CLAY WITH A CAPITOL C IS SPRINGING ON THE FIELDS OF ILLINOIS

[LuvMyClay]

Her... where you sitting?

[BOZENA]

Deanna, I am out of paisley pictures....will have to look for some more!

Thank goodness....

Philly......If Woody said what he was wearing or whether or not bespeckled, didn't hear.....bad connection...sometimes I could hear and sometimes I couldn't

Bozena-for Charlotte and Raleigh...I don't have a cellphone, do you?

YES I DO HAVE A CELL PHONE .....
REMEMBER I HAD BOCA IN MY POCKET AT RALEIGH LAST ,MARCH

[lorraine]

ONE LAST THING.


I WANT TO BE BITTEN BY THE CLAYBUG TONIGHT.

AGAIN THIS REALLY MADE MY NIGHT AND TO KNOW THAT CLAY IS O.K.

HUGS
LORRAINE

[BOZENA]

ONE LAST THING.


I WANT TO BE BITTEN BY THE CLAYBUG TONIGHT.

AGAIN THIS REALLY MADE MY NIGHT AND TO KNOW THAT CLAY IS O.K.

HUGS
LORRAINE

LORRAIEN dear YOU'VE BEEN BITTEN A LONG TIME AGO...
JUST DON'T GET DEVOURED

[LuvMyClay]

Bozena and Her where are you seats at Charlotte?

[BOZENA]

:P  :P  :P  :P  :P  :P  :P  :P  :P  :P  :P  :P  :P  :P  :P  :P
GOODNIGHT CELLCERTERS
 :P  :P  :P  :P  :P  :P  :P  :P  :P  :P  :P  :P  :P  :P  :P  :P

THANK YOU FOR A REALLY FUN TIME....

[tiff]

Thanks to Her and Deanna!
Thanks to the cellcerters and reporters at the Claybaord!
Thanks to everyone here for the fun!

[BOZENA]

AM OFF TO OCD....
AT THIS RATE  I'LL BE AT 1000 SOON...
MUST THINK OF  A NAME ....

[wisconsinmaniac]

A huge Thank You to everybody who made it happen once again.  

It was good being with all of you.  

Clay sounded like he rebounded well from whatever happened.  

I do wonder if there was a security issue and/or if he missed the meet and greet.  

Hopefully, the people around him are very supportive.   And he certainly knows that his fans love him !

Prayers tonight for all who may be in harm's way because of the hurricanes.  

Think good thoughts.    Have a great tomorrow !

Barbara

[Moonshot]

Dangit! My power went out half-way through the cellcert and I missed the fun.  :(

But there are alot of huge branches laying in the yard and not through our windows so I suppose that's a plus.  :)  The only damage we had was some screening was ripped off our screened porch. So we are blessed.

And I've gone back through and read what I missed on the cellcert, ya'll were having quite the party up in here! Can't wait until the next one, hopefully I'll be able to stay the whole time.

[houstonclayfan]

I am happy to hear that you are ok, Michelle. A little damage for you but it could have been a lot worse.  We heard from Janet too (Claymaniac 2000). She still doesnt have power but is safe. The only one we havent heard from is Jan  :?

[Shakin4Aiken]

Hey everyone. Some concert huh? My seats were a lot closer than I thought! Clay did so well and all the songs were great! I loved Rosanna and TITN. Of course you can't forget Solitaire. I was just waiting for that one Soltaaaaaaaaaaaire! Awesomeness beyond words! :D

[quynn]

Thanks for reporting in Moonshot!  We've ALL been worried about you and the other's affected by Charley.  I can breathe a sigh of relief now.

Just got caught up reading the cellcert.  Sounds like Clay was magnificent as usual.  The description of Invisible has my curiosity peaked, and can't wait to see the downloads of that one.  

Sounds like you had a great time Shaiken4aiken.  And, your seats were even closer than you thought?  Way to go!  And I do understand what you mean when you say "beyone words".  He does seem to reder us speechless!  :)

[woodstock854]

HERE IS MY RECAP OF LAST NIGHT:
It will be an abbreviated version. That is all I have time for. And after, Indy, I will spend more time, I promise.

As you have read, wordsmith got press passes for me and ILClaymate. This is really her story. And it was her idea. I will just tell you that I was her freelance photographer for the day!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! The press passes didn't help us get to meet Clay, it turned out, but it did help us get closer to Clay. We had seats, but the seating arrangement was very poor. The stage was set behind the track, and then the best seats started. So by the time you were in the grandstand, it was pretty far away. ILClaymate said it was worth a try to get closer. When I got the tickets, they were selling Standing Room Only tickets on the track, but hubby didn't want to do that, so I got the best I could. We dedided to try to get down to the track, because we paid the same price for our tickets. So we went and asked the security person. They said it had to say SRO on our tickets, which it did not. wordsmith stepped in and used her "ahem" gift for the gab, and talked him into letting us in. Yes, I shamelessly left my family and friends behind in the grandstand for my love of Clay. And the THREE AMIGAS had arrived!!!

There were not as many people on the track as you would have thought. And as reported earlier, there wasn't much security around there, and no one seemed to care at all what kind of a camera you had, even though it said right on the tickets NO CAMERAS. We walked around a little until we found what we thought was the best place to stand, and yes, we were 20 - 25 feet from Clay and the stage. It was AWESOME!!! When we got down there, I turned and waved to my family and friends, and they waved back happily for us. So hubby got to sit like he wanted to, and I got to swoon shamelessly!!!

I won't go through the whole concert. I attempted a cellcert with Her, who did a marvelous job, but I couldn't hear a thing. Didn't even know if she was on the line half the time. I did read what she wrote, and I was glad so much of it got through.

To recap quickly, I will tell you my disappointments, and my favorite parts. Two things disappointed me. First of all, someone right up front held up a sign right off the bat and we couldn't see!!! Lots of people were yelling, Put the Sign Down. If it had stayed up much longer, the mild-mannered person I am  would have ripped it out of her hands. Nothing comes between me and my Clay!!!

The second thing was, he did not sing Run To Me, which is one of my favorites, and I did not hear it in St. Louis either in March. WAH!!!    ILClaymate said she would call me from Ft. Wayne so I could hear it. I do understand at these State Fairs it is a shorter set, but I was disappointed that RTM was the one cut.

The entire night was awesome, beyond belief, but I will narrow it down to my favorite 5 parts.

#5. Proud of Your Boy. I had not heard it before, and it blew me away. What a beautiful voice!!! It brings tears to my eyes now to think of it.

#4. This Is The Night. I had read how wonderful it is on this tour, and everyone who said that is absolutely right. It was outstanding. Goosebumps.

#3. Solitaire. Yeah, I know you will all be surprised this is only #3 for me, as this is one of my very favorite songs, and it was as superb as I could only have imagined. (But you will see why in #1 and #2) Beautiful rendition, I hung on every word. And the Glory note was as outstanding as at any other venue. He doesn't seem to miss. What a voice!!!!!

#2. Now this may surprise you, because it has nothing to do with his voice. During the James Taylor medley, when the back-up singers were singing their part, I (and probably most fans) were focused on Clay. I apologize to Jacob, Quiana, and Angela, but I did really come to see Clay, and I am so glad I did not miss these moments. We were close enough to see every expression on Clay's face, and we know how full of expression he is. His joy, smiles, sideways glances, smirks, and looks of encouragement for his friends were priceless. I cannot even describe it. I hope others paid attention to it. He is so giving and sharing, and it was just so much FUN to watch.

#1. DRUM ROLL You Were There. I had not heard him sing this song before. I purposely did not download much before my concert. I can tell you now I will be watching this download over and over and over again. To say I was BLOWN AWAY, is an understatement. I stood there with my hands clasped and couldn't utter a sound. He sang with such power and conviction and emotion, using his hands and body to emphasize that emotion, that I was moved beyond belief. And I honestly don't think I ever heard his voice more pure. It was BEAUTIFUL. When it was done, I stood there in awe. I leaned over and hugged Lynn, and I wasn't sure I could go on. As Philly says, Put a Fork in ME, I Am Done!!! That is how I felt at that moment, and I knew what was to come!!! It moved me beyond belief. I have not seen any other downloads of this song, but if it is out there, please download the IL version, because I can't imagine anything better.

When the concert was over, we slowly made our way back to my family and friends up in the grandstand. We met a very nice lady, Sally, from the Clayboard. She was delightful. She was older than us, had made t-shirts for her and her sister, and is a true Clay fan like us. We told her about claymaniacs and told her to come visit us here. That was fun.

We went up and met with the rest of our group and just could not stop talking. Finally the guards motioned for us to leave. LOL As we were walking out, an older woman was being taken out on a stretcher. Not sure what happened there. I hope she is OK today.

We walked out of the Grandstand, and there was Jacob!!! The Three Amigas ran right over there while the rest of the group wondered what we were doing!!! As I said earlier, we made our way to the front and Lynn took a picture of me and Angela with Jacob. He is SO cute, and tiny like others have reported. But so sweet and nice. Not shy at all to put his arms around us for the picture! I will cherish that!

It was a late night. We went out to eat afterwards as the three of us just couldn't eat before the concert. I still had my Clay shirt and button on, as did ILClaymate, so we sparked several conversations at the restaurant.

ILClaymate and wordsmith are everything I thought they would be. Wonderful new friends. ILClaymate is a little quieter, but not afraid to show emotion. She "bounced" thru the entire concert. I bet she has sore muscles today that she didn't know she had!!! And Wordy has the correct name... but I promised I wouldn't be too hard on her. I've already talked to them both today, ILClaymate through pms, and wordsmith on the phone. For all of you getting to meet other Claymaniacs at concerts, it is really special. And I get to do it again tomorrow and Monday!!!!! I am truly blessed.

I am happy and proud to be a Claymaniac, and equally happy and proud to be a Clay Aiken fan, who made all of this possible.
Love you guys,
Woodstock   :D  :D  :D  :D  :D

[ILClaymate]

Here is my recap although Woody said almost everything and covered it all very well!!  

This was my FIRST CLAYING (ie. virgin!) and it was all I ever dreamed of and more!  Just seeing OMC live in person for the first time is beyond words.  He is even MORE handsome and confident in person than just seeing him on tv or in pictures.  He just seemed to GLOW last night.  He looked gorgeous, loved his hair, his sparkling eyes, everything!  He was in a great mood last night and was joking around alot!  I loved it!  I am so glad that we did decide to go down to the track and stand so close.  And NO my muscles aren't hurting today, Ms. Woodstock!!  That was just adrenaline going there!!  

I had two favorite parts personally for myself that were just awesome.  I LOVED "You Were There".  Very emotional song that you can tell comes right from his soul which is such a touching performance.  Everything that is ever mentioned about this song/performance in the cellcerts or by other reviews is so true.  It was wonderful.  My second fav was TITN.  He sang this beautifully, even better than any other version I had ever heard.  I had not downloaded any of the other concert songs so hearing the little changes in this song was brillant.  This song was special for me because this was when I first took notice of OMC and fell for him when he sang it on the finale of AI2.  I hadn't watched many of the episodes before then.

I don't really have any negative things to say at all.  He was more than I ever dreamed.  I am so glad that I am going to 2 more concerts and that one of them is the full set so I can see the whole thing.

We had no idea anything had happened while we were there, as in the bass player and the meet and greet.  Everything seemed to run smoothly and we didn't hear anything being mentioned about either one.  We even were at the radio station's booth that was sponsoring the meet and greet that afternoon and I guess we were there before it was cancelled because nothing was mentioned about it and nothing negative was said about Clay atleast to us.

It was wonderful to finally meet Woody and Wordy for the first time!  They are so much fun and I can't wait until Monday when I will see them again and meet a couple other Claymaniacs as well.

~Angela~

PS.  I also wanted to add that at the end of "Invisible" he does not say the last line "I already am".  It is a recording that they add at the end...it wasn't even Jacob because I was watching and was close enough.  And it doesn't have anything to do with sickness or whatever, I think it is just another changeup to the song because they add it in after the lights go down so it is kinda neat.  Just wanted to add that in there since some have questioned that from previous appearances.  And he didn't do the invisible jump either which I was waiting for with my camera on that!  LOL   I did see that LOVELY T-SHIRT TWICE but I wasn't quick enough with the camera to get it!   :?  :  :D  I have added my pics to the photo album thread as well if you want to see them.

[CT loves Clay]

All I can say to those reviews is, "It gave me the chills."  I just came back from PA last week and I know exactly what you girls are talking about.
I think it was Wordy that used the words "Spine Tingling!!!  You just don't get over those feelings in one day - ohhhhhh nooooooo!

He is worth every penny and any distance one has to travel to get to.


Linda