RITACCO CENTER TOM'S RIVER FAN REVIEWS

[clayMaine-iac]

JULY 28

[quynn]

Experiencing Clay's very first JBT concert in person was exhilarating to my Clay deprived senses.  This long awaited and much anticipated concert was more than I could have ever expected from Clay, because, to me, it was not just a concert....... defined as a performer singing songs to an auidence......this was a work of showmanship for Mr. Aiken, a truly professional "SHOW."   I was entertained by a "mystery" man who some how reached beyond his surface talent and fluidly and seemingly effortlessly morphed from one song set to another into the persona of Elvis, Barry Manilow, Ricky Martin to the ultra cool Prince.   Who else would belt out the intro to "When Doves Cry" wearing a choir robe and then rip into a seductive rendition of the song?  A brilliant performance that I hope everyone gets to experience.  Who was that amazing guy?  Was it Clay?  The man who repeatedly attempts to make us believe he's got no rhythm when it comes to cutting a rug?  Don't believe it.  The man has graduated dance class and can shake his bon bon right up there with the rest of the big leaguers. 

Clay brought not only the songs of each musical era to the stage, he managed to provide the ambience of each decade as well by being in character and not just skin deep.......he had the clothing, the hair the moves....he captured the soul of each performer and emoted that essence to his auidence.  The Man CONNECTED with a CAPITAL "C".   There were definitely no "low battery" signals sent last night.  Did he stretch those long arms out through the auidence?  Sure felt like it to me.  I was truly TOUCHED by his magic.   It was mesmorizing to watch each new singer emerge from this man with the blink of an eye.  My heart skipped and did double dutch with the anticipation of who would appear next on the stage. My cheeks and face muscles are a bit weary today from the endless smiling that I endured last night.  I honestly don't remember sustaining my lips in that upward crescent shape for such a long periord of time....ever!  I must have looked like an animated smiley emoticon, clapping and swaying to the music.  I'm glad I didn't wear yellow to the show.  And, along with that prolonged SMILEY face,  the happy endorphins attached themselves to my heart, and from there flowed to my body, mind and soul.  Who needs drugs or even Calgon when Clay's got that magical power to take you away?

I WANT MORE!

When the sands of the hour glass flowed from the rock and roll 50's to the current pop/rock decade, this polished entertainer shed his enormous cocoon and sang for his fans as the new, more mature and confident man, shaped by the journeys he's traveled since our last concert tour, and we all know he's been following the path of humanitarian.  Nothing ever remains the same.  We are all in a constant state of motion like the sand dune and Clay is no exception. Forever changing shape in the wind whether it be gentle breezes or gale force hurricanes.  I love the Clay of Summer 2005, throwing out to his legions of fans a few crumbs of new songs to come.  Tasty morsels, indeed! It will be interesting to see how his life's lessons will influence his new material.  I can't wait!



Thank you Clay for giving me one of the best nights of my life!  If I had a "STANDING OVATION" emoticon, I would insert it here! 

[clay4me03]

Are there gonna be any downloads of the concerts?  I can't seem to find them on the new site...am I not seeing it?

Jacki

[Pamela]

Thank you quynn! It sounds like a sensual experience; and by that I mean of all the senses, as in visual as well as auditory!!

Per GWENN, I'm bringing over her post from the cellcert thread --

I AM BARELY AWAKE.  COULDN'T FALL ASLEEP AFTER LAST NIGHT AND I AM WAITING FOR GMA.

I WILL POST SOME NOW AND SOME LATER.

I HAVE BEEN TO 15 CONCERTS.  I HAVE SEEN THE PANTS OF PERFECTION LIVE.  I HAVE SEEN THE CHARLOTTE/RALEIGH HAIR.  ETC.  BUT I HAVE NEVER, EVER SEEN CLAY LOOK SO FABULOUS. OR BE SO F***ING SEXY. 

THE SHOW STARTED WITH A TIMING SNAFFOO.  WE MISSED THE FIRST 2 MINUTES WHICH UPSET ME BECAUSE I REALLY WANTEDD TO HEAR AND SEE THAT FIRST NOTE.  BUT---I TOOK ONE LOOK AT HIS GORGEOUS FACE AND TOOK IN THE NEW PANTS OF PERFECTION, AND ALL WAS FORGIVEN.

MY FAVORITE PART OF THE SHOW WAS THE FIFTIES.  CLAY OUTDID HIMSELF.  BOTH VOCALLY AND THE WAY HE LOOKED AND DANCED.  I WAS A LITTLE DISAPPOINTED IN THE SONG CHOICE FOR THE 60'S BECAUSE THAT IS MY FAVORITE DECADE BUT THAT IS SUBJECTIVE.

THE 70'S WERE FUN.  THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE 80'S-----OTHER THAN HEARING BOTW LIVE---WAS WDC.  WHEN HE CAME OUT IN THAT CHOIR ROBE, I THOUGHT----OH NO!!!!!!  BUT THEN THE MUSIC STARTED AND---OMG---OFF CAME THE ROBE AND THE MOST SENSUOUS VERSION OF DOVES I EVER SAW.  CLAY BEING THE AGGRESSOR?  BELIEVE IT.

THEN THE 90'S AND THE HIGHLIGHT HAD TO BE LA VIDA LOCA.  SOMEONE IS  TEACHI8NG THAT BOY VERY, VERY WELL.  WHO WOULD BELIEVE THAT TAKING OFF A VEST COULD BE SO SEXY?

THE 2 NEW SONGS WERE UNREAL.  THE FIRST ONE IS SO FABULOUS.  I LOVED THE 2ND AS WELL.  IF THIS IS WHAT THE CD IS LIKE, I AM WORRYING NO LONGER.  I LOVED WHEN HE SAID---IT WILL BE OUT WHEN IT'S READY.

I THINK THERE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE AN ENCORE BECASUE THE INTERPRETER FIOR THE DEAF JUST STOOD THERE WHEN THE FIREWORKS BEGAN.

I COULD GO ON AND ON.  IT WAS SO AMAZING.  CLAY IS THE BEST ENTERTAINER EVER.  HE FEELS AND EMOTES EVERY SONG--WHETHER IT IS FAST OR SLOW.  HIS FACE CHANGES AS THE SONG DOES.

MORE LATER.

GWENN

[lovinclay]

Last night I stated that this was two hours of pure entertainment, and it was for me and all who got to witness the many faces of Clay.  I have to admit, I was a little skeptical when I heard he was going to cover Ricky Martin.  Clay????? Covering Ricky Martin????  Could he possibly pull this off????  And Elvis????  Our little home-grown southern geek is as far away from Elvis as I am from ah well....Britney Spears.  Oh, I had no fear about him vocally.  In that category, he's better than Elvis, and definitely better than Ricky Martin.  But the moves......would he dare try them? He can't dance (or so he wants us to believe).  Clay, honey, I think you've been tellin' some little white lies.

 I have to say, I think my favorite decade was the 50's.  I loved the outfit!  Clay in a short black leather jacket with tight (yes...tight, ladies) black pants, on top of a piano, thrusting those hips towards us.....well, it just doesn't get any better than that!  Or, at least I didn't think so.  Enter the 90's.....Clay in tight (yes, he finally has clothes that fit him) jeans, thrusting those hips again and shakin' his little latin bon bon (oh wait....he's not Latin.....well, ya coulda fooled me) to La Vita Loca.  Who's his dance instructor?  Sunny, are you holding out on us?

I would find it very hard to believe that anyone would come away from that concert unsatisfied.  Clay had a little something for everyone.  Occasionally, I would look around me, and I would see people of all ages....men, women, children dancing and singing, and clapping to the tunes.  He walked us thru each decade.  I was at the malt shop, putting nickles in the jukebox.  I was at a dance in my plaid shift dress and flats, my tight flip held back with a  headband.  I was at a disco with my best friend, Albert, in my high-heel pumps (no open toe shoes, please!) spinning around the dance floor. I was in front of my TV, watching the prince of pop moonwalk across the screen.  I was......well, I was living la vida loca!    And finally, I was watching reality TV, a new show, American Idol, where some skinny dork with freckles, big ears and feet , and an amazing voice turned into a sexy heartrob before our eyes.  Wonders will never cease, and neither will Clay Aiken!

[cjrmax]

I have thought all day about how to write this review, what I should say.  I sit here now, still unsure.  I have figured out why I am so confused, though.  For me, this concert was two different experiences.  On one hand, if I look at it objectively, I see flaws and potential problems.  But my heart is telling me something different.  In that way, this concert experience is much like a boyfriend, a husband, a lover.  Your heart often makes you overlook the flaws.  Most of the time (I would like to believe) that is a blessing of the heart.  When you start to dissert something that meant to be felt, you often destroy it.  Emotions are not made for dissection. They are made to feel.  And last night, I felt the Aiken!  And he felt good.  Very good.

I didn’t want to spend too much time on the flaws I saw when I put on my objective glasses, however, I do feel they bear mention.  The first, and most obvious, was the debacle of the starting time.  The lion’s share of the blame goes to the organizers of Tom’s River Fest, but Clay – or more accurately perhaps – Team Clay does have to share in the responsibility.  The tickets said 7:00pm. The concert should have started at 7:00pm.  For whatever reason, the organizers at TRF decided at some point to change it to 8:30pm.  We called and talked with several people, all verifying the concert would start at 8:30pm, even up until the morning of the concert.  We arrived at the grounds at 7:30pm, an hour before show time; only to find out Clay was starting any moment.  The people we spoke to told us numerous times it was Clay’s decision, not theirs, to change the time yet again.  The result was, by the time they got us over to the actual site of the concert (which was quite away from the gate where we came in), we missed that first note, the entrance, the very first song of the very first concert of this tour!  Oh we could hear it, from a distance.  But that is not the same.  By the time we were walked around all over hell and gone in an effort for someone to figure out where our seats were, we had missed about 10 minutes, only being able to watch it in bits and pieces while waiting for someone else to figure out what to do with us!  By the time we were seated, I was angry and that anger inhibited my ability to really enjoy the first part of the concert. There was, however, one bit of silver lining in that cloud.  They walked us at one point right in front of the stage. As we passed by, I kept looking up at Clay, looking resplendent (oh hell, HE LOOKED HOT!!) in his black leather jacket with the tucked in, nicely fitting t-shirt, and the even more nicely fitting black pants (Hey – I just figured out why they are called pants!  When you look like Clay did in those pants, they make you pant!!  Get it??? Ok, that was bad!)  Anyway, as we walked by I kept watching his face.  I know he looked down at one point and caught my eye, probably wondering who we were and what we were doing walking in front of the stage. That, for some reason, made me look away from his beautiful face.  My eyes wandered down just as he did a nice pelvic thrust.  And what to my wandering eyes should appear????? ~insert devil emotion here~  Hehehehehe! See, every cloud does have a silver lining!!

But I digress.  The set was fine. Nothing special.  It fit better with the 50’s than with the other decades because it reminded me of how a high school gym decorated for a sock hop might have looked – a simple painted backdrop was the primary focus (and a wrinkled one at that!).  After the elaborate Mother Ship of the NAT and even the set of the IT, it seemed to lack something, almost making it appear amateurish. As I said, it reminded me of a high school dance, or a set of a high school production.  That to me was a bit disappointing.  I also didn’t think the sound system there was especially good.  I heard strange sounds from time to time, even feedback and the mics sometimes sounded scratchy (and if I were a mic and had been handled by the Aiken the way he handled those mics, I would be purring!).  It was so bad during “Solitaire” that it even seemed to throw Clay off, as he missed quite a few notes, enough to make me cringe, until he tore his ear piece out of his ear. 

Perhaps the greatest criticism I have of the production, though, was the pace.  For me, it was way too frenetic.  It all went by in such a whirlwind; I have a hard time knowing what he even sang!  I think the production would have been better if he had done fewer medleys and more full-length songs.  One thing that always annoys me about American Idol is not getting to hear full length versions on the songs.  I started to feel that way last night.  He didn’t need to put 70 + songs in the show.  If he had cut out one medley per decade and maybe a song from each medley, he would have been able to sing one or two more full-length songs per decade and I personally think that would have improved the show immensely.

Overall, I thought his song choices were good, especially in the 50’s.  The one decade I thought he made poor choices was the 60’s.  First, he almost ignored the one dominating influence on music in the 60’s, and arguably in music history, and that was The Beatles.  He only did one Beatles song, “Can’t Buy Me Love”.  To put it in perspective, he did one Monkee song.  To give the Monkees the same due as The Beatles is just wrong.  The Beatles, at the very least, were worthy of their own medley, as he did for Elvis.  Personally, I think he would have better represented their importance in musical history if he had done a medley of their songs and one full-length song.  The other area of the 60’s that was so important to music as well as the times and climate of our nation, and indeed the world at that time, was the folk and protest songs of the era.  How could he not include something by Bob Dylan, such as “Blowin’ in the Wind”, for example?  The 60’s song choices were off, in my opinion.

As for the two new songs, the first, “Back to Me”, was fantastic!  Here we had Pop!Star!Clay! in all his glory!  It is VERY radio friendly, and while it still speaks of broken hearts and angst, its upbeat tempo and rockin’ sound could make it his “Breakaway” and open the doors to radio, which thus far have been closed to him, and legitimatize him as a pop star.  I was more ambivalent about the second song, “Just For You”.  Perhaps when I hear it more I will like it more.

His voice sounded great (when the sound system cooperated).  He demonstrated his amazing versatility of voice and style.  He looked fabulous.  His stage presence and command of his audience is unparalleled.  His joyful, heartfelt enthusiasm is evident when he is on stage – he so obviously loves it. He used his talented back-up singers, who seem to him, and to us, more like family than back-ups, beautifully, showcasing them over and over (Quiana’s “I Will Always Love You” put Whitney Houston to shame!).  The production (except for the set) was very polished and professional and Clay himself seemed very polished and professional, all the while retaining his down home charm and wit.  He took that stage as a mature man and a more seasoned performer.  Despite the inevitable comparisons to AI that will come from a concert of covers, with this show, he has completely shaken the image of that gawky boy from North Carolina who first walked out on the stage at American Idol two years ago.

All that said, in the end its what the heart feels that matters most.  The Aiken came. We came (over and over and over….. ~~insert 2 devil emotions here~~) He sang. He conquered.  He oozed sex and we lapped it up.  In all seriousness, it was like a great night of sex after a fight.  The foreplay was lost within the fight, that being the starting time debacle and subsequent missing of the first part of the show.  Then, somehow, the anger changes over to passion.  Clay somehow found a way to take my anger, and me, throw me to the floor, have his way with me over and over, until together we reached a climax.  Then, as the first now comforting and familiar strains of  “Invisible” are heard, we settled back into each others arms, our hearts full, happy, contented, satisfied.  And left wanting more.  Much more.

Somehow it seemed fitting the night ended with fireworks.

[lorilovesgolf]

In all seriousness, it was like a great night of sex after a fight.  The foreplay was lost within the fight, that being the starting time debacle and subsequent missing of the first part of the show.  Then, somehow, the anger changes over to passion.  Clay somehow found a way to take my anger, and me, throw me to the floor, have his way with me over and over, until together we reached a climax.  Then, as the first now comforting and familiar strains of  “Invisible” are heard, we settled back into each others arms, our hearts full, happy, contented, satisfied.  And left wanting more.  Much more.

Christie - I need a cigarette - and I don't even smoke.    Great review and I am sorry you had such a debacle with the start time.  Hopefully all the glitches will be gone by Valdosta.  Its never good to be the first concert - they seem to get better the more he does. 

Jill - eloquent review - I'm glad you had such an awesome time too!!

[paclayfan]

It was Thursday morning, I was at the shore.  I didn't have tickets to Tom's River because I decided it would be too much hassle... the seating... outdoor venue...a first time festival like this was going to be a mess....limited funds...I'd see him at the Borgata, that would be enough. 

Well, by the afternoon my OCD kicked in big time. I talked (read: guilted ) my 12 year old daughter into giving up the dolphin watching we had planned,  to go Clay watching.  We hopped in the car at 4:30, and got to the fest about 6PM. I was very impressed with how organized (other than the time fiasco) the fair was run, including the parking.

Needless to say, I bought every junk food my daughter asked for ( funnel cake, dippin dots, etc.)

Luckily we were able to buy tickets. We got good seats on the first row of the bleachers, not too far from the stage. I was so psyched.

Clay was just awesome. He really has grown so much. Some of the others have stated their feelings about the concert. They did a beautiful job and I couldn't agree more. He rocked Tom's River. He stole my heart again.

After the intermission, my daughter and I were snuck up to the front and were about 5-6 feet away from the stage (at the side) They had allowed people to move up. We sang and danced . It was great. I felt like I was a teenager again


I loved the 50's set, but everything was great. My favorite song was "I Can't Make You Love Me". There were more than a few groans and giggles during the "lay down beside me" part!  The new song was awesome, I agree that it could be his break-out song.   WDC was a great surprise. I was fortunate that he and Angela were on our side of the stage.  That was some "up close and personal" Clay ! Woo!! I'm still trying to recover!!

It was a great night! He just stirs so much emotion inside of me, it's hard to explain.
I'm so glad I have this website, no one, especially my husband,  really understands how strong these feelings are.  Even though I rarely post (I may hit 100 in 2 years!) and I've never met any of you, I do feel like I know and understand you all, and vice-versa.

Thanks for being here and sharing!
Deanna in PA

By the way, I was so revved up , I couldn't sleep. That was fortunate because my daughter woke up and threw up all the junk food she ate all night!!  (You can nominate me for Mom of the Year any time you want!!)

[mrs. c.]

Ladies...all I can say is You're reviews are so well written, and I feel everything you felt!!! Christie, I'm with Lori, I don't smoke either, but shoot, I'd like a smoke also!!!  Dang...

[Her]

WOOHOOO....even with the stuff not liked, seems like overall CLAY ROCKED....I'll find out personally in a week; elsewise, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS...Love "living" Clay thru fellow Maniacs!!! 

I hope there are no other time debacles...that was a shame..

[LiftClayUp]

Thank you, thank you , thank you.  I loved all the reviews..  Paclayfan your review had me with you every moment including the daughter throwing up.  I probably would have been throwing up with her because I eat when I am excited and what she ate sounds good to me.

[Pamela]

It's all like a roller coaster ride -- maybe we should all take some dramamine.

Or, something stronger. 

Speaking of dizzy, Micki, I wish I could have seen you spinning around the room... 

Christie, my ceiling fan is on high, my air conditioner is on low, and I'm still .... glistening. 

I am cracking up at your story DeannaPA! OMG.  Your poor daughter. 
We are here for you sister!  Any time, all the time!   

From the pictures, reviews and cellcerts so far, I feel quite certain that my criteria will be met. 
Hey, girls just want to have fun!  If I can stay awake through Sailin, I'll be good to go.

What. 

 

Thanks everyone!

[lovinclay]

Pamela, sweetie.....you ain't sleeping thru a second of this concert.  Not even "Sailing".