#59: Forget life -- It's CLAY time!

[ausdon]

Ruben's Everything I Do may have been the highlight of the night for me vocally. And every time I hear Bring It on Home to Me, I love it more - the call and response parts just slay me dead.

And that other guy was no slouch either, but you guys probably know that already.

I've been to the Windsor casino several times for different things, and I'd say the average customer is of retirement age or older, so I don't think it would be surprising that the audience would skew somewhat older than a venue elsewhere. And I've seen the crowd thing at the foot of the stage before when we were there for Seal. (I wouldn't call it a mosh pit, exactly, because it's, you know, us and not some hyped-up teenagers. LOL!) We were in the second row, and I saw one of the venue security guys actually encourage the women in the front row to go up by the foot of the stage, so I think it's kind of a venue thing. Also, I can understand Ruben being willing to go to the edge of the stage and touch hands when Clay wouldn't. For one, I didn't see Jerome around (although I had a limited view so he certainly could have been there). And two, I could understand Clay worrying a bit abut being pulled down into the crowd, while I don't think anyone would particularly want to try to crowd surf Ruben.

You are a funny woman.

(Though don't underestimate the moshing power of hyped-up clayaikenfans!!)

Treenuts - thanks for that - Livin la vida loca of course!

[aikim]

68 Days until The Special Chicago Concert!

Happy Birthday to all celebrating!

Everyone have a great day!

Kim

[luckiest1]

Not one single post in the Chautauqua concert thread? I guess all the usual suspects must have been there! Posting from the lobby of our hotel in Findlay Lake, which we eventually found last night after driving what seemed like forever down unlit, one lane roads. We were warned about deer but thankfully none jumped out at us. I doubt any of us would have been awake enough to see them anyways, even the driver (my daughter, good job Lindsay!)

Wow, what a 2 days it has been. Hopefully when I get home I wil remember enough to write some semblance of a Windsor recap, but what can I tell you about Chautauqua last night? After a 5+ hour journey full of bad decisions and wrong turns, we (me, Claymatron, luckiestdaughter, friend of luckiestdaughter aka disneykid) finally arrived at the Chatauqua Institute sometime around 1:30 pm. They wouldn't let us in, but sent us back to the box office to purchase additional $10 "afternoon" tickets. Otherwise we'd have to wait until 4 pm and we weren't doing that. So we hiked it over to the amphitheatre, certain we'd be about 80th in line, it was sooooo late. And there wasn't a single, solitary person around. WTF? We made sure at the visitor's centre that all 4 gates would be used for entrance that evening, and then picked one near the stage to stake out stand at. Claymatron wandered around to find the spot for her M&G and discovered a line of 10 or 12 people at the rear of the venue where they do wheelchair access. It is the only entrance down on the floor level so I guess people figured it would be a quick route to the good seats. We decided to stay where we were, which would involove a run down a ramp (but we'd done that 3 years ago and it worked out for us). No other fans joined us a for a few hours, but there was a really creepy man who came out of the Presbyterian House every once in a while and tried to pretend he knew us, wanted to shake our hands, bump fists, wink wink, I'll be back later and you'll save my spot, right? Um, no. And a semi-bitchy Chautauqua employee who absolutely insisted we should not stand there, but rather walk around the Institute and experience everything, because no one else would be lining up. Riiiiiight. We explained we were choosing to stand here, unless we were in her way or something? She said no, but got rather rude about it after a while. She just thought we were crazy I think.

So the band warmed up for an hour or so and eventually Ruben came out and sang a few bits and pieces of his songs. Quiana took Clay's mike and did a rendition of Suspicious Minds. Clay never made an appearance that we saw or heard (but to be honest, we couldn't see much from our vantage point and we were scared to leave it). There were a few people milling around and looking over the railings but I never saw anyone lining up anywhere until 6 pm or so. Then there were maybe 15 people at each gate, tops. I kept wondering where everyone was? Apparently most were down at the rear entrance. I did hear the screams eventually when Clay must have come off the bus and entered the venue for the M&Gs. Claymatron kept it together pretty well all day but was shaking with excitement by the time she went down. Cindilu2 and friend (who had a charity M&G) were cool, calm and collected. They offered to get some stuff signed for luckiestdaughter and I since they got their stuff signed in Windsor, so I sent a Rolling Stone with them and my daughter sent a copy of OMWH. Eeeeeeeeee! I've been dragging that poor copy of Rolling Stone around since 2003. It was still in a ziploc bag from the Cleveland Jingle Ball, I kid you not!

The annoying man came back and tried to get in line behind us. The people he cut in front of were (obviously) upset by this and told him so. He went on about how he'd been here longer than them, blah blah blah, and we kept our backs to him so he couldn't try and drag us into it. The more the people insisted he hadn't, the more upset he got, and then he launched into a shouted speech in Chinese which totally freaked us out. The guy was certifiable. He refused to move and by this point everyone was a bit frightened of him so we just ignored him. By this time ficus had joined our little line and she and the girls made sure to make friends with each and every usher who might possibly be taking our tickets when the gates opened. Hey, every advantage, right? Fran or Freida (can't remember) was the lucky one and when the gates finally opened at 7:20 she made sure to get us through quickly. We ran walked down the ramp with shouts of "no running!" from the ushers and managed to score 2nd row centre seats! Wheeeeeee!

There were 4 young girls (20ish) in front of us, one of whom Claymatron had with her in the M&G, and they told us they wanted to dance! So we agreed that if they stood up, we'd stand up too. The stage in Chautauqua is only about a foot and a half high, so what a view we had! I'd say the venue was about 80% full or so by the time the lights went down. But the nature of that venue is that the music attracts other people to come check things out. Those with a pass can enter for free. So people do wander in and out at will. The creepy man ended up in the 3rd row behind us and proceeded to tell everyone how 'rude' the people in line were. Thank goodness he left after a few songs. Ficus was beside me doing the CH cellcert. I sure hope I couldn't be heard singing and screaming all night (but I bet I could). Eeep.

I have never been so close at a concert before. Clay played up to the 4 girls in front who were attempting to mimic every step of the 60s medley. He made funny faces and exaggerated movements so they could follow along. It was really cute. I felt bad because I knew Scarlett was attempting to get clack behind us but we had no choice but to stand or we wouldn't have been able to see anything either. We explained this to the girls during a quiter moment of the concert and they didn't stand up as much during the 70s or 80s. But it is such a danceable concert! We were having a blast. I think Ruben and Clay both were feeding off the energy of the crowd.

There was some different banter than Windsor for sure. I got the impression at Windsor they were under time constraints so they kept it short. Not so at Chautauqua. The revival was really drawn out, and when Ruben asked Clay for money the girls in front of us quickly ran up and offered him $10. Clay came forward and took it from them but Ruben said that 'his father' didn't accept Canadian currency. Too funny. I"m sure you know by now about the kiss. It was right in front of us, OMG. OMG. OMG. There are no words. Clay was very pleased with himself and went on about it for a bit. I can't wait to see the clack because it was so loud in there I didn't catch Ruben's comment but it drew a lot of laughs.

When they finished the 80s medley, the crowd cheered so much that they revived it and did the ending a second time! So cool! And we had been advised by venue staff that partway through the 90s, we were going to be allowed to approach the stage again. So when TOML started, I jumped over the front row and then turned around and realized no one else was coming. Hee! Thankfully they followed me and security didn't throw me out. So it was another mini mosh pit, but this time with only a short stage, whereas the one in Windsor was a good 4 feet tall. Very cool! Clay walked along the front of the stage, just out of reach, but put his mic to us so we could sing into it as he walked. He seemed to really be enjoying himself up there. Apparently the mosh pit in Windsor was not planned by Clay and co. But I guess they must have liked it enough to do it again.

Afterward were wandered out the rear exit and there were lots of people waiting but Jerome had told someone 'no bus line' so we went for ice cream instead. My throat thanked me, I was pretty hoarse after two night of screaming and cheering.

[bottlecap]

Chautauqua pictures from Karen Eh?:

[FearofH2O]

Thanks for the pictures bc.

Great recap luckiest. Sounds like a fantastic time.

I'm getting ready for my two more shows. Leaving Monday morning for the Northeast. I'm driving 80 miles to Charlotte to save several hundred dollars.I'm feeling real quilty about leaving Mr. Fear this time. He can hardly walk and can't drive. Talk about knees going bad. I'll ask some friends to stop in and check on him I guess. I may have to stop travelling so far in the future.

If anyone is going to Foxwood tonight, have a wonderful time. :04:

[Couch Tomato]

Fantastic recap Lucky!!

Are all the different pledge breaks from the different cities being collected? I liked that in SF he got to talk about National Inclusion Project and also being a Unicef Ambassador. People may not have known that about him.

[aikim]

Thanks for the pictures bc.

Great recap luckiest. Sounds like a fantastic time.

I'm getting ready for my two more shows. Leaving Monday morning for the Northeast. I'm driving 80 miles to Charlotte to save several hundred dollars.I'm feeling real quilty about leaving Mr. Fear this time. He can hardly walk and can't drive. Talk about knees going bad. I'll ask some friends to stop in and check on him I guess. I may have to stop travelling so far in the future.

If anyone is going to Foxwood tonight, have a wonderful time. :04:

Awe...sorry he is in so much pain...has he been to the Doctor?

Kim

[preden]

3 more sleeps then travelling from Montreal to Hampton Beach with 2 claybuddies!! Wow first concert Tuesday night!!! my co-worker was telling me that I was quite calm while I was doing my charting, she expected me to be so hyper, was keeping in till end of shift so I wouldn't forget anything since I'll be away from the hospital for 3 whole weeks yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!! Thanks so much for all the pics and videos!!! can't wait to see it live!!!

[FearofH2O]

He goes again at the end of the month,aikim. I hate for him that he is getting worse rather than better. Hopefully it'll reverse when he can keep the cast off. He always tries to do too much. :rant:

preden, will you be at Verona or NYC? We need some kind of FCA handshake or arm signal to identify each other.

[preden]

He goes again at the end of the month,aikim. I hate for him that he is getting worse rather than better. Hopefully it'll reverse when he can keep the cast off. He always tries to do too much. :rant:

preden, will you be at Verona or NYC? We need some kind of FCA handshake or arm signal to identify each other.

Yes I'll be in NYC and Verona, my first concert is Hampton Beach. In NYC I'll be sitting next to Scarlett!!! LOL about FCA handshake or arm signal!!!!

[treenuts]

Thank you for that wonderful recap, luckiest! So glad you got to show the boys the love and shake your groove thang

bottle, LOVE the pics of Mr. Yummy by Karen eh?! I hoipe she's attending more shows! He really is like an all day sucker

Why or why wasn't I born wealthy, independant and a young good looking gay man

[keepingfaith]

Of course it's part of the act, but something tells me Clay likes to kiss pretty girls, just to show he can. He was a nerd for a long, long time in his life. He asked to kiss Tyra and I think he kissed a girl and he liked it, peck or no peck. That's my story and I'm sticking with it. He does seem rather proud of himself, no? I really seriously doubt that girls that attractive were standing in line to make out with him back in his pre-Idol days. I love that he can drive sentient beings absolutely crazy! More than that, I wouldn't be surprised if an ivy gets excited when he brushes by.

And how girlie is this chick?! You know, if the world didn't know Clay is gay, we'd have this chick filing for divorce on Monday morning, and the wedding date set. THAT's why he does it now, I do believe. It's safe for both of them.

Hell, I'm not so sure he wouldn't slip her the tongue if she weren't married.

FYI: These screenshots are from Scarlett's DGBMH clack.

[bottlecap]

All I can say is that it looked like Clay would have have gone for it in Windsor, and Casey shut him down. What's wrong with that girl?

Although maybe helping your boss fish his microphone out of his drawers is kind of a mood-killer.

[keepingfaith]

Sometimes illusions are better than the real thing, and when I first looked at this picture I "saw" Clay's shirt opened to the waist, and not the shadow of the microphone. I think I'll continue to unfocus my eyes and see what I want and ... dream.

[liney23]

luckiest... great recap! Thanks!

keeping... BWAH! I'm happy to aid in your illusions... I wish that shirt would come open more!!! I bet he has light cinnimon chest hair... drool!!!!!!!!!

tree... I've asked myself why I was not born independently wealthy many times. I never have a good answer, dang it!

[bottlecap]

kf, can I borrow your awesome sex-ray specs rose-colored glasses and take them for a spin?

[luckiest1]

Home again. What a crazy, wonderful 2 days! I have to keep pinching myself to believe it's real. I've never had two better seats, and more up-close-and-personal views of Clay in all my 7 years of fandom. I am downloading clack and just revelling in it right now. It's such an amazing feeling to come home from a concert and be able to download such high quality video the very next day. Thank you so much to all the clackgatherers!!! Thank you Scarlett for getting your videos up so quickly!

I remember something from last night's show that I haven't seen mentioned yet. Before TOML, each guy left the stage, on opposite sides, and the band encouraged everyone to whoop it up to bring them back on. Thus, TOML was more of an encore than part of the show, which I think worked very well. I heard people around me in Windsor kind of stymied as to why there was no encore, so I hope they continue this trend. I also hope they are able to continue the 'mosh pit' for at least TOML (like last night) if not the whole 90's medley too (like Windsor). It really made my two concerts extra special, to be able to go up that close.

Also, I got chatting to a couple in the breakfast bar this morning at the hotel. They had driven over from Pittsburgh PA for the concert. They were very casual fans....voted for him on Idol, saw him once before on the SRHP tour (I think, they weren't sure which one). They said that of all the concerts they have ever been to (not just Clay's) this was by far the best. They could not get over how talented each guy was. The woman particularly raved about Footloose and said it was the best rendition of it she'd ever heard. The man said that at first, he just came to the concerts at his wife's request, but now he called himself a fan. It was a very cool conversation!

Has anyone seen any M&G recaps from Windsor or Chautauqua? I have heard first hand accounts from cindilu2 and Claymatron but I'll wait and let them share their stories themselves. But I'd love to read more! Apparently there was only one Canadian in the Windsor OFC M&G but there were 3 in the Chautauqua one. Strange but true! I really hope that Team Clay remembers that they were drawn randomly, and doesn't take it as an indication that there weren't many Canadians at the Windsor show, LOL.

[Penny]

I tell you, I wish I could trade places with Casey....

[ldyjocelyn]

Fun reading here while I am supposedly listening to my family drone on... Wish I could watch clack at the same time though!

http://findingclayaiken.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=714

Thread for this evening's show!

[luckiest1]

Sooooo, I need to write this one tonight or all hope is lost. Tomorrow I somehow have to get myself out of Clay mode (yeah, right!) because I am taking my son to the Paul McCartney concert. Who knew all these shows would be the same weekend?

Windsor Recap

Claymatron, luckiestdaughter, friend of luckiestdaughter (Michelle, a Clay virgin), luckiestmom, disneykid & her fiance (another Clay virgin) and I left my house at precisely 1 p.m., as per cindilu2's instructions. We crammed into one van and headed a couple of exits west on the highway to meet up with 4 more Claynadians, so we could caravan and also so we could spread out a little. 7 in a van is tight, y'all. We managed not to stay together on the highway and still both vans got lost. Mapquest sucks sometimes. There was no exit 3B! In any case, we communicated by cell phone and GPSed each other to the venue eventually. We didn't have a whole lot of time until 4 pm so we just hung around the entrance to the Market Grill until they let us in. It was like a reunion in line! And finally we all got seated in our "Claynadian" reserved section. There were nametags and door prizes and raffles! The food was out of this world fantastic. What a selection! Down home southern to Italian to Asian. And a dessert bar to die for. We all ate too much. I was thankful our concert wasn't until 8 pm so I could try and digest my food before getting myself all excited. So laughn came over to our table at one point and gave us her door and raffle prize tickets so she could go up to her room. Didn't she win the special 'American' prize basket right after she left? So we carried it with us until we were able to check it with the concierge. Hope you got it ok!

After dinner some of us went gambling and others went to wait for the lucky meet and greeters to exit so we could EEEEEEEEEEEE with them. It was fun watching the charity people come out and the OFCers go in. One day, my ship will come......

After we tracked down luckiestmom who kept disappearing to gamble, we entered the venue. It was a great set up, although there were some seats on the floor on the extreme side, facing in, that kind of reminded me of where we sat in Meadville for the JBT. I was very, very thankful that our 4th row seats were actually not that far off centre, even though they weren't in the centre section. I was amazed to hear OMWH playing, alternately with what I assume was Ruben's most recent album, through the sound system. I believe that is a first for all the Clay tours I've attended. What a concept, playing music by the artists! We got beverages and mingled until showtime.

Now, I was pretty spoiled, but I had not watched the opening or closing number, and I also had not watched the 'revival' skit. So when Ruben came out singing FWW, I didn't know what to expect would happen next. It was hilarious the way Clay interrupted him with TITN, and the screams were loud. I loved the comedy of the whole number, and especially the last few lines were inspired. "You stole my damn wings" was just about the funniest thing I'd ever heard Clay sing! And it set the theme for the night, which seemed to be Clay uttering every cuss word imagineable (ok, except the f bomb). Ha ha ha, what a riot. I believe we got damn, hell, shit, and ass all in one concert. Who woulda thunk it a few years ago? You go Clay!!!!

I don't think I can remember many details after that. I remember itching to get up and dance but no one else was. I remember thinking that I was probably shaking the whole row because I couldn't help but dance in my seat. I remember during Still The One that Clay stood right directly in front of me and made a funny face at ficus who was in the front row ahead of me when he sang the line "I see your face every day". Ha ha.

The revival skit was priceless. The noises Clay made were hilarious. I now understand the description 'dying goose'. And when he whispered in Ruben's ear and left the stage, accomanpanied by the girls, I had no idea what was going on. Ruben took that opportunity to come over in front of us and ask if anyone else couldn't dance and needed to be healed. I raised my hand but he honed in on disneykid, who was holding up her fiance's hand. Hee, that was awesome, she was thrilled. In any case, Clay came back and advised us that he'd dropped the mic down his drawers and the place just cracked up. What a goofball!

The 70's and 80's went by in a blur. Clay's vocals were outstanding all night. He danced up a storm. My mother later commented that she had no idea he could dance like that. I told her maybe Reed had taught him a few things, and she didn't know what to say after that. Ok, so the 90's start and disneykid, luckiestdaughter, and I immediately stood up and started clapping and dancing, everyone else be damned. And then the strangest thing happened. The two security women at the front of our aisle, in tandem, got up and whisked their chairs (that were forming a barricade) away, giving us free access to the stage. I saw two women run up and I waited a second to see if they would get pulled back, but when they didn't, we took off too. I managed to get right to the stage, and stand in between two of the speakers right at the centre. I still can't quite believe it happened. And I watched in awe as they went through the remainder of the 90's medley, with only one thought in my mind. Clay is going to sing LLVL in a minute, right in this very spot. And I am going to witness it. It was surreal. I had to keep convincing myself that this was really Clay and this wasn't a dream. I just never thought I'd see the day come where I was so close. Whoever's idea it was to allow it, I kneel down and thank them profusely.

The front of the stage was just a party. They were ready to go into TOML and Ruben was still shaking hands and even signing a few autographs. Clay seemed amused when he had to wait for Ruben to finish so they could continue the show. I never got the impression that either guy was uncomfortable with the 'mosh pit' at all. I think they loved it. It really brought the energy of the crowd up!

So afterward, when the house lights came up, it was like the Raleigh OMG concert all over again. People finding other people and hugging and saying "OMG! can you believe it??" I think I wandered around in shock with my hands over my mouth for 10 minutes or so before I realized we'd lost luckiestmom again. Thank goodness she was waiting by the exit and hadn't decided to go gambling again because we might never have found her.

ETA that I was really impressed by Ruben. I absolutely love his vocals on Bring It On Home To Me and Everything I Do. I will be downloading audio of both of them for my iPod.

The two hour drive home gave us time to unwind and share our stories and favourite parts of the concert. We were mellowed out and ready for our next adventure. We got between 1 1/2 and 5 hours sleep collectively and got up to do it all again the next day!

[keepingfaith]

luckiest... great recap! Thanks!

keeping... BWAH! I'm happy to aid in your illusions... I wish that shirt would come open more!!! I bet he has light cinnimon chest hair... drool!!!!!!!!!

tree... I've asked myself why I was not born independently wealthy many times. I never have a good answer, dang it!

Well, I tell myself that that maybe it's not spiritually fortunate, or advantageous to my immortal consciousness, to be independently wealthy, because then I'd be obligated to give it all away, and I'd be very tempted to shirk my obligations. So, in other words, to whom little is given, less is expected!

Maybe I'm paying off a karmic debt from my past life of being a profligate spender!

[treenuts]

[bottlecap]

luckiest1, laughn's still on an extended roadtrip, so I'll answer for her. Yes, she did collect her gift basket of Canadian stuff from the concierge. I don't know what all was in it, but she was raving about the maple fudge candy. So thanks for getting that to her!

[luckiest1]

Listening to tonight's cellstream and I am reminded that Clay substituted "Anne Murray" for "Andy Williams" in the 60s banter in Windsor. Ha ha. He said Ruben usually says "who is that?" but didn't dare say that in Canada about Anne Murray. He also made reference to Parker being half Canadian at one point.

[keepingfaith]

A tweet from Debbie Gibson (who is playing in something at Foxwoods):

Quote:

DeborahGibson: Off to see Clay and Reuben here at Foxwoods! If any of you are here, come say hi!!!

---

DeborahGibson: This show is brilliant! OMG! If you haven't seen Clay and Reuben RUN do not walk!

No kiss tonight, but Clay was stalking her across the stage.

No slide for Footloose. Maybe Clay injured a toe someone said? Encore for Footloose.

Venue packed to the top.

Band laughing a lot tonight. Maybe some inside jokes?

Clay actually said "fuck" -- out loud -- regarding a guy paying $600 for his ticket. It wasn't mouthed, it was nice and loud. Another barrier crumbles.

The show was sold out.

Nick was there.

Worn knees in his jeans.

Ruben got standing O after Superstar.

Both got standing O's for Footloose.

Another standing O for TOML.