Clay's Blog

• LA Trip To See Clay

  10/03/06 1 Comment

  I think I'm almost recovered from the Kimmel trip.

  My friend and I arrived in LA on Sunday afternoon on September 24th. A friend from Clayversity picked us up at our hotel and took us to the beach where we had dinner at Ruby's. It was an adorable diner decorated in the 50'style. The food was delicious and we ate outdoors. It was really great to finally meet Julie in person .

  Monday we drove into Hollywood and did the touristy stuff. People had already been camping in front of Virgin Records waiting to purchase their wristbands and CD's for the signing. We went into the Virgin Record store and took pictures of all the Clay displays. WOW! I wish our record stores at home would put up all those beautiful posters and displays for Clay.

  
  
  

  It was fun seeing all the different names of the stars on the sidewalks. We checked out the Chinese Theater where the stars had their names, hand, and foot prints in the cement. My husband was ecstatic that I got a picture of the Roy Rogers and Trigger space. LOL!

  
  
  

  We took a tour of the Kodak theater. That was impressive. The high light was when they let us stand on the Kodak stage and look out over the audience. The guide kept talking about the Academy Awards. All I could imagine was how Clay must have felt standing there looking out on the crowd on AI finale night and how he must have looked and sounded singing. "This Is The Night".

  There were "Claymates" everywhere. It must have been the event of the year. We ran into friends that we have made in the last three years from all over the country. It was like a reunion. I wonder what the locals thought with all of us running into each other talking a mile a minute and hugging. It was a sight.

  We had fun stopping and visiting with everyone in the wristband line. My friend and I already had our bands but it was so much fun in the wristband line we stayed in line well into the night visiting. I had to go back to the hotel to take some medicine and we were having so much fun we planned on going back to the line. Once getting back to the hotel we decided to stay and get a few hours of sleep. I'm glad we did as we had a grueling next day ahead.

  
  
  

  We were back at Virgin Records by 7:00 AM. The line was unbelievable but everyone was still laughing and having fun. The people that already had wristbands had already started lining up in another line. So we got in line with them and met some more delightful people. Virgin Records is very efficient as to how they run their lines. We were in the first 75 but I guess the line wound way around the mall for blocks. We were escorted into the Virgin Records store in groups of 10. Quiana and Angela were standing next to Clay's table and both of them looked beautiful. Clay looked gorgeous and I loved listening to that accent . His new look really fits him. He very carefully put my name on the CD cover and underneath signed his. He was so nice and after making a comment on what I said he said " It was very nice meeting you, Linda". I know he said that to everyone using their name but it just goes to show that he is so polite and likes to connect with people.

  Next we went right over to the Kimmel line. We had tickets for the studio and we were plenty close enough to get our wristbands. But when the guy came out to give out wristbands the crowd really lost their manners!

  There was a lot of pushing, shoving and running to the front of the line. I won't go into details but we got the last 2 wristbands given out. We are forever grateful to our CV friends. We were all together. They got their wristbands and we were next in line for ours. A couple of people from behind us surged in front of us and the guy started to put the last 2 bands on them. Well, our friends really stuck up for us so the guy gave us the wristbands instead.

  After that we went across the street to use the restroom and grab an ice cream. By this time we had nothing to eat or drink all day and it was after 4:00. We got right back in the Kimmel line. We were in the first third of the line. It was amazing as the line kept growing. But it was growing from the front instead of the back. We had gone from the first third to way in the back after standing there for hours. We almost didn't get in. About 10 minutes before taping we were told we were now on standby status and may not get in. The 4 of us where at the front of the line with a rope going across to block us. When someone came out to usher us in all heck broke loose and people broke out of the line and ran in front of us. We almost didn't make it again. It was like a turf war. I was so disappointed in how the Clay fans where represented by all the self serving rude fans who had to put themselves first at the expense of others..

  The rest of the evening was wonderful. The studio is so small that no matter where you sat you can really see everything.

  Clay was so happy and funny. He and Jimmy really like each other. They laughed and joked with each other during the commercials. It was a great seeing how things are run behind the scenes.

  The outdoor concert was awesome. The stage was beautiful! Clay sounded wonderful and he looked like he was having a wonderful time. The crowed was going wild and really showing the love . When he sang Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word, he forgot a bunch of the words. The crowd kept screaming , cheering, and clapping like he was doing a glory note. When he finally started singing again he looked out over the crowd and signed "Thank You!"

  He sang "A Thousand Days", "Invisible", "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word", "When I See You Smile", and " Without You".

  The crowd was going wild and wanted him to sing more. He joked and said we had a choice…one more song or a Christmas tour. He needed to pay his band.

  He is so amazing and really connects with the crowd. It was worth the whole trip just for this concert! Everything else was a bonus.

  After Kimmel we walked to the party . Wow, that was quite a walk! We were all so exhausted we really didn't circulate. We found a corner with a TV, couch , tables ordered food and crashed. After watching Kimmel on the big screen we went back to our hotel. We got there about 3:00AM.

  The next day another California friend we met though Clay picked us up at our hotel and took us sight seeing. We had a delicious lunch at Dukes in Malibu. Then we went to the beach , we saw the carved horses carousel and walked the pier. There was a delightful musician there that was singing and playing a piano. He was singing from his album of love songs he had written. So my friend and I got another autographed love song album. LOL!.

  
  
  

  We stopped and got carry out. Then went back to our hotel and watched Clay on Larry King Live. Clay was wonderful and did a great job!

  The next day our plane left late from LAX so we missed our connecting flight from Salt Lake. We had a 5 hour layover there. It was nice to get home after our adventure. After spending a couple of days standing in line, no food, no drinks and seeing the Clay fan turf wars I felt like I had just come off a reality show. "Survivor Hollywood".

  I will never complain about the line in the grocery store again! All in all it was a great experience and I would do it again in a heart beat.

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