Joyful Noise 2005 in NYC

Thursday, Dec. 1st, I took the train from Johnstown, PA to NYC for the beginning of my Clay adventure. My sincerest thanks to riverrun9 for the invitation to stay at her Manhattan apartment! (My fourth time!)

I arrived, carting my luggage, just in time to get a primo spot to witness David Letterman escorting Oprah to her The Color Purple premiere. I got pictures and Oprah stared at me and I yelled out, “You’re beautiful!” Duh!

At the purple carpet I saw a lot of celebs such as Jamie Fox, Tina Turner, P Diddy, Donald Trump, Spike Lee, David Hasselhoff, Angela Bassett and so on….but….sob…no Clay. Apparently, he did not attend.

Friday, Sam, one of the Clayford Wives and I did sightseeing, including all the holiday-themed store windows and the fantastic display of ancient manuscripts at the gorgeous library. Then we met riverrun9 and Imallears for lunch across from the Beacon at the Fairway Market. It was grand seeing Clay’s name in lights on the marquee!

A joyous dinner happened at Miss Elle’s with some friends from the Claymate Support Group at the Clayboard (HippoGA, Solitaire234, nky4clay, KysPollyAnna Carrottop4clay with her hubby ,and HopelesslyDevoted.)

The concert was, of course, marvelous!!!! I managed to move from Row E to row BB so I was a very happy camper! Unfortunately, flashes were a problem….two during Good News which really irked the audience. I saw many Clay buddies from all over which is one of the richest joys of this fandom! We did not go to the stage door that first night.

Saturday: some sightseeing, shopping , and the delightful Hairspray were on our agenda. (Go to see it….what a delight!) For dinner, two groups of friends from the Clayboard got together at the Shining Star Café: nky4clay, Solitaire234, KysPollyAnna, HippoGA, HopelesslyDevoted of the Claymate Support Group and from the Words to Thud By group there were PinayRN4Clay, Clayja, Linluvsclay and our guests, Nel, Nancy, and NYCLAYFAN. Many of us were meeting for the first time in person….what a thrill. Pinay was going to have a M & G at the concert so we were teasing her. Clay’s Saturday concert was even better and the sold out crowd really showed him the love with numerous standing ovations! The First Noel was especially breathtaking!

After the show some of us went to the stage door. Unfortunately, when Clay came out and started shaking hands, the crowd surged forward and Jerome picked Clay up and steered him into the SUV. Good for Jerome! Shame on the fans.

On Sunday we awoke to a winter wonderland….the view from the apartment was lovely! We walked to the Cloisters museum for shopping and a look around. At 3 o’clock, a small group met at Jekyll and Hydes for a “scary “early dinner…. ClayPigeon, riverrrun9, Imallears, songsforme, and Sunny, a new internet-made friend joined me.

For me, the Sunday concert was the best of the NYC concerts. Clay was doing such glorious runs and glory notes that even his random lyric generator could not take away from them. He received standing “O’s, one after the other….especially a sustained one after The First Noel when Angela had to fan herself because he was on fire!!!!

His banter was so adorable….especially when he kidded us by saying that he was going to not leave his house for three months once the tour was over. What a loud groan we all let out. Hehe!

After the show our two hour, calm wait was rewarded with handshakes and greetings from Clay so we went home full of joy!

Monday morning, even though I overslept, I managed to join the other Clay fans at the outdoor site of the Early Show just minutes before Clay made his appearance for the toy campaign….he looked so cute! He waved and greeted us. As he left he shook hands with some. He went back into the studio. And from what we saw on the monitor, he sang a portion of MDYK. After that, I had to hightail it to Penn Station to take the train back to PA.

A magical, fabulous weekend of Clay, good friends, and New York City at Christmas time. I sure hope this continues to be an annual tradition!

Shycon (Gale)