Long Island NY, Tilles Center for the Performing Arts

[Couch Tomato]

DSIAFCD..that was great! I really respect Clay..it would have been so easy to cancel this show.

[Claygasm]

It sounded like he had to have help leaving the stage after DSIAFCD and back on for AIW. He had every right to skip the encore, but here he is singing AIW.

God. I just can't believe him. He is amazing.

I just love him more tonight than ever.

ETA: From the CH:

Jamie had to help him walk off the stage after DSIAFCD and then back on, holding his arm.

Edited December 15, 2006 by Claygasm

[bottlecap]

Jamie came and held Clay's arm to walk him off after DSIAFCD, and then back on for AIW.

My eyes are leaking. Sniff.

[Claygasm]

And he still nailed THE note - BIG TIME!!!

Unbelievable!

[atinal]

I love this guy!!!

[Ansamcw]

WOW that is just the best AIW...that last note was not just strong...but vibrato was so strong...

HE is incredible...

he its KAndre!!!!

[Claygasm]

I can't believe it but even I am crying a little.

I don't cry.

I can't believe him.

[bottlecap]

He could hardly get off the stool, and he really had to hold on to Jamie to leave the stage. The man is superhuman.

[Ansamcw]

He was singing great but the power was not there...

he had his leg around the mic stand and just holding on the stand...

he told scarlette to take her hat off...she was wearing a white berret

and he was talkgin to the person with the binoculars another eHP I think

OMG Kandre is jsut talking so fast.

[Ansamcw]

HEe peopel asked KAndre to slow down and now she is exxagerrating her slowness BWAH....

Clay said that Matt had the misfortune to get born looking like him...and he goes to concerts getting noticed...

he soudned good but not as much power...

Clay was wobbling

he had to be helped out for the encore and had to wait for someone to help him out...

he had a very bad new york accent...and soemoen was mocking his accent.

dark grey suit and dark purple shirt...and he wasn't wearing a tie...

OMG...

I cannot tpe as fast as she is talking

I wish you all can hear her...she is jsut as funny and entertaining as Clay.

his manager is there so they need to cheer extra loud so they gave him a standing O...

Glasses clean

flashes...there were some

at the very end there was a lot of flashing and they gave them huge stnading ovation

so Clay tricked them during SR...he told them that he cannot do the giddyup so when he points to the audience they shoudl giddyup...so he points at them at the wrong verse and they giddyop even if its wrong...

and he was laughing and said now they cannot tease him about not knwoing the words cos the audiecne doe snto know it either.

during the word of the day someone said they had a list of Italian music words...and clay said its now english..he said he will look for hungarian , pig latin words...then when the horn section demosntrated it it sounded like a fart and Clay said excuse me...then the frenchhorn did a deeper fart soudn and he said that was Jesse.

A little girl had a doll and was determined to give to him...and demonstrated how the doll worked and wanted Clay to squeeze the foot cos it says I love you...

Oh its Merrieeee with the binuculars...I love her English accent

When he came in he came in very straight and walking very carefully...

and when he sat on the stool that wasn't normal...and he said he had vertigo...

he couldn;t move around so its concentrated on the music...

but there were times when he had to clench and hold on to the stool

he said he should be OK tomorrow...

he was in tremendous voice...

HEE it is incredibel that I can follow Merrieee's words easier than KAndre....

KAndre said so much more that I missed...

I wish you could all hear her...it was soo fun!!!!

From CH:

Clay sent Matt (the doppleganger) front row tickets because tonight is his BD

[ldyjocelyn]

Dang...I'm sorry I missed the cellcert on this one. I'm floored by him performing with freakin' vertigo! And, as someone said, he didn't have to do the encore at all...and yet he did. I'm speechless with love for him.

And yet...at the same time...I don't want him to hurt himself. Reading this now...I'm worried. And I don't worry about Clay! I hope he doesn't push himself so much that he ends up doing something REALLY bad to himself.

[Ansamcw]

Well from what I remember ...Vertigo is not necesarily brought on by anything serious.

here is a post by psychobunny from the CH about it...

Drive-by post: FWIW, we don't usually know what causes vertigo. It acts like a virus, so we usually treat it as one. It is caused by inflammation in the inner ear, which has little fluid-filled tubes that act like a carpenter's level. When there is inflammation, the sensors are off so you have trouble knowing if you are straight or tilted. It's like being seasick or drunk. Symptoms can range from being unable to move your eyes without vomiting to occasional dizziness with quick movements. The course can vary but is usually bad for a day or two then lessens although it can recur episodically for up to 6 weeks. There are several medications that help the symptoms but they usually make you quite drowsy. The best treatment is rest.

[Claygasm]

A friend of mine has a husband who gets vertigo a lot and in his case its brought on by allergies. This is likely the case with Clay's history of allergies. Its really not that uncommon. It can also be caused by an inner ear infection and a variety of common ailments which affect the inner ear. It can also be caused by Meniere's Disease. This is far more serious and the attacks of vertigo are very frequent. I would doubt that is what is wrong with Clay.

The above brought to you by my MA in speech pathology and audiology from a lifetime ago.

Whatever the cause, it just amazes me he was able to sing.

Just got off the phone with Muski. She and mini-muski had dinner with KAndre and friends. What a way to break mini-muski into the Clay world!

Let's see if I can remember some of what else she said. It was obvious he was sick. He was always holding onto someting - the stool, the mic stand, with one or both hands. When he was singing from time to time it was obvious watching him that he was getting dizzy, yet his voice was strong. At the end of DSIAFCD he sat on the stool waiting for Jamie. When the lights came up she really wondered if he would be back for AIW. He looked that shakey leaving the stage. She really wondered if he could hit the notes - but as we heard on the cellcert, he did. She said as he was sitting on the stool right before starting AIW he looked back at Jesse and he looked like he was going to be sick. When he was leaving after AIW he seemed to almost stumble and Jamie had to sort of catch him.

But he looked beautiful. Stubble, open shirt, silver necklaces and she saw chest hair! But he seemed so sick at times, she felt guilty watching the pakcage. As she said, he had titanium balls and they were in full view tonight - albeit well contained. Obviously she didn't let her guilt stop her from observing.

There's more, and I am sure she will post all about it when she gets a chance.

He was amazing once again shining in the face of adversity. I hope there is lots of good clack of this!

[KAndre]

Lot's of good clack, and whaddya mean I talk too fast?

[Couch Tomato]

heee..thank you CG for the muski report...whooo whooo KAndre. Can't wait for your reports.

[ldyjocelyn]

Thank you KAndre and muski for the reports...

{{{{{{{{{{{Clay}}}}}}}}}}}}

Cute picture from last night:

Great recap from PermaSwooned at the CH:

PermaSwooned wrote:

ncgurrl just posted for me, but restored by Stouffer's lasagne and diet Stewart's root beer, I'll try to post a little bit. Hey, it's only 11:30 in Los Angeles.

First of all, I take back everything I said about the eHP planning a party AFTER the deadline for the Tilles Center pre-party payment, and adding insult to injury, planned it at a seafood restaurant, since both Clay and nicegurrrrl are allergic.

I can have this magnanimous change of heart, because they had a BAF raffle for 2 front row seats at the Tilles party, and nicegurrrrl won the tickets. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! Y'all may be aware that I have been to a concert or three, but I have never, ever, ever before been in the first row. It was amazing.

Plus, most everyone we encountered had better seats than we did in the 7th row, so I tried an old favorite. I went up to the top of the balcony, to the 2nd to last row, and found a mom and her daughter (somewhere between 8 & 10 we think). I told them how I came to have new seats, and invited them to take mine. They followed me all the way down to the front orchestra, and nearly fell apart when they saw where the seats were. At the end of the show they came up to hug nicegurrrrl and I. The mom, Jennifer, had tears in her eyes as she thanked us, and Abigail was so excited. She loved Clay and had never been able to see him before. She said it was the very best night of her whole life. That would have been enough to make my night.

19 years ago, my whole family stayed in a cabin where we were bit by ticks. We all got relapsing tick fever. Each of us got a nasty residual from it. Mine was catastrophic vestibular failure. Clay probably has labyrinthitis, which is generally short-lived, thank heavens, but mine was more severe, and it took months for my brain to pick up the slack. I still have problems if I'm in a crowd, in the dark, walking on an uneven surface, or if my sinuses act up.

Tonight I watched Clay seemingly "saunter" out to the mike, arriving a bit late for the first few words of CW and then sit squarely on the stool. After a few moments, I watched him grab for the side of the stool and hang on, and I said to myself OMG, he's got vertigo. Wow. What a moment of deja vu. I used to sing in a huge choral group, and I had to get permission to sit on a stool for the concerts, but it had to have a back and arms. It wasn't enough to just have a seat. Otherwise, I was going to fall off the risers, and I usually had to hold on to the person next to me with one hand from time to time.

Here's a little medical aside (hey...medicine is my life!). We know our position in space because our brain integrates signals from our inner ears, what we are seeing, and where our body is touching something solid. Because Clay was on a stool with no back, and because he closes his eyes so much when he sings, and has a spotlight in his eyes when they're open, he was truly working without a net tonight.

If you haven't had vertigo yourself, it is impossible to describe what it is like. Can you just imagine how hard it was for Mr. Control Freak to discover that no matter how hard he concentrated, or how strongly he willed it, he absolutely could not walk in a straight line, or stand without being in danger of falling? There are no words to describe it.

Just so you know, in general, it is not a painful condition. Except of course for the falling, staggering, frequently extremely nauseous thing. That's not fun.

There is no way for me to describe to you all the unbelievable amount of awe, admiration and respect I have tonight for that stubborn, gallant, big-hearted, professional, beautiful man. From my wonderful front row seats, I watched him hang on to that stool with one hand, the other hand, two hands, grip the microphone like death, and try to keep from turning very much in order to keep his precarious seat. That has been me, and I cannot possibly tell you how hard it was for him to do that.

The tremendous effort wore him out, but you couldn't see it until he tried to walk offstage, and then return for the encore. He was so pale, and he looked like he was fighting really losing it and getting sick as the song drew to a close. Several deep breaths and then he had to gesture for Jamie to come and get him. He couldn't let go of the stool.

Tears were standing in my eyes, as I watched that gorgeous, determined man as he attempted to navigate a stage that must have suddenly seemed to him like the deck of a ship in a storm (more deja vu). Wow. This whole evening was delivered from the gut level. No words.

So, did his "medical affliction" (tm Clay) mean that the audience got short-changed tonight?

No. Oh no. No, Mr. Titanium was chattier than ever. He was funny and witty and quick...as much so or more than any other concert night. He sang beautiful versions of every song. Very tender, nuanced, yet with power and glory when called for. He didn't prowl the stage. And he didn't lean out over the audience to chat. Otherwise, it was a spectacular show. If you hadn't seen him before, you wouldn't know the difference. And he explained the problem in a humourous way throughout the night for those who had seen the show before and DID know the difference.

I am so honored to be a fan of this man. I feel so honored to have been one of the fans there for him tonight. Mr. Webcat is right. The lady next to me and I were chanting our prayers for him out loud as he struggled to finish that last song. On any audio version, no one would ever know what it cost him to perform it. Sheer determination and a will of iron. Unbelievable.

I took approximately a kabillion pictures tonight. Clay was really gorgeous, dizzy or not. However, I don't have any of Clay being helped on or off the stage. He was not happy to have had to ask for that help.

Plus, I was too busy applauding and yelling out "Thank You Clay!!!" Thank you for that magnificent effort. Thank you for a beautiful evening in every way.

BTW, I talked to Jesse Vargas after the concert. I told him that I worked in the medical field, and that I had had the exact same problem as Clay in the past, including being on stage.

I told him that Clay's problem got worse as the concert progressed, partially because he keeps closing his eyes. It's difficult not to try to minimize the spinning, but it makes it worse. I told him it would help Clay a great deal if they could give him a focal point. Keeping that focus diminishes the spinning. I told him a stool with a back, and if possible arms, would help as well.

At that point (gathering music onstage) Jesse said Clay was getting treatment right away. That he didn't see how Clay was going to be able to do that (Tilles) show, but that Clay felt sure he could pull it off. However, Jesse wasn't sure how he could do that again, since Clay was obviously in trouble at the end.

However, it seems that by the time the bus crowd heard from him, the word was that Clay was getting treatment, and that it couldn't be any worse tomorrow night, and would most likely be better.

If that's the case, then I'll probably be able to see that amazing, professional, gutsy entertainer again in West Point. If not, we'll plan other activities and hope to see him Saturday at Red Bank. He already gave us more than 200% tonight. If he doesn't have enough left for tomorrow, we'll more than understand.

OK....now it's 12:30 even in California.

Night all.

[marsha]

I can't really hear what Clay's saying, but the certer is filling us in from time to time. She said he's rearranging some of the audience members because a family wasn't sitting all together. I think he's going on and on about the upgrading and whatnot.

Do you follow Clay along on his tour and go to all his concerts?

[Ansamcw]

I can't really hear what Clay's saying, but the certer is filling us in from time to time. She said he's rearranging some of the audience members because a family wasn't sitting all together. I think he's going on and on about the upgrading and whatnot.

Do you follow Clay along on his tour and go to all his concerts?

Are you familiar with cellcerts? In every concert there will be people letting friends listen through cell phone and people report it on the boards. So yeah its like I do attend each concert as many as I can follow on the boards. But personally I ahve only been to one Clay concert...sniff...JBT in Toronto.

[Ansamcw]

YAY the long awaited KAndre recap!!!

ACTUAL LONG ISLAND CONCERT CONTENT! Amazing, isn’t it?

OK, so the eHP managed to get four seats together fourth row center – Solo (low key as she takes her job as cellcerter seriously – I try and try to get her to slow down her speech but man, she’s hard-headed), Scarlett (who upped the cuteness level off the charts with the whole Parisienne ingénue thing going on – the beret at a jaunty angle, a scarf whipped ‘round her neck though sans camera), moi (nicely understated as always) and merrieeee (KAndre consults her notes – it really is vitally important to have binoculars on the fourth row – it’s for Clay’s own good – it helps keep his fans happy and he wants happy fans, right?), and PerusingOne (who said she was gonna wear her bucket hat – but didn’t. Wimp!). We see the Clay Doppelgänger from the NAT on the front row. He looks a tad dated and way too tan, but seems to be popular. The house lights go down, the lead violinist makes a flourish and the conductor strides in. It seemed to me to be a fairly competent group – the first half they did play it very safe – a lot of very traditional arrangements, tending toward the youthful end of the Christmas spectrum. PerusingOne was of the opinion that the placement of the basses was a little unfortunate and thought the brass section was a little weak, and complained that the first violinist wasn’t as good as Midori (not at all picky, was she?). Though, really, he wasn’t as good as Midori. He wasn’t bad at all though. They picked up a little in the second half, including a little Strauss that wasn’t at all Christmassy. The house lights went up. They got enthusiastic applause. We knew we had fifteen minutes to go.

The announcers asked us to help welcome that multi-platinum recording artist, Clay Aiken. The noise that erupted was unreal. And Clay comes in from stage right. But he’s not bouncing in, in that Tiggerish way I’m accustomed to. He is moving very deliberately, and the old hands are immediately alert. He lowers himself on the stool set up beside the piano as the music starts for Christmas Waltz – the mic stand is set at the correct height for this – and he starts. He sounds really good, but his voice is almost overwhelmed by the instruments. I thought he was miked wrong or something. He’s not demonstrating his normal power, but does sound very nuanced. We cheer as he finishes. And he starts talking to us. He explains that he’s had some sort of ear infection that makes him dizzy – we go “ahhhhhhhhhh” – he says stop that, it’s not like he’s deathly ill and don’t send him get well cards either, it’ll weigh the bus down. He says he’s not gonna get up because he would fall into the front rows and they’re scary. And that we would have something to replace that bad note on YouTube. And he said, “It really was bad, wasn’t it”. I nodded. And he’s right. He was on FIRE for the banter – compensating like hell for not being able to move around. Clay Aiken is one determined, funny SOB. To me, he was carefully rationing his strength – but was going to use it ALL, come hell or high water. And he was gonna use his strength to mess with his fans. He was admiring all the dressing up we did, and commented on those with Santa hats on. If you recall earlier, Scarlett did not have a Santa hat on, but she instinctly snatched that beret off. Quick too! But not quick enough, since her butt was right in front of immobile Clay. In many ways, he’s like a cat – attracted to quick movement and wants to mess with those who are trying to avoid being messed with (get that in your head, you attention whores! You gotta act like you don’t want him to talk to you! Siddown and shuddup!). He tells Scarlett, “Oh, don’t be ashamed now, you wore that hat in here! Stop hiding! (because by this point Scarlett was attempted to crawl inside the freaking beret). He asks her name. I swear on my favorite rhinestone necklace, the heifer WHISPERS Lenette. I’m sitting next to her and the only way I know what she said is because I can sort of read lips and I already know what her name is. He asks again. She freakin’ whispers again, and is beginning to giggle nervously. He asks yet again. At this point, the entire front row screams “LENETTE”. He asks how did we all know her name. I volunteer “Houston” because it seemed to make sense at the time, and it did to him, because he did the AHA, Message Boards! He said it’s gonna be all about how he’s sitting on a stool, and not wearing a tie, blah, blah, blah, and smirked at us. He sang some more, swaying on that damn stool. I remember thinking to myself, dude, you need a chair with a back – trade with the not-Midori dude. But he literally white-knuckled his way through it, and I mean literally. At one point, he was desperately gripping the stool with his left hand, had his legs and right hand wrapped around the mic stand, and I kept watching him jerk himself back to vertical. All while singing beautiful. It was just heart-wrenching. But dang if he didn’t sound good. And was simple hilarious. I don’t know, it was like the edge of fear that he would collapse just intensified how closely I paid attention to him. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world, but don’t want to do that again. He looked for men that were dragged to the show. He found one that was brought by his mother (who apparently brought everyone unto the third generation) and took the mother’s comments about her two DILs and congratulation the dude (apparently on his polygamy), and discovered the complicated ritual of “upgrading” – Man, that was funny. Because he asked the mom why wasn’t the son sitting next to her in the back center orchestra. And she said they couldn’t get seats together. And Clay noted that the seats next to her were empty and said somebody was lying to someone. He asked who had those seats. Some women waved from the middle right orchestra. He asked why they were there. They said they upgraded. He asked well, who had those seats originally. Some woman waved from the third row. He did a double take. He asked how she got those tickets. She said she upgraded. He said “How? From who?” She didn’t know. He asked her again. She said something he couldn’t hear and he said, “What? God upgraded your tickets?” We were rolling by this time. He made a Kevin Bacon reference. He mocked the Ripacrite. He messed with Jesse. He talked about the Pink Ladies. He had the worst New York accent I had ever heard, bar none. He wished people a Happy Hanukkah and that he wouldn’t be doing the Dreidel Song. He noted that merrieeee had binoculares. In the fourth row. However, he did not realize he was dealing with the other end of the eHP and so when he asked merrieeee, who is fairly irrepressible, what she was looking at, she responsed, "Why, your gorgeous green eyes". Which totally threw him. HA! With his word of the day, it was like he just could not resist a fresh joke. Which he had to explain to the rest of us. Once he did, it was funny.

Honestly, it seems during most of the concert, he was putting his all into the banter. The singing was great, as always, but he was pushing himself for the banter. And then Don’t Save It All. Oh man, the different in the power of his voice – he was like a marathon runner, who’s second wind had kicked in. His voice really rang out for the first time that evening – and I didn’t think he would, but when he dropped the mic away from his mouth – you KNEW you were seeing Clay for who he was. A strong, strong man who’s innermost being is music. Honest to God, it is. And when he came back out for that damn encore, leaning on Jessie, my eyes were wet. I was wrong when I thought he had given it all for DSIAFCD – he dug deep within himself – he was not going to be satisfied with just crossing the finish line – he RAN. On nothing but heart, he RAN. And gave me a memory to hold in my heart. I really am grateful I got to see this.