Okay...just because you nagged Cannuck!

Concert Recap:

Part I of giant recap: The Drive to Meadville:

I could not sleep before we left...and we were leaving at 2:30am anyway so it didn't make sense to go to sleep! We started driiving in the dark...and went to pick up stripedshirts. We got to her place with only one minor got lost detour. LOL! Hubbie and I are sniping at each other at this point because I am reading him instructions and he is questioning what I am reading to him like I can't be reading the right thing. And while we are doing that he misses the turns. He tells me to mellow out...I tell him he should listen to the naviagator and stop second guessing me. We pick up stripedshirts...now comes the fun part....we usually don't try to get on Interstate 80 from where we were and we have detailed instructions on how to do it but it's complicated. So off we go...and at one point I see that the on ramp is closed!! UGH! Follow the detour signs it says. Okay...we are in Newark, NJ....it's pitch dark. And we start following these orange detour signs for around 30-45 minutes I think? Talk about being taken all over the @$)#&@&% place...it was an industrial area....spooky in this neighborhood in the middle of the night basically. And I felt like...geez...what if someone moved the detour signs...you know...since they are these teensy orange detour signs or what if we miss one? (visions of Road Runner cartoons in my mind at this point) Then finally after driving all over kingdom come over the worst roads in the middle of no where there it is...the holy grail...the on ramp!!!!!!!!!!!!! So we are on our way....

Around 8am I think...we pull into a McDonalds in Dubois, PA....Hubbie blurts to the server...where the heck are we? (At this point I want to hide) She says Dubois. And he proceeds to take out the map to figure out where we were. The server looks at me and says....where are you from? I say NYC...we are going to Meadville for a Clay Aiken Concert....I got one of those looks...you know like...these people are CRAZY! It wasn't a diss on Clay...I think it was a reaction to my hubbies blurt! How embarassing!

After 7 hours of driving...I see it...a billboard for the Days Inn at Meadville...it's like...there we are getting closer....HURRAY!

The Brunch:

Hubbie did not want to go and we could not check in. Starhorse, stripedshirts and I go to the Brunch and I start meeting people or seeing people again. I think that was the best part of the whole thing!

I saw foothllgrl and hubbie...I don't think we talked but I know hubbie talked to you...he calls you the California couple! LOL! I met angelty...and just want to hug the stuffing out of her. The room was packed...190 people!!!! All there for Clay!!!! Gus was there...he sang for us. He made rcknrllmom cry when he sang You Will Never Walk Alone...made me cry too. I met Clayla. And I finally got to meet Raleighlady after all these years of knowing her from the message boards!!! I was looking for her...going...how am I going to find her in here when she found me!!!!!! Big huggle! And I saw claym8 again...and met WinkAtMe ( she and I have been trying to cross paths and we finally did although a 7 hour drive from where we live 30 minutes apart!) and sassybabe, curiousgladys, xxx4clay (she is a doll and really...don't let her fool you...she is beautiful!!!!!!), From_Claygary (whose quilt looked absolutely breathtaking!), littlec, and Liandra and yoyo!!! And so many more that my addled brain is probably fritzing out on...I should have taken notes!!! It was a joy to see all the Clay love there! I saw Lucia from Brazil although I didn't get to meet her.

They raised so much for TBAF...and the Uganda beads were also being sold...as well as the blinkie jukebox pin for the FunCenters....and let me tell you...if you get a chance you have to see those beads....they are beautiful and it is such a good way to direct help in a way that lets it go to the people!!! I dropped a great deal of $$$ in that room and was thinking...how am I going to explain this to Mr.Dancermom?

Oh that blinkie jukebox pin hates me. It.would.not.work.for.me. I tried and I tried. Starhorse would take it and it would work and then I would try and it would not light up. This went on for 10 minutes and claym8 was not helping laughing on the other side of the table!

Starhorse really fell in love with a framed picture of The TV Guide Cable Guide pic of Clay with the boombox up for the Silent Auction. She bid on it on the Silent Auction but got outbid...and came back and said it went too high for her...I could tell she really wanted it...so we went in 50/50 and we won it! And let me tell you...once she had it in her hands she help onto it and hugged it whereever we went.

And as we were inside...hubby was outside in the lobby talking to Mr.WinkatMe...I don't know if that was good or bad...but they introduced themselves this way...I think you wife knows my wife from the boards...Hee!!!! No really...both men deserve so much for doing all that they do to help support our Claydiction. Both my hubbie and Mr.WinkatMe...and other hubbies that were there to support their wives are just the best on the planet. Many weren't there to see Clay but because we wanted to. They deserve kudos!!!

After that we went to DairyQueen to get a snack...and I met kmy and Bowledover!!!!! Funny how you can just feel the presence of a Clayfan!!!!!

Part II The Concert and the Fair:

I have to say that if I had to pick a day to have an outdoor concert that this day we had in Meadville was the perfect gift. It was in the 70s...no humidity...clear blue skies with puffy clouds...it was perfection. In fact...it was downright cold by the end of the concert!!!! The Fair was a blast. My hubbie enjoyed the setting of the Fair as well as the concert. We saw the horses (starhorse's other love) and hubbie ate popcorn and walked around. It was the perfect place to have a great concert. You could feel the excitement of the Clayfans...as we waited for them to open the gates to this huge amphitheater. Our seats were the best I ever had....2nd row and the joy of meeting people and seeing them were so good! I met lufka (a lurker) and her friends from Rochester. Then it was time to battle for merchandise...

I met scorpionlady before the concert started....she just came up and said are you....I just hugged her so hard. She is another person I have known since AI 2 and Bolt on the boards and I finally got to meet her!!!! She is a doll....just simply bubbling with joy!

And the helicopter...I do not think it landed. It flew really low over the amphitheater and buzzed us but it never landed...it was circling.

I would say that the floor was full...the bleachers were maybe close to half full. There were a lot of men there...more than I had seen at the NAT and the IT. It was kids to grannies. The venue was also selling what they called track seats off to the side...you could not see the stage but you could hear...I have no idea how many of those were sold.

The Security in the front...I have to tell you the evolution of the guys up front in front of the stage. In the begiinning I got the distinct impression that they were in their 30's...big buryly guys in sunglasses who were not there to enjoy the show. I think they were bemused by what they saw. As the show progressed...we made friends with them. At the pip part we were pointing at Security...saying...pick him...pick him!!! Hee. But...by the time Clay sang BFM and ATD the guy in front of us was enjoying it with us. He liked the new songs!

The person sitting directly in front of me (she isn't on CV...don't know which board she posts on) brought 400 signs that said TOUCH. She passed them out all over the front of the floor so that when we hit the 90's and before the 2000s we would all lift them up. Liandra also printed out signs with names of songs and she passed those out! WinkDink and her friend also had a huge sign that spelled out When a Man Loves a Woman to pass out to the front row to hold up.

And then...the strains of music were in the air. The place was so full of energy that night...for love and joy...and just to be there for Clay. It was utterly uplifting and totally rocked! Clay was in the zone...I don't know how else to explain it...he felt the energy...and the love and he was in wonderful voice. The high notes soared..and his low notes...I moaned at points...screamed my throat sore...and just went for the ride. Talk about being playful and full of chatter and just snarky fun. I had my binocs...and at one point while he was just sitting watching one of the Quiana sing his eyes and mine caught in the binocs...and I felt this distinct...WTH are you looking at with those binocs when he quirked his lips in that smirk. I know this is crazy...but damm I felt guilty after that using the binocs because I didn't want to get caught again!

Part III The Concert

So much about what actually happened has already been said. And it's on the Clack! LOL! Just some thoughts...

On the Band: They really have gelled...come together to form something that is greater together than their individual parts. It takes a group of musicians a while before they get to that point...and sometimes it never happens. Clay has a great group of people working with him right now and supporting him and he is definitely the one in charge when you watch him work with the group. Just watch how they pu together andt worked on WAMLAW...on the fly...and I don't think it was rehearsed...you could tell by how the song built as they figured it out and worked it through. It's not just that they are competent...there are a million of those out there...but they have gotten to know one another...have a working relationship and know how to jam and how to just improv and work to make a song arrangement great and take cues off one another. And Angela, Quiana and Jacob have all grown too...and you can tell when you watch them off the performing moments...how they interact...that they are friends with one another. The communication that can happen with just a look or a smirk...it's all there.

I hope that when they do record the album that they allow the band to record with Clay. I think that they would record something awesome. Just by watching the evolution of ATD...you can see how the guitar work...and the tempo...and the drums...how it has made the song so much better than when we first heard it. I do not doubt for a minute that when they rehearse the song that they are tweaking and jamming and improvising to see how to make the song better.

I actually would rather have A, Qand J have their moments than have an opening act...it flowed so much better...and it gave Clay the chance to rest and to have the best show.

He was dang funny that night...and sexy...and just all that I could have hoped for. And when he sang WAMLAW...I thought I would die by thud. I just could not believe that he was actually going to sing it. After it was done...and when we were all done screaming out of sheer thud...and he sat down...we were yelling Thank you to Clay...over and over...and he looked at us...like...what? Thank me? He rested his hand on his mike...and got that look on his face like he was amazed at what he was hearing...it was that Wilkes-Barre look on his face after the MOAM sing along. He was verklempt and so were we.

WDC was smoldering...and I mean not just by what he did...but his voice. Oh dear Lord and Taylor...I do not know how he slays me with his voice. He was soaring...and holding notes...and hitting his lower register...and it was moan inducing. I had a crate full of oranges. Now the dancing...it was like a nice adddition to the singing if you know what I mean. We had some Take it Off yells...so that is still alive and well unfortunately.

ICMYLM...another dropped chin OMG moment. The Greek chorus of I love yous was there added with another saying I love you more. Then the shut ups started. It was during the piano intro...but it petered out in awe when Clay started singing. He has taken this song to new heights. It was just freaking beautiful...the yearning in his voice...the lost love...the desire...it was all there.

BFM...I heard it at GMA live and here...and they have worked even with this song and made it so much better. The pumping arms were back in the chorus in the audience and everyone was up and dancing when he sang this song. The energy...was just palpitable. He is so into this song...you can tell he loves singing it and just rocking out with it. ATD...well...he has won me over to this song. I just like the arrangement now and the melody and I just try to not listen for spinning balls and angels too closely. g He wails in this song...and he sounds as hubbie said...almost like Heart when he sings the song.

Iris...hubbie mentioned that he felt like it didn't sound like Clay when he sang the song. That he sounded almost rocker like and not like his normal self when he sang it sort of rocker growly. And oh did he. I love that song and how Clay sings it...just growl me to death okay?

Invisible...a song together with Clay to celebrate the love. He sings...we sing to him...closed loop. It is a blast and a great way to end the concert. And when he tugs now...I swear...you can see it in his face...okay...you ready? I am going to tug...hee...let's watch what you do...he tugs...we scream like mad...and he gets this self satisfied look on his face that you just want to say...you little sh*t. You know how to make us crazy and you love doing it.

Part IV: Thoughts of MrDancermom

Okay...the man really did enjoy himself although he watched through the camera viewscreen the whole time. He said it was hard because he wanted to dance to the music and he couldn't!!!! He said the day and the Fair were the perfect setting for the show...it just all came together for a wonderful evening. The sun setting with Clay singing is a wonderful addition to the show. He was sitting with someone from Boston but the man didn't know to ask for screen name or board affiliation...she must be...she is going to 15 shows who really welcomed him to the concert and Clay!!! So whoever you are...if you are reading this thank you!!! He said Clay was so funny and that he totally enjoyed the banter as much as the music. He understands me a bit more now...and the joy I get out of it. He felt the energy and the love and he was amazed at what it was like. He said that unless you experience it you could not understand it. He did say sometimes he felt he was an interlopper at a Sorority party...but that was just when stripedshirts, Starhorse and I were ahem...discussing what makes us thud...you know...thighs...hip shakes...or squealing. He didn't feel that at the concert itself. He just got caught up in the music...and the funny. He also got annoyed with the I love you Clay screamers and asked me WTH was that about?

The discussions about the Fandom have been interesting...about what is over the top...about what is normal...etc. He said it's very interesting because it's like we have built our own commuinity with a language that you need to learn to be a part of it when you are with a bunch of internet fans. He understands now though. But he still thinks I do not need to go to another concert. So maybe he doesn't understand all that well!

PArt V: Waiting for the busses...

I met Codmag...a lurker...and she is a doll and wonderful. We were being good...waiting patiently. Jacob came out...Savon, Angela and Felix I think went to the Fair to get some food. No one was being pushy...and on their best behavior at the heavy chain link fence. It would have been perfect...but the W#)$#&%@&^ Fair Security Guards shooed everyone away and treated us like a bunch of idiots or something. They insisted Clay left. This is just after Savon and the others told us he was still there. If you want us to leave say so but don't make up lies to get us to leave and be so condenscending about it all. But they were insistant and herded us out. I felt awful...not because I missed a chance to see Clay again but that he wouldn't know that we were there to give him a send off and to know we were there for him and loved him because he would leave and see...no one.

That was the only part of Meadville that I regret. The rest was absolutely all kinds of wonderful.

The drummer Felix is just the best....a little girl had asked Jacob if Felix could sign a drum stick for her. He signed it and trudged over to where we were and said...who's the little girl who wanted a drumstick autographed? He won points bigtime for taking the time to do that!

Congrats if you read the whole tome I just wrote...Meadville was a concert that I will long remember and cherish because it was so special...the show and all the people I met. So thank you Clay...and thank you Meadville...(but not the Security guards at the busses).