Finally! This is long and boring, but I was compelled to write it down anyway. You have been warned!
Charlotte.If you read my earlier post, you know I was fortunate to have been gifted with a front row seat for this show late Saturday afternoon. Thanks again to Christmas angel
Barb Weber for her generosity!
We were greeted to the show by...Durham! While walking from the parking lot to the theater, Mom and I heard a dog barking his head off. I told her about the ever-vocal pup and sure enough, we looked over and there he was, being walked by someone near the bus, barking non stop.
The Greensboro Symphony was small yet quite talented. They played the Mannheim Steamroller arrangement of O Come Emmanuel (I think) and accompanied a sweet little girl with a nice voice singing The Hippopotamus Song. Then, the conductor announced they were going to do something special. I leaned over to Barb and whispered, “sing along!” and the conductor pointed at me and said “that’s right! A sing along!” Yikes. At the intermission I told Barb I was keeping my mouth shut during Clay’s segment – if the conductor heard that whisper then Clay would be able to hear anything I said. Or moaned. That could really be dangerous, if you know what I mean.
During the sing along, I noticed the person right next to me had a really beautiful voice. She was singing the harmony line of White Christmas, and it was just lovely. When the singing was done, I turned and told her so. I thought then that she looked familiar. It took until intermission to figure out it was Alison Lawrence from JNT2 and Clay’s music teacher in school. D’oh! I was in a pre-fog, remember.
Clay enters from stage left and immediately launches into Christmas Waltz, then straight into The First Noel. Then, he starts talking. Soon after, he sees Alison and walks over and stands directly in front of me, introduces her, and then invites her to stand up and talk about what a smart aleck he was in school.
She literally stood up and took two steps and she was at the stage; that's how close it was. He crouched down so she could speak into the mic.
See those pics up there? Yeah. I died, but quickly recovered.
She tells about his smart alecky answers on a particular test in music theory class. “What is a note?” Something you pass around in class. “What is a measure?” An inch. “What is a bar?” Somewhere to get a drink. “What is a key?” Something that unlocks a door. “What is a scale?” Something you weigh yourself on.
So, a history of being a wise guy eh? And yeah, she really did make him clean the bathroom floor for it too. With a toothbrush. I asked her later if that were really true, and she said "absolutely!"
She said she still had the test, and I said “eBay gold!” along with half the audience. Hee!
He then segued into Merry Christmas With Love, sharing that it was Alison that first introduced him to the song. And, he sang much of it to her, so sweet. Sweet for me too.
This was when I attempted to call
Clandy. When he headed back toward Alison (and me!), I dropped my phone on the floor. Well, he was standing right in front of me, singing so sweetly, I felt it would be rude to scrunch down and reach around under my seat looking for my freakin phone, so I just left it there!
It lay there quite a while, so I have no idea what you heard or when it lost the signal
Clandy! I'm sorry! But I was a little bit frozen. Or mesmerized.
From the very moment he first began addressing the audience, people were rowdy as all get out. Yelling stuff out, screaming even. One of the first things he said was that he felt like he was on the Jerry Springer show, and that this was “not a Jeff Foxworthy concert!” Oh, I forgot to mention that after I introduced myself, I was asked by my neighbor if I was “one of those screamers…?” I said no of course. I had the impression she was very relieved.
Actually, she seemed quite annoyed on behalf of Clay at the screamers. Of course, he made the best of it, as always. Even during the I-talian word of the day, people were saying the same stuff that had been said at previous shows. Looks like they could have at least been original.
No, there was only the ubiquitous “Marry me Clay!” and “Git er done!”
Needless to say, no one but his college professor even tried to guess the word of the day meaning, which is why he made the crack “…of course not – it’s Greensboro!” Everyone groaned appropriately. Then he said something like “well, I’m from here too!” Not quite a “save” but he tried!
He was very funny, and my Mom thought he was just a hoot. But really…it was kind of like a circus whenever he brought up the lights. Claymates vying for his attention, not really caring how they got it. I don’t think he minded too much, but it was a little annoying to me. If there were any inexperienced Clay concertgoers there, let’s just say they may have been a little bit skeered.
Along with Alison, his Mom was there, and sister Amy, and one of his professors from UNCC. Gregory was also there! He mentioned something about growing an inch, and somebody yelled out something smutty! Yikes.
During Sleigh Ride, the sound system kept emitting a loud popping sound. He expertly worked it into his performance, and even though I hate to admit it, it was hilarious. I’ll just let the clack speak for itself on that one.
But then, he asked for a fix or a new mic, because he had “Jesus songs coming up!” Hee!
But first, The Christmas Song and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. The arrangement for the latter was sort of slow and jazzy. OMG…he sounded amazing. You know, I mentioned I kept realizing my eyes were closed – several times. This was one. It was almost like I couldn’t handle seeing him and hearing him at the same time. Good grief…that looks ridiculous in written form. Oh well. I'm a fangirl, what can I say.
The “Jesus songs” were amazing. Mary Did You Know was passionate, but flavored with a sweet sincerity that conveyed the meaning with no uncertainty. He mentioned Brett in the intro to Grown Up Christmas List as usual, and it was just about as powerful an interpretation as I’ve heard him do. He was feelin it. Emmanuel was haunting and so very effective.
Don’t Save It All blew my hair back a little bit. Wow! Just before the last line, he put the mic back in the stand, moved deliberately to front center stage, and delivered the final line in his true, unamplified voice. OMG….it was an unreal experience to hear just his voice, no mic, minimal orchestra, just him. “You gotta give love.” It was in your face, but in a good way. I would have given him anything right then.
He nailed everything, but his voice seemed a bit tired, perhaps a residual effect of his ear infection. Or maybe the 18 shows in 23 days he did while still going out in the cold night air to greet the fans after the show….
Speaking of which, my Mom decided she wanted to do the bus thing. She loves to experience new things (love her!), so we went out to be included with the throngs. We hung out for about an hour, saw Faye walk through the crowd, then Jaymes Foster drove through in an SUV. They announced it would be another hour before Clay would greet the fans, and since we had an hour and a half drive and it was already 11 pm, we decided to depart.
Of course he came out like twenty minutes later.
It was an amazing evening. I do love my pop concerts, but these small venue shows are so special. I wouldn’t mind doing it all again, even from the balcony. But I'd rather not wait until next Christmas.
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