoyable romp through time. Clay has become a true natural on stage…not that he wasn’t before, but his confidence level is at a new high. Thanks Clay. P.S. I think couchie should tell her M&G story. Not that I didn’t hear it 50,000 times over the weekend *g*, but it’s her story to tell. EEEEEEEEEE!

Buzzie and SkateJoy -- thank you so much for the beautiful pictures. I was so glad I got to see both of you again. Buzzie -- thanks too for the picture of Daniel. I think he is a great bass player, and love watching his reactions to some of the silly things Clay does! Less than a week until I get to see Clay again. Plus there is a Brian Wilson concert for me in the middle of the week. This is going to be a LONG week!

Indiana State Fair recap, or, Thank you Jesus [tmClay] for no storms, but Jesus, you could have cut the humidity down a bit… Dateline: August 18, 2005. My trip started with a last minute upgrade from one of the side sections to row 13 in the center. Woohoo! After a great 3 ½ hour trip in my car (listening to LTS helped), I met up with my roommie, HeidiHo at the hotel…and discovered the I was in the midst of Broad Heaven. This was going to be a fun trip. We arrived at the Fair at about 5:00, picked up our willcall tickets, and then met with the lovely Betty897X and her mom. There was time to kill, so we watched the horse show in the air conditioned barn while waiting. I also called my husband – and found out that the storms had gone either north or south of Indianapolis. Gosh, this day was getting better and better. Heidi and I quickly found our seats, and then made connections with the following people (I hope this is all of you, if not, please forgive me): MrsLoki, Aflack, Pink Armchair, Beagle3, hensey, Snix, ShyGirl, SkateJoy, buzztechie, ShelleyC, MnM, toni7babe and kantski. It was so much fun seeing all of you again. The show started – and even if it was an outdoor venue, with oppressive heat and humidity – the excitement level of the “room” was palpable. His Fonzie schtick is a masterstroke of acting, and he looks like he is enjoying himself so much. His confidence level is astounding. He’s also a master showman. I simply love him. From that moment on, the show was a blur to me. I kept having to remind myself to a) breathe; and not scream in order to keep the clack from being ruined. (Probably should have just screamed anyway, the clack I got wasn’t all that great. I apologize in advance for the jumpiness, the heads in the way, the non-focus of several shots, the missing of the grind in WDC…shall I go on? Let’s just say I was vastly disappointed with my clack.) Heidi was a great seatmate – she let me “*sigh*” and “he’s so pretty” to my heart’s content. After the 50’s medley, I heard my name being called, and there was publicradiogirl and her friend Joan two rows behind us. Someone must have told the Indiana State Fair that us tall Romulan babes who can’t get M&G passes must be seated together. *g* Assorted notes, in random order: -- The pants! OMG, seeing those pants live and in person…gah. You all can have your jeans, I want them pants (and the guy in them too)! -- The Elvis hips – boy has some loose joints. Just sayin’. -- I marveled at his voice several times during WDC. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see the grindage all that well – but that boy has some lungs! He held “scream” for at least 30 seconds, and the last long “cry” forever as well. Yowza. But I also noticed the reverb at the end of the song, making Clay’s voice into “helium” Clay. I guess it fit the decade, but I was a bit bothered by it. -- There were some major sound problems during the 60’s medley – specifically Andy’s guitar was TOTALLY missing during “Happy Together.” Clay & Co. did incredibly well to cover it. I wonder if that was why the song was played pretty straight that evening. -- There were actually jumbotrons, which was nice for those in the grandstand. -- ICMYLM was totally sublime. But the song that really got me, for some reason, was Mandy. It hit me like a ton of bricks, and I truly needed a cigarette after that one. (And I don’t even smoke). -- UM live was another OMG moment, ruined only by the fact that someone had to get to the middle of our row right during the song. Could they not see that I was gathering clack? *g* -- There was a gaggle of older women behind us who appeared to me that they were there for the “show” as compared to being there for “Clay.” They thoroughly enjoyed the early parts of the show. OTOH, there were also two young girls behind us, and they kicked in about the time the 90’s portion started. I hadn’t downloaded or watched any of Quiana doing IWALY, and was enthralled with it…until these two started singing along, and badly. *sigh* -- We were standing behind people who had made a sign for S’Von’s nickname – “Savant.” Clay saw it, and then made the comment about “not having “idiot” in front of it”. Hee. All the banter was fun (I tried to get his attention during the 70’s thing – “Star Wars”!), and watching him just give up entirely during WYSYLM was priceless. And then Jacob humming the melody to try to get Clay back on track was hysterical. -- I love all of the band, but Daniel is my man. He’s cute, and he plays incredibly well. I’d love to see his collection of blue basses. Heh. After the show, Heidi and I went to Buffalo Wild Wings, where the Broads were partying…and boy can they party! publicradiogirl and Joan showed up as well, and it was sooooooooo much fun eating wings, drinking beer, and singing TITN, Invisible, and WYSYLM (without the screw-ups) at the top of your lungs. We made sure to give the servers at the bar an extra large tip for dealing with approximately 50 Clay-lust-crazed women (and Barking Dogs). While there I got to meet some really cool people – Whatever (muah for setting everything up!), Windtalker (she of the beautiful drawings), GingerGirl, clay4me, ClayCub, Babs the Angel, Barking Dogs (glad to meet him, thought he might have been just a myth – and he’s one cool rockin’ daddy!), and the shyest person I know, Ficus. She really needs to come out of her shell. After eating and beer, Heidi and I went back to our room for champagne, and, for point of comparison after seeing the Elvis hips, the top 4 episode of AI. Grease, schmease… *waves at huskerfalcon* I was thankful to leave when I did the morning after…because the entrants for the Miss Indiana State Fair were arriving at the hotel. I’m sure they were looking at us Clay fans just as strangely as we were looking at them, tiaras and all (although I did try to filch a tiara to add to KAndre's bling collection). After a lunch stop in Anderson to visit some more with Betty897X, it was time to head home. All in all, it was such a great time. Next stop – New Hampshire and Boston!

Um, that would be a yes, me! One of my favorite clips from the AI2 show was when they were at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences & Clay was speaking to the audience. He said he was from Raleigh & one person cheered. Almost instantly he responded with "Yes!, but if you are here who's back home." That moment could be blamed for this obses.... er hobby for me. After that clip I watched the jaded journalist clips & that's all she wrote. I love a man with a quick wit & impeccable comedic timing. OMG, you are SOOOO me! That was my "click -- lightbulb on" moment for me too. Right then, I knew I was at least going to follow this man for a while, although I have to admit it took me longer to get REALLY hooked. By Anomaly night, I was in for the count, but that Academy moment made me surely sit up and take notice!

Ansa, I SOOOOOO totally agree with what you have written. This show is tough, really tough. Many seasoned performers couldn't handle everything he's doing...or else they are in one location (such as Vegas), with no travel involved. Another thing to add -- he's carrying the show pretty much by himself, no opening act. If I were in his shoes, at this point I'd be pretty fried, and it would come out somehow in my performance too. What he's doing is this: trying his damndest to put on an entertaining show. IMO, he's succeeding. I just can't focus on a few bad things happening in a few shows. The ratio of bad to good still runs about 99.9% if you ask me. I stayed away from the cellcert last night, in prep for going to see Clay tomorrow evening. EEEEEEEEEE! So now, I'm off to read bottlecap's review! Anyone here compulsive banter downloaders?

I :::heart::: diamondjake He really does a fantastic job embodying the performers in question. The McCartney head shake got me too...he had it down cold. His Elvis? For those few minutes, he IS Elvis. The other one that gets me is the Ricky Martin. I remember people saying "what's this windmill arm thing he's got going on?" and I was saying "boy, he watched that video a few times to get looking EXACTLY right." WP guy went in with an agenda and wrote his review in order to get his check. The WDC thing had nothing to do with it, and I think if Clay had played the entire night totally straight, the guy probably would have written a WORSE review. JMO. This review isn't going to make anyone hate Clay any more than a glowing review is going to make someone like Clay, IMO. Most people do tend to take reviews with a grain of salt anyway.

I personally LOVE Goofy Clay. It's what makes him so adorable to me. That, and the chameleon factor that works with him. He's such an enigma, and I find that fascinating. I haven't seen the WDC from last night, but it sounds like it was fun! I have a theory about this. With all the music that's being sung for this show, I'm wondering if he stuck this in because he already learned it a year ago. If you take a look at the set list, there's many songs he's sung before (GBOF and WDC for example) or was at least familiar with from his AI days (the BeeGees stuff, ANL). My theory is that he threw in some songs he hasn't sung in a while but was familiar with because he had SO many other lyrics to learn! JMO, of course. Yay! I'm counting the days myself!

Me neither. Oh sure, I think there are some teenagers that are doing it, to try and get the attention of Clay...but I also think much of it is their parents, ALSO trying to get the attention of Clay. I'm pretty sure I've seen it happen, although I can't remember specific incidents. My friend ebird said in a post elsewhere (and sorry, I'm just going to paraphrase here) that Clay NEEDS to "get in the zone" when doing a song like Mandy or ICMYLM. If he wants to create the scene, the right mood, there's some prep work first. Our role is to prep as well...by allowing ourselves to become enraptured by Clay. IMO, that really doesn't involve screaming. Honestly this bolded part upsets me even more than inappropriate screaming. I do think the majority of Clay fans that travel to several concerts have long past their tweenies years behind and what they are doing it SOOOOO disrespectful to Clay & all the fans who don't live on the internet & see Clay's shows umpteen times. I believe most people found the jokes funny (or at least amusing) the first time we heard them. It's almost like the fans become hecklers when they yell out Clay's lines. I know his routines by heart right now because of the clack I've seen. Does this mean I'm going to yell out his lines for him? No. I may mumble them to myself, but I surely am not going to spoil the mood for the rest of the concert goers. Clay MUST do this show as if every person in a seat is seeing the show for the first time (and probably only time). The people who interject their comments are ruining the mood. Also, when they do this...they might miss a new spontaneous comment from Clay. *sharpens stilletto heels for the first concert goer I see who does this*

I'm 5'11", and I don't slouch at all. But then, if I have my camera with me and the people behind me see I'm trying to get clack...there's generally not a lot of complaints.

That's interesting to me...because 1000 Days had me hooked by the end of the song. The chorus picked me up, tied me up and threw me into a closet. As a matter of fact, I'm singing it right now (and fortunately, you can't hear me ). I really think one of the true tests is going to be when Rate the Music and PromoSquad come out with the songs. I'd love to know what the not.just.us fans are thinking about it. I seem to remember hearing stories after the last two concerts that non-fans (such as security guards) really liked 1000 Days.

I think the hook is much better for 1000 Days than JY. But I have to admit it was hard to hear, so I need to see/hear it again. BFM still rocks my world, though. Love. It.

EEEEEEEEEE...the FCA pin page makes the papers! (Scroll to the bottom to see what I mean...) Stuck on Clay

I too loved the Grease performance -- because he had the balls to try something potentially polarizing that far into the competition. Me, I laughed myself silly during it. Couldn't believe he was actually trying to dance, and found myself even more charmed by the man. Listened to the performance later, and was simplye floored by how good the vocals were. One of the little touches I've noticed in the 50's segement is that Jacob has on the nerd cardigan sweater and the glasses with the tape on the bridge. I find it incredibly funny that the guy who was the self admitted dork in high school (that's Clay, don't ya know) is now the coolest of the cool, while Jacob (whom I can see as probably being a ladies man in high school) as the nerd sidekick. couchie, I know you've never particularly cared for Jacob, and I agree that he showboats a bit too much. But -- first of all -- I think the ONLY reason that the saxophone work is "much better" during this tour is because he's playing an alto sax instead of the soprano sax. The soprano sax is a much shriller instrument as a whole, and therefore more intrusive. I personally thought that during the NAT his playing was fine, it was just the instrumentation was wrong. For this tour, with the alto, it fits better. Also, I believe that Jacob and Clay's voice are OUTSTANDING together. One of the highlights of the tour to me I think will be EOTR -- from what I've heard from the cellcerts and clips, there's some gorgeous harmonizing going on. August 18 for me. That calendar can't move fast enough.

The other possibility is that she IS still around, just in more of an advisory role...one that doesn't need her name attached to the BAF. Me too. Just let the foundation run for a while. It will do fine.

I think I'd go with Han Solo and Chewbacca myself...but then I'd like to just be bestest friends with Jerome too. Heh.

Technically, it makes you Luke Skywalker. Use the Force, Skatejoy! Thank you for the gorgeous pictures. I feel like I can't breathe, what with all the clack arriving fast and furious.

Oh buzzie and SkateJoy...those pictures are out.of.this.world. Thank you so very much for sharing your talent. Isn't it nice when a) the camera nazis aren't around; and the subject you're shooting is so very very nice looking? Thanks again! MWAH!

The way he's quoting Billboard history, especially with UM...I bet Fred Bronson had some hand in the "script." Back to EEEEEEEEEing.

Did they just interview Susan Lucci? And that Erica Kane is going to be interviewing Clay Aiken? OMG, does this mean I have to start watching All My Children now?

It's a brand of Jukebox. Big things, with neon lights all over them, characterized, if I remember correctly, by the rounded top. My cousin used to make a living refurbishing jukeboxes. Wurlitzer also made organs -- they still may, I don't know. EEEEEEEEEEE! on the tour pictures. He's so pretty.

Why can't I wipe this goofy grin off my face? Oh yeah...because Clay's been on my TV today! Love the AH clip. He's singing my mostest favoritest Earth Wind and Fire song evah! EEEEEEEEE! The clothes look like a hoot! Haven't seen the other clip yet, but I do adore kicking Clay. He's got Irish step dancing down pretty well, I'd say.

Honestly, I'm not planning on wearing ANY of the pins I've bought...except maybe the FCA one. (How's that for sucking up?) I really wasn't going to get into it, until I saw the design for the CH one and really liked it. Then, I said...no more...until I saw the design for the FCA one. Then the ClayDawgs one hit (and BTW, that sucker is HUGE!). I counted up the other night, and I think I've ordered about 25 of the designs available. However, I've ordered multiples, and will probably be trading soon. I think I'll be trading in person though...haven't decided about that yet.

What is "board flood control?" Since this board is a different format from the board I'm used to, I'm learning slowly but surely the fastest way to get around. So far, I'm doing the "View New Posts" link, clicking on the little box next to the topic to get to the latest posts in that thread, reading the posts, and then clicking the Top button to get back to the point where I can view new posts again. However, many times, when I click there, I get a message that says "the administrators have administered board flood control; please wait 20 seconds before trying again." So, what gives? Am I just too fast for my own good?

No kidding. Clay being a celebrity and all...I would guess that he's slowly but surely getting used to having his name thrown about in gossip columns (although it makes me wonder about the way he talked in the TV Guide column, and sometimes wonder if there's a connection). But Diane...she seems to me to have a generous spirit, and wants good things to come out of the BAF. Her name is on the foundation...and I think sometimes people forget that. And...that's all I'm going to say for now. I'm too pissed off at MSNBC to write coherently.

This is exactly how I feel. Of course I want it ASAP but I know the wait will be worth it. Me too! I'm very anxious to get new ORIGINAL music from Clay. But, if he's taking his time with the music, production, songwriting *waves at huskerfalcon* -- then I can just learn to live with it. My problem, not Clay's. I guess my question is -- are the rules all that different for new artists? I'm fans of several musical artists...and almost every one of them had at least a 2-3 year wait between albums. Why is this different for Clay? Is it because he's newly established in the business?