*blows away cobwebs*
Jul. 18th, 2009 10:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
revidSorry I haven't been around at all; real life has been kicking my ass.
But as a drive-by post, last night I went to the American Idols concert in Ontario, California (about 30 miles east of LA) and wrote it up for an Adam message board.
photo by LawMom
Oh, where to begin...
I was one of those folks who was not going to spend my money on that silly AI tour; I was just going to wait for Adam's solo tour. Then as time grew closer and we caught the little glimpses of Adam's set: Bowie!!??, MUSE!!??, I caved. Then it was going to be "Oh, just any old ticket is fine, I'll bring my binoculars" to "MUST HAVE GREAT SEAT!" Ontario is a little farther away than LA and Staples, but I decided the easier access and the smaller venue (11K vs 19K) would make it worth it. I found an 8th row ticket on ebay for only $10 over face (which was $90 after you added all the fees!), and I was off. (Off my rocker, that is.) I was now going to drive 460 miles round trip in one day for 20 minutes of performance by Adam Lambert, with an additional bonus 30 minutes of Kris Allen and Allison Iraheta.
I was really excited to hear that Law Mom would be there too, since see was doing something similarly nuts, and I love meeting online friends IRL.
Traffic was bonkers. I grew up in LA, so I know what Friday afternoon means on the freeways, but jeeeeeez. I left my house at 1:20pm and got to the parking lot at 6:30! OUCH! (For reference, the ride home took 3h 20m vs. 5h 10m.) As it turned out my floor seat was almost directly below Law Mom's seat, so I walked down her section and found her. No surprise to anyone here, she is charming and adorable and my only regret is that we didn't get more time to chat!
Show started about twenty minutes late...not bad by rock concert standards, I guess. I'll do a quick bullet point run through.
~Michael: Better than on TV. One thing about him, I believe he realizes that this is the pinnacle of his musical career, and is truly grateful and happy just to be there. Everyone who has met him says he is one of the absolute nicest of all the idols. Musically, there a million guys just like him or better, but he looked like he was having fun, and didn't make my ears bleed.
~Megan: Megan was the only one who was worse than on the show, and I didn't think that was possible. Off key and uninteresting. I won't even give her "quirkey." She only got as far as she did because Simon has a hard-on for pretty blondes, but there had to be at least a few hundred other pretty blondes who auditioned who can sing better than her. And I think her tattoo is fugly! SO THERE! :-P
~Scott: Wow. Much improved. Two very nice songs with very nice vocals. The stage banter was not so entertaining, but maybe that's because I heard it on YT too many times already. Enjoyed it.
~Lil: Another "wow, much much better" award. R&B divas are not my thing, but she looked much more comfortable and sounded better than she ever did on TV. (And I am officially the last person in the universe I guess to hear the Single Ladies song. I had heard of it, just never heard it.)
~Anoop: I don't get the Anoop love. Never have. He's not bad, or anything, he just bores the crap out of me. Nothing about him live changed my mind. Nice guy, nice voice, but nothing special. He made a comment in his stage banter about coming back and playing here as a headliner in a year and a half. I will predict right now that that's not going to happen. Sorry dawg.
~Matt: He did a great job on the Black Crowes cover. He looked like he had gotten rid of the bitchface and the attitude that made me not a fan during the show. Enjoyed it, and would see him if someone bought me a ticket, but wouldn't buy a ticket to see him solo or his album, most likely.
HUGE GAP IN QUALITY STARTS HERE
~Alison: Loved her. She has real star quality. "So What" and "Cry" were awesome. "Barracuda" wasn't such a great choice. I think if she had done "Crazy On You" she could have brought the house down.
~Danny: Well, shoot me now! I actually liked Danny's set. The guy has a nice voice, he just needs to find his niche. Where that will be, I have no clue. I witnessed no mic humping, thank God. The inspirational preaching, I could have done without, but honestly, it wasn't as bad as I had been led to believe. And as I was walking to my car after the show, I realized I was humming "What Hurts the Most." WTF, mind? Oh well, I've gotten past the fan warring and the hate in a big way lately. Danny is another one whom I've heard is unfailingly kind and polite to fans, so there you go.
~Adam: Well, obviously, this was my reason for going to the show, so this will be the longest, because I'm AAA (All About Adam).
Everyone stood and the energy started to build as soon as Danny left the stage. The cheering started with the explosion and graphics, and the screaming started when his silhouette appeared.
Adam was in fine form in WWL. (Tonight was a "Baby" night, for those keeping track.) Great great vocal, and he included some little runs and rifs that we hadn't heard before. He's definitely getting more comfortable and loosening up as the tour goes on. Moderate grabbing on the crotch-o-meter scale and one mic stand stroke. (I don't think he ever reach Oakland levels again, unless it's the last night of the tour!) I'm fond of him cupping his ear and doing grabby hands for cheers at the audience...it's sort of endearing. I miss the backdoor man line though.
I love the song "Starlight." I watched it though my binoculars and it's amazing just to watch his facial expressions and hand movements convey so much emotion alone, while he's just standing there at the microphone. And my god, the voice. The whole song is done in head voice, and it's just so high and beautiful.
"Mad World" was a haunting as always, although honestly, it's getting a little long in the tooth for me. I love how he has changed the ending very slightly, doing a little descending run at the end, instead of holding the final note steady.
"Slow Ride" was a special moment on TV, but it loses something on repeat. (Adam introduced her as his "kid" sister this time.) I had fun watching Adam's facial expressions through my binoculars.
The Bowie Medley is my favorite part of the set. He starts out looking for all the world like he's doing musical theatre during "Life on Mars?" (GREAT SONG CHOICE!) then goes into club scene Fame. The jacket removal is one of the sexiest things I've ever seen, no lie. He's a human slinky for the whole song. He changed up the vocals a bit on this one too, in the descending "fame, fame, fame... part. "Let's Dance" is really an Adam song. It's a cover, but it's all Adam's. At the end, when he extended him arm in the air as the stage descended, he had this almost dazed look on his face. It was hard to describe. But then right before the lights went out, he transformed back into Adam with this HUGE grin and said "I love you, Ontario!" And yes, the feeling was mutual.
Another comment about Adam. Someone on TWoP who went to the dress rehearsal at one of the shows was saying she was surprised at how feminine he seemed at times. I got a glimpse of that too last night. There were moments where he had this soft femininity, not in a "sissy" or "pansy" way, but in a way that frankly added to his beauty. Adam is very clearly a gay man, that's part of who he is, and it's what makes him who he is, if that makes any sense. I am totally enamored about so much about the man. His stage presence is unparalleled. I wouldn't care if he made a whole CD of Weird Al covers, I would buy it to hear his voice and I would pay top dollar to see him sing them live. The boy has "it," whatever "it" is. I can't wait to see his future.
~Kris: First of all, I didn't see anyone leaving before or during Kris's set. Seriously, no one.
The timing for Kris is hard, just due to their different styles. But you know what? He held his own and he did just fine. Depending on what he does, I may or may not buy his CD, but I would absolutely love to see Kris live in a small club setting. The Matchbox20 cover was his best song of the set. If he could go with that style of music, he could do very well, I think.
One funny note on "Hey Jude." I had a clear view to the stage side staircase, and as the first Na na na nas started, I could see Alison coming up the stairs. Right before she got to the top, she obviously got yanked down. She had starting coming up too early. It was amusing.
DSB was a lot of fun. They sounded much better than at that rehearsal tape that was so awful! Adam and Kris do seem to have a lot of fun together. I do not doubt that they really are friends. The one interesting thing that I noted is that Adam has toned down the glory note at the very end: He doesn't go all the way up for the high, high one. I wonder why that is, because he certainly can get it. Maybe not to draw attention to himself? No idea.
The crowd was pretty much all for the top 3. Adam got a few extra screams, but not significantly more than Kris or Danny. IMHO, the top four are the only ones who have any real shot at a BIG career. I don't see any JHud's in the bottom six.
So yeah, even for Adam's set alone, I got my money's worth, but the rest wasn't a total waste of time either. And I got to meet Law Mom, yay!
See you all at the solo tour!
I promise to come back soon with a RL update. XOXOXOXO to you all.
But as a drive-by post, last night I went to the American Idols concert in Ontario, California (about 30 miles east of LA) and wrote it up for an Adam message board.
photo by LawMom
Oh, where to begin...
I was one of those folks who was not going to spend my money on that silly AI tour; I was just going to wait for Adam's solo tour. Then as time grew closer and we caught the little glimpses of Adam's set: Bowie!!??, MUSE!!??, I caved. Then it was going to be "Oh, just any old ticket is fine, I'll bring my binoculars" to "MUST HAVE GREAT SEAT!" Ontario is a little farther away than LA and Staples, but I decided the easier access and the smaller venue (11K vs 19K) would make it worth it. I found an 8th row ticket on ebay for only $10 over face (which was $90 after you added all the fees!), and I was off. (Off my rocker, that is.) I was now going to drive 460 miles round trip in one day for 20 minutes of performance by Adam Lambert, with an additional bonus 30 minutes of Kris Allen and Allison Iraheta.
I was really excited to hear that Law Mom would be there too, since see was doing something similarly nuts, and I love meeting online friends IRL.
Traffic was bonkers. I grew up in LA, so I know what Friday afternoon means on the freeways, but jeeeeeez. I left my house at 1:20pm and got to the parking lot at 6:30! OUCH! (For reference, the ride home took 3h 20m vs. 5h 10m.) As it turned out my floor seat was almost directly below Law Mom's seat, so I walked down her section and found her. No surprise to anyone here, she is charming and adorable and my only regret is that we didn't get more time to chat!
Show started about twenty minutes late...not bad by rock concert standards, I guess. I'll do a quick bullet point run through.
~Michael: Better than on TV. One thing about him, I believe he realizes that this is the pinnacle of his musical career, and is truly grateful and happy just to be there. Everyone who has met him says he is one of the absolute nicest of all the idols. Musically, there a million guys just like him or better, but he looked like he was having fun, and didn't make my ears bleed.
~Megan: Megan was the only one who was worse than on the show, and I didn't think that was possible. Off key and uninteresting. I won't even give her "quirkey." She only got as far as she did because Simon has a hard-on for pretty blondes, but there had to be at least a few hundred other pretty blondes who auditioned who can sing better than her. And I think her tattoo is fugly! SO THERE! :-P
~Scott: Wow. Much improved. Two very nice songs with very nice vocals. The stage banter was not so entertaining, but maybe that's because I heard it on YT too many times already. Enjoyed it.
~Lil: Another "wow, much much better" award. R&B divas are not my thing, but she looked much more comfortable and sounded better than she ever did on TV. (And I am officially the last person in the universe I guess to hear the Single Ladies song. I had heard of it, just never heard it.)
~Anoop: I don't get the Anoop love. Never have. He's not bad, or anything, he just bores the crap out of me. Nothing about him live changed my mind. Nice guy, nice voice, but nothing special. He made a comment in his stage banter about coming back and playing here as a headliner in a year and a half. I will predict right now that that's not going to happen. Sorry dawg.
~Matt: He did a great job on the Black Crowes cover. He looked like he had gotten rid of the bitchface and the attitude that made me not a fan during the show. Enjoyed it, and would see him if someone bought me a ticket, but wouldn't buy a ticket to see him solo or his album, most likely.
HUGE GAP IN QUALITY STARTS HERE
~Alison: Loved her. She has real star quality. "So What" and "Cry" were awesome. "Barracuda" wasn't such a great choice. I think if she had done "Crazy On You" she could have brought the house down.
~Danny: Well, shoot me now! I actually liked Danny's set. The guy has a nice voice, he just needs to find his niche. Where that will be, I have no clue. I witnessed no mic humping, thank God. The inspirational preaching, I could have done without, but honestly, it wasn't as bad as I had been led to believe. And as I was walking to my car after the show, I realized I was humming "What Hurts the Most." WTF, mind? Oh well, I've gotten past the fan warring and the hate in a big way lately. Danny is another one whom I've heard is unfailingly kind and polite to fans, so there you go.
~Adam: Well, obviously, this was my reason for going to the show, so this will be the longest, because I'm AAA (All About Adam).
Everyone stood and the energy started to build as soon as Danny left the stage. The cheering started with the explosion and graphics, and the screaming started when his silhouette appeared.
Adam was in fine form in WWL. (Tonight was a "Baby" night, for those keeping track.) Great great vocal, and he included some little runs and rifs that we hadn't heard before. He's definitely getting more comfortable and loosening up as the tour goes on. Moderate grabbing on the crotch-o-meter scale and one mic stand stroke. (I don't think he ever reach Oakland levels again, unless it's the last night of the tour!) I'm fond of him cupping his ear and doing grabby hands for cheers at the audience...it's sort of endearing. I miss the backdoor man line though.
I love the song "Starlight." I watched it though my binoculars and it's amazing just to watch his facial expressions and hand movements convey so much emotion alone, while he's just standing there at the microphone. And my god, the voice. The whole song is done in head voice, and it's just so high and beautiful.
"Mad World" was a haunting as always, although honestly, it's getting a little long in the tooth for me. I love how he has changed the ending very slightly, doing a little descending run at the end, instead of holding the final note steady.
"Slow Ride" was a special moment on TV, but it loses something on repeat. (Adam introduced her as his "kid" sister this time.) I had fun watching Adam's facial expressions through my binoculars.
The Bowie Medley is my favorite part of the set. He starts out looking for all the world like he's doing musical theatre during "Life on Mars?" (GREAT SONG CHOICE!) then goes into club scene Fame. The jacket removal is one of the sexiest things I've ever seen, no lie. He's a human slinky for the whole song. He changed up the vocals a bit on this one too, in the descending "fame, fame, fame... part. "Let's Dance" is really an Adam song. It's a cover, but it's all Adam's. At the end, when he extended him arm in the air as the stage descended, he had this almost dazed look on his face. It was hard to describe. But then right before the lights went out, he transformed back into Adam with this HUGE grin and said "I love you, Ontario!" And yes, the feeling was mutual.
Another comment about Adam. Someone on TWoP who went to the dress rehearsal at one of the shows was saying she was surprised at how feminine he seemed at times. I got a glimpse of that too last night. There were moments where he had this soft femininity, not in a "sissy" or "pansy" way, but in a way that frankly added to his beauty. Adam is very clearly a gay man, that's part of who he is, and it's what makes him who he is, if that makes any sense. I am totally enamored about so much about the man. His stage presence is unparalleled. I wouldn't care if he made a whole CD of Weird Al covers, I would buy it to hear his voice and I would pay top dollar to see him sing them live. The boy has "it," whatever "it" is. I can't wait to see his future.
~Kris: First of all, I didn't see anyone leaving before or during Kris's set. Seriously, no one.
The timing for Kris is hard, just due to their different styles. But you know what? He held his own and he did just fine. Depending on what he does, I may or may not buy his CD, but I would absolutely love to see Kris live in a small club setting. The Matchbox20 cover was his best song of the set. If he could go with that style of music, he could do very well, I think.
One funny note on "Hey Jude." I had a clear view to the stage side staircase, and as the first Na na na nas started, I could see Alison coming up the stairs. Right before she got to the top, she obviously got yanked down. She had starting coming up too early. It was amusing.
DSB was a lot of fun. They sounded much better than at that rehearsal tape that was so awful! Adam and Kris do seem to have a lot of fun together. I do not doubt that they really are friends. The one interesting thing that I noted is that Adam has toned down the glory note at the very end: He doesn't go all the way up for the high, high one. I wonder why that is, because he certainly can get it. Maybe not to draw attention to himself? No idea.
The crowd was pretty much all for the top 3. Adam got a few extra screams, but not significantly more than Kris or Danny. IMHO, the top four are the only ones who have any real shot at a BIG career. I don't see any JHud's in the bottom six.
So yeah, even for Adam's set alone, I got my money's worth, but the rest wasn't a total waste of time either. And I got to meet Law Mom, yay!
See you all at the solo tour!
I promise to come back soon with a RL update. XOXOXOXO to you all.
