#13 The Aiken Experience. There's nothing else like it.

[muskifest]

OMG...laughn! That was.....

Incredible! Hey, mods! Can we have her whole post, along with the pictures, for a thread title, please?

Wow. YOu're so right. I don't think what you're suggesting is far fetched at all. He's made it very clear that there are people who call him Clayton and those who 'should' call him Clay...he's made the distinction himself in interviews. Everything you say makes sense to me...

Something I would like to add to this seeming dichotomy of the man....the elemental truth that pervades these personas of his....

How many 'celebrities' can you think of who can survive savage scrutiny of 'both' of their 'lives' the way Clay can? How many people whose every word or deed---or alleged word or deed---gets splattered on tabloids and webpages merely because they can sing or dance or act or tell a joke, could withstand their personal habits, deeds, actions and wishes to be dissected and still emerge as THE SAME PERSON.

Honestly, we have a real winner, friends. A unique object of both our desire and admiration.

He CMSU and makes me schmoopie.

[ldyjocelyn]

laughn...

And as much as I would LOVE to suggest her whole post as a thread title, I think this one makes a damn good suggestion....

He CMSU and makes me schmoopie.

*off to nominate*

[Couch Tomato]

Great post laughn.

Excuse me while I have a soap moment. I don't watch All My Children anymore but I was always taken by the fabulous acting of David Canary. He plays Adam/Stuart Chandler. Adam was a ruthless billionaire. Stuart was his sweet, slightly mentally impaired twin. Now, playing these two characters to perfection makes him brilliant enough but Adam pretending to be Stuart and Stuart pretending to be Adam actually make it 4 very distinct characters. I could always tell who was who just by the acting choices.

The point? We may actually have 4 Clays - one for me, one for muski, one for and I'll stop now before I get in trouble. LOL.

Honestly, we have a real winner, friends. A unique object of both our desire and admiration.

thread title?

[JennaZ]

Loved the recap, Couchie!

Muski wrote:

We woke up to the joy of lights and the internet again....but it was sorta "cool" while it lasted.

I kinda know what you mean. When the electricity goes out, it's rather annoying. No internet. No TV. It's eerily quiet. But, it well, it's sort of fun, too. Lighting candles. Finding games to play. Interacting. When the power went off on my block a few months ago, people left their apartments, went outside, and strangely enough, started TALKING to each other! Neighbors who rarely said more than "hello" to each other began chatting. "I'm pissed that I'm missing 24." "Me too!" "Looks like they have power on the next block." "I wonder what the problem is." "BTW, I'm...." People said more to each other in the two hours the power was off than they had in the years they'd lived near each other.

Not that I have anything against electricity. (What would I do without FCA!) But sometimes, a brief brownout's not the worst thing in the world.

To me it looks like Clay is making a clear separation between who he is professionally with the private guy. I don’t know if it’s planned or just accidental...

Nice photo display! I do think he makes less of an "effort" when he's on his down time. Interestingly enough, though, that more natural look can actually seem more attractive than his (I assume) professionally styled coifs.

He's made it very clear that there are people who call him Clayton and those who 'should' call him Clay...he's made the distinction himself in interviews. Everything you say makes sense to me...

Something I would like to add to this seeming dichotomy of the man....the elemental truth that pervades these personas of his....

How many 'celebrities' can you think of who can survive savage scrutiny of 'both' of their 'lives' the way Clay can? How many people whose every word or deed---or alleged word or deed---gets splattered on tabloids and webpages merely because they can sing or dance or act or tell a joke, could withstand their personal habits, deeds, actions and wishes to be dissected and still emerge as THE SAME PERSON.

True. He's talked about never getting to be "off." When anything you do in public (on a flight, in a restaurant, on a NY street) gets media coverage, you have to feel a little less free. To retain your sanity, I think you'd need a trustworthy and grounded circle of friends (which he does seem to have).

Anyway, best of luck to all those trying to travel today. Have fun for the rest of us!

[Ansamcw]

I'M back!!!

what time is the concert????

I am kinda rusty but I made the Cary thread ....Cary thread here!!!

[Claygasm]

laughn - GREAT post! And with yummy pictures too!!

I have often thought what helps keep Clay sane is he has been able to make a clear line between singer and hot guy extraordiare and Clayton Aiken, the slightly dorky guy in the glasses. I think that is one reason he employs so many close friends from his pre-Clay Aiken days, and keeps a very small, close circle of friends he has met since - those who can see the real him. Take Kelly and Ruben for example. Since they met him during the transformation and since they went through the same thing themselves, they can see the CHA in the CA.

I think he likes to be constantly reminded of who he is - who is really is. That's what keeps him grounded.

Couchie - your recap is going great!! Definitely no need for me to write one!

Muski wrote:

We woke up to the joy of lights and the internet again....but it was sorta "cool" while it lasted.

I kinda know what you mean. When the electricity goes out, it's rather annoying. No internet. No TV. It's eerily quiet. But, it well, it's sort of fun, too. Lighting candles. Finding games to play. Interacting. When the power went off on my block a few months ago, people left their apartments, went outside, and strangely enough, started TALKING to each other! Neighbors who rarely said more than "hello" to each other began chatting. "I'm pissed that I'm missing 24." "Me too!" "Looks like they have power on the next block." "I wonder what the problem is." "BTW, I'm...." People said more to each other in the two hours the power was off than they had in the years they'd lived near each other.

Not that I have anything against electricity. (What would I do without FCA!) But sometimes, a brief brownout's not the worst thing in the world.

Yeah, its fun - except I bet you have water when you lose your power!! Out here in the country we have wells and when the power goes out, we have no water! The fun doesn't last very long when you don't have water!

To me it looks like Clay is making a clear separation between who he is professionally with the private guy. I don’t know if it’s planned or just accidental...

Nice photo display! I do think he makes less of an "effort" when he's on his down time. Interestingly enough, though, that more natural look can actually seem more attractive than his (I assume) professionally styled coifs.

Yeah, like this picture, which for some reason I still find unbelievably hot!

To retain your sanity, I think you'd need a trustworthy and grounded circle of friends (which he does seem to have).

OMG, Jenna! You used almost exactly the same words I did above! That's almost as freaky as ordering the same drinks and food! <insert Twilight Zone music here>

On preview I see Ansa is back!!! YAY!!!! We missed you! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

[Ansamcw]

Hey CG!!!! sending positive thoughts for your dad.

I am still pretty dizzy...

I had my most stressful time in Montreal...I only had an hour and 40 minutes to make my connection. Usually that would be more than enough time...but all kinds of things happened so I was reliving our Close call getting to the San Diego Flight. First of all...the plane was delayed by 20 minutes. Then...we had to go through customs and I discover that my papers that show I am a permanent resident is no longer valid. They kept asking me for a permanent residence card! OMG!!! I was having nightmares of not being allowed to go back to my family of getting deported...so I had to talk to the immigration officer. Thankfully...she probably felt my desperation to get back to my family and she let me go but not before giving me a fright. I guess my customs card was tagged cos they were leading me to this room where the luggages were opened. NOOOOO!!!! I didn;t have a watch so I was dying as I waited to have my turn to get searched...thankfully the customs woman was very helpful...she did it as fast as possible....So I put my luggages back to the conveyor belt and I find out my gate was in the other end of the airport...so I run...and thankfully the security line here was almost nonexistent cos this area is for small planes going to remote areas of the country...here the security officers tell me its just 8:30...I relax thinking my flight was at 9:20....I hurry to my gate anyway...and I get to the corridor of my gate I hear my name being paiged...last call for my flight!!!! so I run again and shouting...I;m here!!!! hee...anyway..I made it...last person to board...and as soon as I sit down my heart was pounding and I feel a humongous headache coming on. So the flight of an hour and a half was uneventful...Since I was arriving at 11:40 at night I didn't expect my girls to be meeting me...but I was wrong...as I enter the small airport...they were all there waiting for me...what a beautiful sight. My cait got my face in her hands and looked at me for a long time and said...MAMA...and hugged me so tight. We had another 2 hours drive home after that...all the time Cait would get up from her seat and giving me hugs...Sigh!!!

Anyway...today was all about getting unpacked...getting the girls to tidy up their rooms and just resting.

So now...I;m ready to listen to another concert...YAY!!!!

see y'all at the Cary thread...will do my recaps tomorrow.

I haven;t even read couchies recap...

[Claygasm]

Ok, this is weird. I somehow got signed out of FCA while the window was just sitting open on my screen!

You guys trying to give me a hint????

[ldyjocelyn]

[/jk]

:F_05BL17blowkiss: CG!

[Couch Tomato]

Ok, this is weird. I somehow got signed out of FCA while the window was just sitting open on my screen!

You guys trying to give me a hint????

bwah..Ok I'm starting to think YOU have ghosts at your house and they are fu messing with you. heee.

[ldyjocelyn]

The Community Theater at Mayo Center for the Performing Arts

Presale through the fanclub is Tuesday, August 14, 9:00 a.m. EDT.

Tickets on sale to members/subscribers is Monday, August 13; general sales are August 15.

Also, according to the fan club email that alerted this to me, the tour will be "Christmas in the Heartland."

Heh. I'm not sure I'd call NJ "heartland."

[Claygasm]

The Community Theater at Mayo Center for the Performing Arts

Presale through the fanclub is Tuesday, August 14, 9:00 a.m. EDT.

Tickets on sale to members/subscribers is Monday, August 13; general sales are August 15.

Also, according to the fan club email that alerted this to me, the tour will be "Christmas in the Heartland."

Heh. I'm not sure I'd call NJ "heartland."

Another one in NJ??? Is he doing the whole Christmas tour from NJ???

[bottlecap]

Another one in NJ??? Is he doing the whole Christmas tour from NJ???

I hope not... He's gotta do a show in Ohio between Michigan and Pennsylvania.

[Claygasm]

Another one in NJ??? Is he doing the whole Christmas tour from NJ???

I hope not... He's gotta do a show in Ohio between Michigan and Pennsylvania.

I'm still waiting for one I can go to! NJ is close - but not when its a weekday! Too far to drive after work.

I need a weekend show or two that's not too expensive to fly to. Or even one on a Saturday following a Friday show where it might make it worth my while to take an unpaid day off work.

I'll just try and be patient......

[ldyjocelyn]

GASP!

CG changed her avatar to...GLASSES!CLAY!!!

I'm shocked, I tell you , shocked!

Heh.

I truly hope he does a St. Louis show this year for Christmas. Of course, if he did Peoria, I'd be through the roof!

[Claygasm]

GASP!

CG changed her avatar to...GLASSES!CLAY!!!

I'm shocked, I tell you , shocked!

Heh.

I truly hope he does a St. Louis show this year for Christmas. Of course, if he did Peoria, I'd be through the roof!

I'm telling you - there is something about that picture!!!!

Forgive me if this link has been posted before but my memory ain't what it used to be......

LOTS OF PRETTY PICTURES HERE!

[bottlecap]

Cary pics from PinkCocoa:

[bottlecap]

More -

CLAY

[bottlecap]

Yeah, I'm the only one up before 7:00am on a Saturday morning, so I'll postho some more. (Maybe I can have a whole page all to mahself. HA!)

toni7babe's ImCool snippet -

And toni7babe's YeahSexyBack clip? Love Jesse's little smirk towards the end. Yeah, Jesse, I think your boss is extremely silly at times too.

[bottlecap]

[ldyjocelyn]

Heh. I'm up too...although I'm leaving for the weekend, and won't be back until tomorrow night.

I sooooooooooo wish I could have been there last night.

And if you want a glimpse of love from last night, check out jojoct's BYLM. First of all, she captures the glowsticks, which really are cool. But, check out 3:15 -3:25, "you've been my inspiration, through the lies you were the truth." He's holding Quiana's hand.

I'm a blubbering mess.

Clay, you are one special man.

[luckiest1]

This is gonna be brief....I am in the lobby of our hotel in Cary and we will be hitting the road to Asheville soon. This stoopid computer will let me view a few pages and then it throws up a Net Nanny warning about adult content and kicks me out. Hope it will let me post this!

Right Here Waiting - now instead of the second half. I'll bet lickiest1 is v. v. happy.

Hee, you bet right! I was freaking out! It was so awesome! I cried.

You are so right... CG ... and we have givent hat man too much ink already.

Yep, and some people in my row were giving him too much breath, too. I wish they would have kept that info to themselves, I didn't need to know.

But.....

It gives JP waaaay too much power. If Clay walked the line it would show he was NOT intimidated by that scum. JP cannot hurt Clay physically - especially with Jerome around.

Why give him that kind of power???

I mean, I get it, but I personally think its the wrong decision. Clay and company are letting that asshole dictate what they do - and in Clay's hometown! No one should have that kind of power over Clay.

Especially not that scumbag!

First off, I think this is all speculation. Jerome walked the line and just said that Clay would not be coming out for security reasons. The police officers that walked the line said he was spending time with his family so would not be coming out. Who knows what the reasons were, and honestly, they are really no one's business. We don't know everything that goes on. I am just v.v. happy that Jerome is so great at communication with the fans, and apparently Mary also blogged it? That was cool, too. Hee, no one would move, though, until Jerome came out and made it official.

I loved the concert last night. We had bought neckerchiefs from the BAF lemonade stand, and after you soak them in water, they cool you off. They were a life saver. I was sitting beside Jasmine63 and QueenP from the CH and they were lots of fun - QueenP kept misting us with her water spray fan thingy, which was also a life saver. I can't imagine how hot Clay must have been (but of course, I can imagine how HAWT he was, hee). I was in row M and because I am so short I had difficulty seeing more than just waist up or sometimes even shoulders up on Clay, so I am looking forward to the clack. I read in our Cary thread that he held Quiana's hand during part of BYLM, and that just makes me all schmoopy. The glow sticks were the bomb! I passed a few out, but there were people with bags of them giving them out. To all those people, :F_05BL17blowkiss: . Clay appreciated them, IMO.

Real recap is gonna have to wait this time. Not even sure what I'd write. It was a very special night, the banter was off the chain . He was in his element. It is always so special for me to be in NC.

Oh! I forgot to say how thrilled I was that he added ATD back into the set list! I was with my bestest buddies NCDonna and mandmlady, and the last time I was able to attend a concert with them was the Cary JBT. That was the night he debuted ATD, and we swooned big time over it. I was kind of upset that they wouldn't get to hear it live this time around (since this was their only concert) so when he started singing it, it was SO special for them and for us. Plus, he knocked it out of the park! I think the best live version I've heard on this tour.

OK off to find some brekkie. Then I will be trekking over to Asheville with crimsonice, disneykid, and another CHer, my old buddie sassafras. We will be meeting up with cindilu2 there and then travel on to Knoxville.

Hee, I almost forgot to mention that I was able to meet some FCAers yesterday at Lucky32 - playbiller and FearofH20 - and then last night ran into a bunch more at the venue - Scarlett, KAndre, and another lady whose name I didn't get. Hoping to see more of them in Asheville!

Yes, Scarlett got some clack.

Edited August 14, 2007 by lickiest1

[jmh123]

Waves at lickiest!! My brain doesn't work this early, and I've got to go get ready. I was oblivious to the drama til I got home and read the boards--someone introduced the topic and I hit the ignore button and promptly forgot. The concert was amazing--major Aiken fog took over. Was feeling bad for lickiest that he didn't sing RHW--haha--and ran into her after the concert where she said DUH, he did, where were you? Heh. ATD was hawt--I'm glad he did it again. We had a lovely pre-concert gathering and lots of funny--I was even social enough to go around and talk to some folks. Yay me. Besides lickiest, NCDonna and mandmlady I also got to see Divayenta, playbiller, and FearofH2O from FCA, as well as some CHers. Gotta go get ready. Later!!! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

ETA: My ride is going to be late, so I have a little more time. I'm burning more CDs for the road. The ignore button above is metaphorical--in other words, I didn't know while I was there because I didn't want to know--I didn't want to made the concert about that, and I can tell you it was blissfully wonderful and one could easily experience the whole thing without a clue as to the subtext. Only strange part was the "how dare you be happy" look that I got on the way out, which I now understand. Frankly, I prefer my approach, 100%.

The banter was hilarious, as always. I think the classics was the best I've seen--live or on clack. He really did become "cool." He played everything but SexyBack pretty straight once Angela had taught him to dance during "Bills," and the later numbers were amazing. The "I'm cool" walk was across the full stage, and fantastic to see as he was headed our way.

I saw Cindilu at the venue--*waves*--and crimsonice and DisneyKid. Sat with lyndolphin from CH, who was excellent company. Went off smoking with Brandilyne, goatlady, and crew. (Apologies for forgetting sns.) Goatlady was a few seats down from me at the venue too.

It was hot, but honestly, not that bad considering. It seems like the temperature went up 10 degrees as soon as the concert was over. Clay is cool, y'all.

Hope someone got a picture of that cello Clay was admiring. The spotlight guys weren't doing so well. They couldn't manage to light Clay on our side of the stage at all. Quiana got two spots. Heh.

Edited August 11, 2007 by jmh123

[playbiller]

I,m sorry, was there someone else at the concert last night besides me? Doesn't matter, Clay was singing to me all night.

Met many at the dinner and show - Waves to luckiest 1 & group, NCDonna, JMH, MandMlady, Savage Girl, Karma, Tiffany, Salamander, Quotg, etc. several people, who I rudely can't remember thier names. And then to meet someone who's name I didn't remember, but we remembered trading pins 2 years before waiting on the Cary line - How great is that!

Noe: Cracked up reading Fear's recap. AHEM, SOME OF THE THINGS SHE REPORTED CAME FROM ---> ME

Like she did not see the sprung because of the heads in front of her, but my comment became part of her experience, what can I say. We share. So I guess I am off the hook for recapping!

Edited August 12, 2007 by playbiller

[Couch Tomato]

Have a great time tonight all you concert goers.

I'm cracking up watching the banter before the classics medley. I cracked up last inght when Angela said his being cool "wasn't going to happen overnight" but somehow missed after Clay saying he was going to have the help of Angela, Quiana and Jesse..one of the girls said "It takes a village." HILARIOUS.

I'm so proud of Angela and Quiana for joining in on the fun instead of just being the brunt of the jokes. They toss out some great nuggets now and then and have really added lots to this concert series.

Thanks for the recap Fear!!

ETA: Play you are so right..doesn't matter. I just hope and pray that when the inevitable "review" comes out from said nobody, we treat it and him like the irrelevant thing he is.