PITCH YOUR TENT, CLAY'S HOLDING THE FORT AT INDIANA

[claydevotee]

our closing ceremony Monday morning at the Fort Wayne Krispy Kreme.

sniff, sniff. ....Sorry I had to miss the "closing ceremony" this morning,  Renee sweetie.   Mama Dev just isn't the party girl she once was in the "good old days"!  But I'm so glad you and Colleen knocked on my door this morning to say goodbye.  I love you girls!!!  And I love all of you wonderful ladies that I was able to meet in Ft. Wayne.  

Review yet to come.  Also I will attempt to download pictures taken with my new camera phone over the next few days.  Wish me luck!

[ILClaymate]

Ok, here is my official review!!  I'll break it up into 2 posts since it is a bit "wordy"!!!  What can I say, I had a great time!

What an exciting weekend this has been and one that I will never forget! It was wonderful meeting so many Claymaniacs! I only had a 3 1/2 hr. drive to get there which seemed to take forever getting there. I was so excited and nervous on the way there. I finally got there and checked in. I had spoken to Houstonclayfan (Colleen) on the phone and got her room# which was right across the hall from mine. I went to their room and met Colleen, Songbird (Renee), and Ilovetowrite (Shannon). They were all so sweet and we had a great time getting to know each other. We had a little time to chat and hang out before Glory arrived which was neat. Then we met Glory and her daughter and son-in-law. Her daughter is so beautiful and her son-in-law is gorgeous! They were both very nice. We also met Jan and Mama Dev at the hotel as we were getting ready to leave. We were going to meet them later. Then we went to a local Mexican resturant where there were some other Claymates from other boards there as well. While we were there, we met AdoringClay and Shaikeninseattle and Clayfann1. Again it was a fun time getting to know everyone. Then from there we went to another pre-party at the venue put on by the local radio station. There were alot of people already there when we got there and we wanted to sign up for the front row tickets they were giving away so we did that. Then we needed to find Jerome so that Songbird (Renee) could audition to sing. We walked all around the venue, by the buses, trying to find Jerome and we didn't see him. So we heard the we just needed to wait out front and he will come out. So we did and eventually he did come out. Guessing I would say there were about 20 girls trying out. Renee was about the 4th or 5th gal to sing and she did outstanding. I was really impressed and I think Jerome did as well. We all kept our fingers crossed that it would be her!! So we went back to the pre-concert party to see if any of us won the first row tickets or any of the other prizes. They were giving away Clay singles as well (as if we all didn't have gobs of them!). Both Clayfann1 and Glory won singles!! Unfortunately, none of us won the tickets. So we went to find out seats since it was about 20min until showtime. I helped Glory find her seat since she was on the 2nd level and then I went down to the floor to find my seat and see where everyone else's seat was. Mama Dev and Jan had awesome front row seats and Colleen and Renee were just 2 rows back from them in row 3. I was in row 17 and Shannon was in row 16 and we still had pretty good seats. It ended up that me and Shaikeninseattle had seats right next to each other and we didn't even know it until a little before! We had both gotten them on Ebay. So that was fun to be able to sit next to another Claymaniac! While Cherie was on, during her set she has everyone stand up so we were all standing up and then I realized that there was this gal in front of me that had to have been atleast 6'2"! My hubby is 6' and I know she was taller than him. So Shaiken and I look at each other like great....just our luck. We were on the aisle so that helped where we could hang out there a bit plus the lady that was next to me moved up to a closer seat somehow so there were 2 extra seats beside me so I was able to move and look around her which I was glad.

Ok, I'll continue with part 2 in another post....

[ILClaymate]

The rest of the story...

This was my first indoor venue Clay concert, my other 2 had been the short set at 2 fairs so I was excited to finally get to see the full set. I had told Woody that I would call her before Clay came on and let her listen until he sang Run To Me which is her fav song since he didn't sing that at the fair we went to.
Clay looked absolutely gorgeous as usual. His hair looked great and there was stubble. He was really having a great time making jokes and all. Jacob had on sunglasses and Clay was teasing him about them. Turns out Jacob has pink eye and you could tell on the jumbotrons when they showed him. During the last JT song, You've got a friend when they hold the last note (which Clay won), Jacob was wiping his eye and was acting like he was crying. It was funny.
During the dancing competition, he picked Linda of the famous Bob and Linda who go to all of his concerts. This was their 71st Clay concert. They have travelled over 50,000 miles by car so far. She was very attractive, probably late 40's/early 50's. She had these HUGE shoes on that at first looked like they were connected to her pants. Clay kept bending down trying to figure out what she had on her feet. They were really tall platform shoes that she had pulled her stretch pants down over! She said that she wears them to all the concerts because she is so short and that way she can see better!
We were all couldn’t wait for the singer to come out and see if Renee had been picked. Instead he said he was changing things a bit and that someone was going to come out and sing with him but it wasn’t anyone from the audience. It was Cherie’s tour manager, Charity. She wanted to sing IWCY with Clay since this was the last time they would be together (this was Cherie’s last performance w/Clay). So she (Charity) sang with Clay. It was ok and Clay sang harmony and he also motioned briefly for the backup singers to jump in as well since I think she was going a bit flat on a few parts. We were so hoping Renee would have been up there singing and I know she would have done a better job!
I have to admit (sorry Woody) that RTM has never been one of my favorite songs but hearing him sing it live is a whole different experience. He really puts a lot of emotion into this song and changes it up to where it is a great song! That was one of my fav performances of the night. The other fav of the night was ISY. I had seen him sing this at the fairs before but this performance by far was 10x’s better. I couldn’t believe it. I was like he was singing the words straight from his heart and to me (just my opinion) it looked like he was near tears at the beginning of it. Then it turned to anger/angst and was truly phenomenal. During the song he kept looking upwards and flaring his arms toward the sky. I had never seen him do it like this before. Truly amazing.
At the beginning of Clay’s part of the concert, Shaiken was trying to get through to Philly to do a cellcert with her but her cell phone kept disconnecting. So I told her that I was calling Woody for the first part and I can call Philly for the 2nd part during intermission since Philly really wanted to hear Signed, Sealed, Delivered. Well, he sang Chain of Fools instead which was good. TITN was excellent, better than I had seen before as well. Same as YWT, much better and the crowd was pretty quiet and reverent as well. Outstanding performance. Shaiken had her binoculars with her and she was so nice to share them with me. During YWT, she let me look since they didn’t show him on the jumbotron and you could tell he was singing this with all his heart and from his heart which is so inspiring.
Right before Solitaire, I noticed some people leaving and I wondered if I should leave to go to the buses then. I decided to wait and watch Solitaire which he nailed even though this was his 4th night in a row. Right after he hit the last note, I ran out to the buses. I just happened to be on the right side of the stadium where I could run right out the side door not far from the bus. As I was running out the door, I heard Colleen and Renee hollar my name and we just happened to meet at the right time so we all ran to the gates. Shannon wasn’t too far behind us so she was right there with us as well. We had told Glory we were not sure if we would be able to meet up at all at the busses since none of us had done them before and didn’t know how hectic it would be. Fortunately, she did find us so we were all able to be together. Colleen, Renee, Glory and I were standing against the gates since there were not too many people there YET thankfully when we got there. Shannon stood right behind Colleen and I. We waited for awhile and we saw the band come out and we saw the dogs, Dudley and Raleigh (so cute!). We saw Jerome and kept waiting to see OMC. Finally we see him! He had on a red Cincinnati t-shirt and I believe gray bottoms on. He got on the bus and sat his bag down and was in there for a bit while they waited on everyone to come out. Where we were standing we were able to look into the bus and we could see him moving around in there. He was eating something and talking to someone. We were standing near the building and the line formed all the way down the sidewalk to the street. When Clayness came out with Jerome he walked a distance away from us down toward the other end of the line and was going to make his way back up toward the bus. He was moving so fast! Since I was up at the gate/fence and there were several people behind me when he approached, the people behind me of course wanted to touch him as well so my arms were way out over the fence since I was hanging over from being squished. When he “flew” by I was so focused on touching his hand that I didn’t even look at his adorable face, hair, EYES, anything! So since my arms were out so far that is why I touched his furry arm instead of his hands. I touched his first arm as he came by and then touched the second arm as well!! I couldn’t believe it since it happened so fast!! We was so nice though to do that and kept saying on down the line “thanks for coming out”. Then we waited until the bus left and saw him wave to everyone from the bus.
We met up with Thea (Mama Dev) and Jan afterwards and decided to go to IHOP which was right next to the hotel and it was open 24hrs since it was almost midnight by then. Most of us ordered food since we didn’t eat much before the concert. We had a great time but I think we were all getting pretty tired. Then this morning Glory, Renee, Shannon, Colleen and I all met up and said our goodbyes while we were watching Regis to see about the Relly awards. Glory and her daughter and son-in-law needed to get going so we said our goodbyes to them and Glory was being so strong and didn’t cry even though I could tell she was close!! I hope I didn’t get her in trouble with her daughter when I said goodbye though. I told her it was great seeing her AGAIN (oops!). I don’t know how that popped in there! I’m s*rry if your daughter heard that Glory! Anyway, then after that Colleen, Shannon, Renee and I went to KRISPY KREME for breakfast which was kinda neat and helped with our CLAYOVER!! I thought it was neat because I had never been in an actual KRISPY KREME shop before since we don’t have them in Illinois atleast around here. I’ve had them before from fundraisers and when we visit my brother and sister in law in Raleigh. After that we said our goodbyes. It was a truly amazing time and I’m so glad I went. It was so exciting meeting all the claymaniacs and other clay fans as well.

Thank you Houston, Songbird, Shannon, Jan, Mama Dev, AdoringClay, Shaikeninseattle, and Glory for the wonderful time with wonderful friends!!

[ILClaymate]

Glory wanted me to move her review over here....
 

WHAT A WONDERFUL TIME WE HAD,JAN WAS DARLING,HOUSTON WAS MARVELOUS,RENEE WAS JUST PRECIUS,SHANNON HAD A INFECTOUS LAUGH,ANGELA WAS A DOLL,MAMA DEV,CRACKED ME UP EVERYONE WAS SO SWEET,
EMOTIONS WITH ME RAN SPORATIC THIS CONCERT,I CRIED A LITTLE BIT ON THE WAY UP THERE AND A LITTLE ON THE WAY HOME BUT GUESS I WAS OK,CLAY WAS JUST FABULIOS,EVERY NOTE SOARED TO THE HEAVENS,LIPBITE GALORE,I HAD A REALLY HARD TIME SEEING HIM SEAT WERE TO FAR BUT HAD MY DADS BINOCULARS WHICH HELPED,ISY WAS EARTHSHAKING,DAUGHTERS FAV,SONG WAS STO JUST LOVED HOW HE ROCKED ON IT.ALSOYWT BROUGHT TEARS TO BOTH OF OUR EYES,THE BEST PART FOR ME HOWEVER WAS AT THE BUS.
DO NOT THROW ANYTHING AT ME WHEN I TELL YOU THIS,I WAS STANDING BY THE FENCE,I HAD MY ARM OUT THE GUY BEHIND HAD ME PINNED SO I COULD NOT MOVE MY HAND BACK,CLAY CAME BY ME REALLY CLOSEMY LEFT HAND CARASSED HIS TUMMY WHILE I WAS TOUCHED BY HIS RIGHT HAND I SAW A SPARKLE IN HIS EYE,AND THEN HE WAS GONE,I WAS SPEECHLESS FOR A MOMENT,THEN BECAME A BASKETCASE,NOT BELEIVING WHAT HAD JUST HAPPENED,HAVE BEEN IN A CLAY FOG EVER SINCE.THEN ON THE BUS HE SCRATCHED HIS BACK I SAW SKIN YES SKIN NO T-SHIRT SKIN,BEFORE ALL THIS I SAW LITTLE RALEIGH JUST DARLING,READY FOR SOME ATTENTION FROM HER DADDY I POSE,I WILL REMEMBER THIS FOREVER,HE IS JUST SO HOT AND CUTE,SAD IT IS OVER NOT MUCH TO LOOK FORWARD TO NOW,BEING ABLE TO GO TO TWO CONCERT WITH AMAZING PEOPLE WHO ARE THE BEST TOUCHED MY HEART IN WAYS I HAVE NEVER BEEN TOUCHED BEFORE.I AM TRULY GRATEFUL FOR EVERYONE WHO HELPED MAKE THIS COME TRUE FOR ME.

[houstonclayfan]

Here is my review.  Go to the bathroom and grab a snack because it is going to be long.

I flew into Detroit on saturday to go to Fort Wayne. Renee (Songbird457) picked me up. She lives in Detroit and we already met back in March during the Independent tour. We drove the 4 hours to Fort Wayne. We got lost once but thats ok. More time to listen to Clay, right Renee ? Besides, it wasnt the day of the concert or on the way to the airport so its all good. I must also add that we stopped at this very strange gas station for directions. All the doors were locked and said "employees only".....  The pumps did take credit cards but there was a sign that said they took cash too. Where are you suppose to put the cash ? Nobody ever offered to help us as we looked in every window.   That is my unanswered question.  Sorry for the digression.....  

The ride was seriously a lot of fun though. To anyone that has met a close Claymaniac: The first time that you meet is great. The second time even better. I wonder what the third will be like.  I could say a lot about Renee but she knows that I love her and I will leave it at that.

Renee and I then explored Fort Wayne while waiting for Shannon (Ilovetowrite) to arrive.   Angela (ILClaymate) called us to check on Shannon. Did I tell you that Shannon rode in a bus by herself  for 24 hours to see Clay ?!!!!   If that isnt a true fan then I dont know what is !  
Right after Angela called, Shannon showed up - about 7 pm on saturday.
Since she works for a hotel, she brought us all a bag of goodies - tootpaste, shampoo etc. Too sweet !  And really convenient since I forgot toothpaste......   the concert tickets were my priority. If I am going to say anything about Shannon it is that she is exactly like Clay when it comes to humor. She giggles at the littlest thing and her laughter is so infectious !  You cant help but be happy around her. She made me laugh so much. She also made us beautiful yellow ribbons with silver pins in the middle. Some of the pins were crosses, some said WWJD, mine was an angel (how appropriate). When Shannon got to the hotel, we went to Walmart and bought purple and black streamers to decorate our hotel hallway in a Claymaniacs theme.  We had a banner that said Claymaniacs too. A member of the Clayboard from California knocked on our door and told us that we were awesome.  

We woke up the next morning and all met for Breakfast (Renee, Shannon and I).  We got to the dining room and Renee noticed the stack of papers. Clay was on the front page !!!!!!   A big picture and everything !  "Aiken is no longer Idol during summer tour" was the headline (that may be a little off. Someone is going to have to scan it.)  But anyways..  it was the FRONT PAGE !  Did I tell you that Clay was on the front page ?  With a great FULL PAGE article inside !  With a picture too..   Needless to say, the lady gave me a strange look when I bought them all.....  

We waited a few more hours....  we watched tons of montages to warm us up....   for Angela to show up.  Angela shows up....  with gifts too !
Guess what she brought us !  Goobers !  The candy !  Too funny !
And a jar of Clay M&Ms too.....  She is so sweet !  and lots of fun !

Then we had to wait for Diane (Glory).  She is as hilarious in real life as she is in her posts !   It was then time to head to the preparty at a Mexican restaurant to eat.

To be continued so you can keep reading if you arent bored yet.....

[songbird457]

Ok guys I promise, promise, promise to write my review. But I just thought I'd post this - it was taken by our own houstonclayfan (yay Colleen!) and it's my audition with Jerome!



Isn't he the coolest?  

[houstonclayfan]

The only people that we were missing were Thea (ClayDevotee or Mama Dev) and Jeanne (Jan). They had called and said that they would be late so not to wait for them. They would meet us at the restaurant. So Angela, Diane, Shannon, Renee and I go to leave.  We are in the parking lot when a SUV pulls up. We didnt have any nametags on or anything but the people pull over and say "you guys look like Clay fans.  Are you Claymaniacs ?"  It was Thea and Jan !  How they knew it was us I still dont know....  

Thea and Jan never made it to the restaurant because they got lost. Renee know thinks that she is truly her cyber mother because she got lost the day before too.  Thea is motherly enough to be ALL our mothers !  Trust me. And she is aggressive too. LOL  Watch out for her ! LOL

At the preparty (the organizer never showed up - isnt that weird ?), we met AdoringClay (Sue) and Shakeinseattle.  Shakein and Angela found out that they were sitting together. Apparently they bought their tickets off of the same person. Too cool !

We all basically played with our food but didnt eat anything because we were all too excited and we were excited to get Renee to audition with Jerome.  So we left for the venue....  

We got there early and we were all searching for Jerome.  We looked inside, we looked outside, we looked up, we looked down....  We went outside and walked around the entire building. As we were walking, we saw the buses out back and security was actually putting up a temporary fence !  So we knew that Clay would come out later on !  

We finally found Jerome (after seing the line for the meet and greet.  grrrr.....  Renee said that I gave someone an evil look. I guess jealousy took over. How wrong of me.) Renee sang great !  She was far better than anyone we heard. And I am not just saying that because she is a moderator on the board and I dont want to be banned....  LOL

Jan (Jeanne) have Jerome a picture of him that she drew and one of Clay as well. Then she showed him the one she drew of Jacob and he said that he would take her backstage to give it to him.  Woohoo !  Clay wasnt backstage but was with those evil meet and greet people. LOL  

There was a sign that said no digital cameras allowed - only disposables so I was too scared to bring mine in. I hate not being a rule-breaker !  But cameras did get confiscated....  Sigh.

We all went to our seats.  Renee and I 3rd row on the left side and Thea and Jan front row directly in front of us.  We could see Jacob, Angela and Quians toilet papering the stage during Cheries last show.  I was more interested in them than her. Is that bad ?  LOL  She was decent though...

But like I told Ros-de-anna - the wait was torture !  

And then her eardrums burst as she heard the screams.  WTSHNN.....  I hope there is a download available because the facial expressions and the mike action were to die for !  I think that may be my favorite of the night.

Both acts that were traditonally from people in the audience were heart-breaking. I danced my heart out (on a chair with my I Love Nerds shirt, two yellow ribbons and a Clay pin pinned to it) and he picked "Linda, of the infamous Linda and Bob that have gone to 71 concerts" and that was how he announced it too.  Sickening.  We were all hoping for Renee to be picked for the singer. She deserved it. But it was cancelled at the last minute so that Clay could sing with Charity, Cheries manager. Not even Cherie. Did I mention that Charity cant sing ?  Grrrr  Sickening.

I am not going to go through a lot of things because 1)The cellcert came from my phone so you got a lot of what I heard 2)I cant remember very much. Sad, but true.  Clay fog in the brain.

I must mention the posters though. We all know that they are annoying. they are getting more so.  Clay (go Clay !) said this after reading some signs "Scream all those that cant see because of a sign"  lot of screams "Put the signs down before all of those people become angry"  Or something like that. And the signs that I saw ?  Rude !  The lady in front of me had a sign that said "Sexiest man" with the picture of him in the grocery cart. Is that sarcastic ?  How do you think he took that ?!  I saw signs asking Clay for lots of things - hugs, kisses, can I sing with you etc. He gives us enough !  And finally the nasty signs.....  One last night said "Jacob, I can blow harder"  Jerome asked her to take it down and not put it back up. Ok, enough about the signs...

I enjoyed the James Taylor set - even with Clay not taking the lead all of the time. It allowed Clay to take a much deserved break and I enjoyed hearing him and singing him in the backup roll. He is quite apparent that they are more than coworkers and I could see how much fun they were having. Clay deserves to have fun any way that he can. And they all have beautful voices - even though we know who the star is.

Clay won the note holding contest by far. I dont know how he does it.

I agree with Angela and her comments on Run To Me !  Incredible !!!!  The changes and the hand movements were breathtaking. I jumped over my chair - literally - to take a picture and I got yelled at. I think Renee thought that I was going to get kicked out.

YWT - This was the first time I heard the song as I didnt download anything beforehand.  All I can say is that I loved it. There is more passion in that song than any of the others and I think it is because it comes from deep within his heart.

I was hoping for Signed Sealed Delivered but no luck. Chain of Fools was great though so I cant complain. Growls and grinding. What more could a girl ask for ?!

I smiled even more during Rosanna because of his air instrumentation
and because I knew that Ros-de-anna was on my phone. LOL

During Perfect Day, he was right directly in front of Jan and Thea. *THUD*  I dont know how they survived.

Eventually it came to an end.  Sigh.   And we heard the Goodbye and the first few notes of Solitaire.  It was at that moment that Renee and I decided to run for the buses. Contrary to popular belief (LOL), we are very short so we wanted a fair chance at seing Clay afterwards. We ran like the wind - listening to Solitaire on the way.  We made it to the fence and there was nobody in front of us.

To be continued....

[songbird457]

Ok guys, bare with me. i am attempting my review here (finally LOL). This will be long, but fun, I promise.

WEll as Colleen posted, I did pick her up at the Detroit airport. That is after I got lost and drove aruond the terminal twice and then ventured off a different way, taking me to some loading docks where I was told I wasn't supposed to be. I was like "I am supposed to pick up my friend, blah blah" and they directed me finally to where Colleen was (my apologies again, Colleen).
After that we shared a great 4 hrs or so driving to Fort Wayne. Mind you, I lived there for like 6 months a couple years ago. I was semi confident I remembered wehre to go and all that jazz. So we didn't get lost, right? WRONG.
Ok first of all - if you are going to block an entrance on the highway - give a gal some warning!    - Ok, so yeah - I went to go to our exit for the hotel and it was blocked so I figured the exit after would take me around to the city, right? EHHHH WRONG again!
So.... after stopping at a scary gas station we found one to fill up and get headed over once again to where we wanted to be. We eventally arrived safely and checked in, etc. Never did a hotel bed look so inviting after the hectic day we'd both had. lol

So I showed Colleen around the city and we went up to the huge mall and went to catch some eats. We were expecting Shannon (ILClaymate) to call but it was Angela! Yay! She told us she'd be there the next day. Yippee! Then about 2 minutes later Shannon (ilovetowrite) called and after Colleen and I finished eating we headed to the hotel to meet Shannon. What a joy! She is so fun to be around and like Colleen said, she is very Clay-like.
We did venture out (in the rain, mind you) to get streamers and whatnot for the hotel. Afterall we are CLAYMANIACS!!
So in that first night we met up with Shannon and had a chance to hang out and decorate. She did make us ribbons and I shared the ones I had made too. What a very fun night.

Part II to be in another post so you all can rest your eyes a bit.

[songbird457]

Ok Im back. LOL

so here we are the day of the concert. We met Angela (ILClaymate) when she got in and she is just a sweetheart! Shannon (ilovetowrite) had made us goody bags (she gave us them the night before) and then Angela had some clandy for us.
We eventually met up with Glory (Diane) and met her daughter and son-in-law. Glory is a hoot you guys. Don't let her fool ya. She is very soft spoken but she would be a great contender for Last Comic Standing! We all met downstairs to head over to the pre-party at Bandido's restaurant with hopes of seeing Thea(Claydevotee) and Jeanne (Jan) but they had told us they would be late.
Well we did see them before we left as Thea came riding up and immediately got out asking me (once she found out who Songbird was) if I'd auditioned yet. She was cracking me up because she was just as I pictured her. She is definately my cyber mom. And the poor thing gets lost just like lil ol' me. Jan and Thea said they'd meet us up at the restaurant but unfortunately got lost so we didn't see them again until we got to the stadium.    But Thea mothered me into making sure i got myself to meet Jerome early enough. She was such a sweetheart about it.

So we got to Bandido's and met Adoringclay, ShaikeninSeattle, and cLayfann1. They are all so sweet and I tell ya, when you meet other claymaniacs it's like you are meeting celebrities. I bet everyone in the restaurant thought we were crazy. But it is the most amazing feeling in the world and I wouldn't trade it for anything else  - well except for a hug from Clay. Too bad the organizer didn't show up. I would have loved to have met her.  
Of course the food looked wonderful but was I very hungry? Heck no. I was so anxious to meet Jerome and sing! I was so ready I could taste it. So after we hung out for awhile we headed over to the venue and began a quest for Jerome....

(short break - we will return after these messages)

[houstonclayfan]

Part 3  - "the buses" - AKA "The Blur"

Things that I remember -
1) I was by the fence and managed to find Renee, Diane, Shannon, and Angela. They were all with me. Thea was there but was far away from us.
2) I thought I was at the beginning of the fence but he started at the other end. In the end, I am happy about that because it lasted a little bit longer
3)He was wearing a red shirt and gray pants. No hat. Dumped a black backpack into the bus before coming to see us.
4)People were screaming "awwww" when they thought he was going to stay on the bus. I remember thinking that was rude and if he was tired (I would be !) then I would be ok with just saying goodbye by waving to the bus. I was ecstatic when he came to greet us. And my heart started racing when I realized I would touch him.
5)I touched his hands !   EEEEEEEE  !   OMG !  I touched his hands !  He said "Thank you for coming" and I said "I came all the way from Houston, Clay. I love you."
6)We saw someone walking Raleigh on a leash and I was so excited to see her and I was even more excited that Renee could meet her since she always have a Raleigh avie.

Things that I dont remember:
1)Seing the flip flops he was wearing
2)Seing his face as he went by me. I remember what he felt like - soft and warm - but nothing about what he looked like.
3)Taking any pictures - but I did
4)I feel like I remember almost nothing.  But it is all coming back.......

Did Renee tell y'all that she dropped me off at the airport and bought a plane ticket to Houston ?  Woohoo !  LOL   Start praying for her again......

[songbird457]

We went up to the pre-party that the local radio station hosted and hung out for awhile. Jan and Mama Dev did meet up with us at the venue and so did Glory, ILClaymate and ilovetowrite (did i miss anyone? Colleen when I say "we" I always mean us).
There were tons of people who had meet and greet passes - grrr. Ok, maybe not tons....but a lot.  
At the radio party they were giving away front row seats (none of us won) and other prizes (Glory did win a cd though). I was so anxious to meet Jerome though, it was killing me.
So after walking aroudn the venue (between 5:30 and 6:00) mind you the doors opened at 6:30 - and then trying to keep up on our cellphones (everyone was helping me find Jerome - awww thanks sooo soo much you guys - I love you for it), Thea told us to just wait in the lobby. We heard another girl say that Jerome was coming so I was almost frozen in anticipation.
He suddely seemed to appear out of nowhere. Followed by a mass of girls - one girl gave him a scrapbook and he used it to steady his 'notes' about each singer. He basically coralled us all into one area near the stairs and said "ok listen up. I am sorry but I may have to cut you short but if you want to sing i will listen to you one at a time". He was so sweet and is an absolute teddy bear. Colleen kept nudging me forward and at one point I accidentally bumped a girl in front of me and she got all attitude with me  
So then it was my turn: (GULP). Jerome was wearing a hat that said "I love my hat girls" it was cute. You can tell in the picture.  
So he asked me my name. He went to spell it and said "I know I butchered it, I'm really sorry" then asked my age and where I was sitting. Then he had me sing and it felt like he had me sing more, I kid you not. That's probably nto the case, but it felt like it - LOL. He didn't even really look at us when we sang - he just listened.  After I was done it was pretty much just over - lol. But I had my fans around (Colleen, Glory, Thea, Jan, Angela, Shannon, etc) It was so special and people came up to me after saying I had done a great job!
Now the waiting!!!
At this point it was time to head up and wait to find our seats. YAYYYY!!! Mama dev christened me with her CLay earrings and said that if I were to be chosen, Clay would comment on them for sure (sorry that they came off later on, Thea).
AFter colleen and I raided the souvenier stand we went in to hear and see Cherie singing and we both stood in awe of our seats. 3rd row - about 5 seats from the stage, catwalk, etc. WE could see CLay spit we were so close!! (and we did see him spit)!!!

Even though I had been to Clio, waiting for him to come onto the stage was like an eternity (not to mention I had to pee and I was hoping for Jerome to tap me on the shoulder lol). Finally, the lights went down: WTSHNN. Amazing as always. The facial expressions were priceless, the mic stand - sigh! He was wearing the blue shirt, striped pants and tie. Woo baby!!
Shine was awesome and then we eagerly anticipated the dance/lei  part. Poor Jacob had pink eye so Clay had to point that out too. And as you've now read a million times, CLay picked Linda to dance with - afterall it was only her 71st concert (rolls eyes) lol. But she had these huge platform shoes on. It ws funny.
I loved the james Taylor set - simply stunning. I just love Jacob, Angela and Quiana. Perfect DAy soared - right over in front of Thea and Jan as Clay sang to them!!! Then one of my new favorties brought us to intermission - RTM. I thought Clio was bad with my leaky eye syndrome, but I was ready to bawl watching him grasp the mic at the end of the catwalk, as he poured out him emotions in that song. Tears just ran down my face - I was in love!!!
INTERMISSION = Too long LOL
YWT made me cry again too as did TITN. That video they have put together just b rings me to tears thinking about how far he has come and all the wonderful things he has done and people he's met, lives he's changed, friends he has helped bring together. yeah - that did me in!

THen we got to Solitaire. Should we or shouldn't we leave? That was the question. i snapped a few pics at the beginning but soon after Colleen and I stormed out running to run out and try to get to the buses. Running up a sloped ramp, souvenier bag in hand, camera in the other, sandals flopping on my feet, my Mama Dev-made earrings banging me cheeks we were determined to get to the gates to see him
ANd we met up with Angela and Glory and Shannon at the gates and we waited while everyone came out at first - and then finally after an hr I think, he came out.....

[songbird457]

wow my tuyping got away with me. I forgot the most important part.

he chose charity, cherie's manager to sing with him instead of all of us hopeful fans.    I got so caught up in my story that i forgot to tell you that. LOL

[claydevotee]

IL CLAYMATE/SHANNON, SONGBIRD/RENEE AND HOUSTON/COLLEEN:

Your reviews were just beautiful couldn't have said any of it better.  This was truly a magical weekend for so many of us.  Talk about "good vibes" among a group of people!!!  I love you all so much.  Wish I could join up with you at some more concerts on this tour, but this past weekend was "it" for me until the next tour in 1995!  But I'm certainly not complaining after sitting in the first row AND having the privilege of shaking Clay's hand near the busses.  

COLLEEN and RENEE, have the time of your lives in HOUSTON with all of the other Claymaniacs!  And Renee, Mama Dev's instincts tell her that you are next in line for singing up on stage with Clay!  Remember to look your prettiest again (love your beautiful long curly hair)!  And be confident but not overly aggressive if you should get up on stage (Where is that old "shocked" emoticon when I need it!!!)

ANGELA:  You will have a amazing time meeting up with so many other wonderful Claymaniacs in Charlotte.  PAMELA, MOONSHOT, PHILLY among so many others, are just delightful

Love and sweet dreams to you all---
DEV

[songbird457]

So....

We are at the buses and just agonizing over CLay's appearance or not? ANd he teased us by getting on the bus! Little did we know, but Thea was close by too (just a ways away from us).
So Clay gets on the bus, right and drops off his back pack. Then he finally decided to say hi.  
He had on a red Cincinatti shirt (I didn't see anything else he had on, but I heard it was gray pants and flip flops). He started at the opposite end we were at but eventually worked his way down and it was like a blur - just like Colleen said. Shannon had a yellow ribbon she had made and said to me "Try to get this to him". Shannon's ribbbons were so cool because she glued little crosses and angels and bibles and WWJD's on them. She had a WWJD one and gave it to me. So as Clay walked by me, I grasped his palm and felt him take the ribbon from me. As my hand grazed his - I can't even explain how it felt. I remember seeing his spiked head and I don't evne know if I took any pictures. It all happeend so fast! Glory touched his belly!!!!  
At one point we did see little Raleigh on her leash, whichi as you all know is always exciting for me since I love his little dog to pieces. Awww she's adorable. Jacob had his dog out there too. Raleigh has a friend "("Youve got a friend") ;)
So then CLay teases us some more and gets on the bus but stands facing away from us in the front so we can see him.
I saw him:
1) scratch his head
2) open a styrofoam container and eat something
3) he scratched his back and I saw white t-shirt and some skin!!!!!!

I think it was a little while afte whwen we realized:

I JUST TOUCHED CLAY!!!!!

We all met up when we got back to the hotel and walked over to IHOP where we could all actually eat since everything was winding down. It was there that we got to talk more with Jan and Thea as well as  a few new California friends from the CLayboard that we met up with. They had actually met at a concert too.
"Clay makes the world go round"

all of us tired, excited, Clay'd and sad that it was almost over finished our dinner and headed back where we would try to sleep and have the sweetest of Clay dreams.

That next morning, we saw Jan (who had scoped out a paper to look for a review, but no such luck) and also met up with Glory, Angela and Shannon once again to talk about breakfast plans.
We said our goodbyes to sweet Mama Dev in all her glowing glory (Love you to pieces Thea) and said our goodbyes.    Glory was still in awe that she touched Clay's tummy and even had a plastic bag on her hand. LOL!!! She is hilarious.
Glory departed with her daughter and son-in-law and Shannon, Angela, Colleen and I headed over to the local Krispy Kreme for our closing ceremony of our Fort Wayne adventure.

What an amazing weekend! The best part for me was beign able to share all of my true loves and talents with my newfounod friends.
Thank you so so so so much to Colleen, Shannon, Angela, Diane, Thea and Jan (did I miss anyone?) for putting up with me as we hunted for Jerome. You guys were my rock and support and love that took me to Jerome and I am so grateful. I miss you all and I can't wait to fly out to Houston this weekend to end my summer advneture.   i wish i could pack you all in my suitcase though. (sniff, sniff) ok, I won't cry, I won't cry.

Heck! I need a CLaynex.  

[songbird457]

Oh forgot to say that as everyone filed out from leaving the CLaysite of extreme action, I looked down on the ground:

there lay the yellow ribbon w/ the WWJD button on it. I knew what I had to do.

I gave it to Shannon and told her that it was indeed CLay's way of giving to us yet again. yes, he had touched and grasped the ribbon from me, but it fell out of his hands, and was destined to go back to Shannon. I told her to wear it with pride and love for OMC. She told me taht was the most special thing and she loved me for it.

Look what CLay has done... to us!

[Ilovetowrite]

Those reviews made me cry. I didnt cry this much when I was there.

[songbird457]

BEAUTIFUL. Now in that pic. Jeroume looks large to me but when we saw him to me he looked smaller. Much better looking in person. Odd to me because that looks exactly like Renee.

Hey Shannon,
ARe you saying that the picture looks like me or are you saying that you pictured me looking like that? me confused. LOL

I loved your Spidynoculars! Those were the bomb!!

[Ilovetowrite]

Nope you look EXACTLY LIKE the picture  .

Jeroume looks nothing like the picture .


I see you said you were packing and where do you think you are going???

I updated my review. I am done with it. If I left anything out make it up, or put whatever ya want in it lol.

[Ilovetowrite]

BEAUTIFUL. Now in that pic. Jeroume looks large to me but when we saw him to me he looked smaller. Much better looking in person. Odd to me because that looks exactly like Renee.

Hey Shannon,
ARe you saying that the picture looks like me or are you saying that you pictured me looking like that? me confused. LOL

I loved your Spidynoculars! Those were the bomb!!

Yep them spidynoculars were the bomb, and they looked like they were about to explode. I am here to tell ya Clay is the only one I would use them things for.

[Ilovetowrite]

See below for updated version