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Author Topic: DEC 28 PASADENA CIVIC AUDITORIUM FAN REVIEWS  (Read 12502 times)
Pamela
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« on: November 19, 2004, 08:50:43 AM »

OFFICIAL THREAD!
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clayharmony
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« Reply #1 on: December 29, 2004, 10:25:46 AM »

Clayed in Pasadena!
At 5:30 PM, my cousin joined me again for another experience of Clay magic …at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.  Thunder and lightening contributed to a powerful, dramatic ambiance as we made our way over to the venue.  But, it didn’t compare to the intense anticipation welling up in the both of us.  Even after arriving in a downpour, it did not in anyway diminish our excitement which had built to the power of, shall we say, 35 after waiting about that many days from the postponement to finally hear him!

The staff at the venue did demonstrate some compassion for the early arrivals.  Some awning-like affairs were installed in front of each to the entrances.  While they were not sufficiently large enough for all of us to gather underneath them, they actually let a lot of us in to wait in the outer lobby area, until we were asked to go back out in the rain to line up for security checks (that was fun, not).  Those arriving without handbags, and there were quite a few, were allowed in much more quickly.  The security check was fairly casual.

Then we were off to obtain merchandise.  Since so much of it is now listed as out of stock on the net, I was concerned there would be a shortage at this concert too.  It paid to bring cash.  Within minutes I was able to purchase a copy of shirts, tour book and the lanyard.  We then were ushered to our seats.  The venue chart led me to believe they were somewhat closer. Due to a password snafu, I was really grateful to have obtained any orchestra seats at all.  We ended up in the very last row of the first floor.  Because of the size of the auditorium, these seats turned out to be acceptable…except they were so far from Clay  Cry! …but good ol' binoculars certainly helped offset the distance.

The audience was really varied.  People of all ages were there; lots of intergenerational pairings were present.  Next to my cousin, were a mother and daughter who drove up this afternoon from San Diego to hear Clay.  Most wore attractive, festive attire.  And…thanks be the lord…the folks near us were very well behaved.  I think I would have clunked a middle of the song screamer with my cane, if they had been near me.  Oops…such a vicious sentiment during the season of love…mea culpa!  

Finally, the show began.  The little boy sang with gusto and then came Clay. Yes!!! Clay was wearing a maroon, knit shirt, which seemed a bit large on him and gray pants, which were definitely a little baggy…I suppose he has lost some weight again.  His hair was spiked up much like it had been on the Tonight show.  His eyes sparkled and he seemed well rested.  What on earth does he do about jet leg and his biorhythms all askew with strange timetables? After a little soft shoe…he announced that’d be the last dancing we’d see tonight…and of course we were moved to shout out: Noooo!  He said his agent was there tonight…so he’d better not burp etc.

He seemed to look forward to sharing the latest with us and began the chat by telling his story about shopping.  He got mixed up and said I’ve been telling it for a month now…I’ll just start over…and he did!  That man is a scream!

He changed up a lot of songs.  He was in spectacular voice and at every opportunity he went for peak phrasing and stunning melodic arcs.  It was as if he was free to unharness all the passion he possessed and offer it as a gift to us.  We were quite willing to receive it, oh yes!  

How is it that he so owns that stage, just 26 years old…and he’s been at this for less than two years?  What a born entertainer!  One might go so far as to consider that a Clay-liberation has transpired, and indeed he is fully emancipated.  That soaring spirit of his is absolutely palpable.  I could continue to reach for the means to paint verbal portraits of his remarkable powers…but meanwhile on with the show…ha!

Jacob sounded good, Angela sounded really good and Quiana sounded amazing.  They are certainly fine musicians/vocalists.

Early in the performance a group of Clayfans on Clay’s right, about 9 rows up, let loose with a chorus of I Love You, Clays (at least that’s what I think they were saying) and Clay tried to ignore them initially.  They kept it up  He said shut up! This is my show and I’ll do the talking!…and it bit more that I couldn’t hear over the cheers and laughter.

The high school choir was from Glendale, a city just west of Pasadena.  The elementary choir kids were on the money and the readers did a terrific job…lots of poise.

While Clay’s hair was pretty spiked at first, after he left the side exit he might have gotten a little wet…or at least he was exposed to the damp air…I noted it was tamer the second half…more natural and just darling…made him more boyish, and who can resist that I ask you?

There was not a lot of interaction on the New Years Resolutions dialogue…Quiana said something about enjoying her cat…teehee…and then someone said something about not having New Years Resolutions…and Clay claimed they stole his lines.

He also talked about Christmas…asked how many people had 25 at their house, and how many had just two…and then he stated I’m going to your house next year.  Later, he chatted some about being back home…and I was thrilled because he actually intimated LA being his home too (since I live in this area, the assumption of nearby access is fertile ground for fabulous fantasies)…and about being back next year…we all cheered…had to mix it up a bit…as an intro to IBHFC.  He sang in such a heartfelt manner tonight, in particular this one.  I liked the slower tempo…it added to the nostalgia.

Oh Holy Night…you know that could have been my title to this review.  I adored the extras Clay has added to OHN since recording it on his CD.  I’ve been really good and waited to view clack until after my concert…oh that was so hard.  But, so worth it…I had no idea how much more beautiful Clay was able to sing this elegant piece.  We all screamed at the end of it and stood for an ovation…and a little child started in reading the next Bible segment.

The TFN was simply perfection.  It just built up to the most powerful conclusion.  It by far surpassed his rendition of it on last year’s CD, and the AI holiday special.  With the conviction he imparted to the carol, it sounded as if he was literally introducing us to the heavenly miracle this very night…what demonstrable artistry, since these are Christmas classics sung year after year.

Clay shared about his tenure as a pianist…said he was lazy…his experience with the piano lasted 1 ½ hours…didn’t last at all with T ball and listed a few other things…and in spite of his practice record, his grandmother wanted him to play and start up a round of Christmas carols…but the family is tone deaf.

MDYK was the very best I’ve ever heard it …including performances on his CD, Jay Leno, his special, The View, The Early Show, and the Today Show.  None compared to how he was tonight.  He had me believing that he reached down to the depth of his faith and poured the music out from the core of his being.  We could have used some moments of silence after it, just to linger awhile and savor the exquisite hope it conveys.

In just a flash, we were nearing the end of the concert, and my absolute favorite was yet to come.  I was blown away with Don’t Save It All last year from Clay’s performance on the AI holiday special.  I had never heard the piece before and I prayed fervently that Clay would record it on his Christmas CD.  Tonight, DSIAFCD was nothing short of sublime.  I think it really could be Clay’s anthem, his reason for being…a vehicle for all the love and desire for compassion that dwells within Clay.

Last, as has been his encore tradition, he sang Good News.  I’m not familiar with this song.  It seemed like Clay’s personal prayer, his thanks and source of renewal.  As Clay empties himself of the love he has to give and we, his adoring fans, are only too happy to receive, a song like Good News allows Clay to restore himself and leave us with this deep testament emanating from his soul.

What a night.  

May Clay realize the hope, love and laughter he brings to the hearts of all of us.
 
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Clay's jois de vivre gladdens my heart;
his spiritual consciousness and musical gifts bring  harmony to my soul.

What is beautiful is a joy for all seasons...

Life is a Song ~ Love is the Music
lorraine
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« Reply #2 on: December 29, 2004, 11:31:57 AM »

GREAT REVIEW.  THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR POSTING RIGHT AWAY.  ANYTHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO ABOUT OUR HONEY.
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bevgirlwma
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« Reply #3 on: December 30, 2004, 01:32:00 AM »

Did anyone see the Clay look-a-like who came out of the stage doors with what appeared to be a body guard and Fred Bronson?  We all thought it was our man but soon realized that this is a shorter version.  Are they hiring decoys now?  Cute kid but not our Clayton.
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mackncsu
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I love it!


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« Reply #4 on: December 30, 2004, 08:02:50 AM »

Quote from: bevgirlwma
Did anyone see the Clay look-a-like who came out of the stage doors with what appeared to be a body guard and Fred Bronson?  We all thought it was our man but soon realized that this is a shorter version.  Are they hiring decoys now?  Cute kid but not our Clayton.


Laughing that's so funny!
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Tacet Twin #2 (the brains)
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outthereforclay
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« Reply #5 on: December 30, 2004, 05:39:26 PM »

POIGNANT IN PASADENA
by Amy Lee

DECEMBER 28, 2004
JOYFUL NOISE TOUR

Santa, I am a bad girl. I don’t “save” myself for upcoming Clay concerts. I download shamelessly and compare the videos and mp3s and banter from concert to concert.

Having been to his San Jose JNT early in the tour, I had been able to feel some satisfaction that his voice was stronger and he was in a happier mood there than he had seemed to be for his first performance in Costa Mesa; however, I had reason to be jealous of later concerts in Baltimore and Atlanta when reports gave him enthusiastic kudos for stellar vocal delivery of the Christmas classics.

Bah Humbug! I wanted to see him at his best, too!  

Well, I must have been a good girl after all because Santa delivered a late Christmas present for me in Pasadena. Clay was simply beautiful…in voice and form…Tuesday night in the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. So, Ho! Ho! Ho!

From the very beginning—from the dramatic opening of ‘The Music of Christmas’---to the fervent encore of ‘Good News’ Clay was simply wonderful. As he sang each song my friend and I exchanged glances and shook our heads in awe at his vocal perfection. His voice seemed especially rich and smooth Tuesday in Pasadena. Perhaps his few days’ rest and being home for Christmas made him eager to be back on stage. He certainly seemed happy to be there. I really do think he misses us, too.

Clay Aiken was born to entertain, to perform, to sing and laugh and tell jokes and zing out one liners off the top of his spiky haired head. He was meant to spread laughter and friendships and inspire kindness to strangers. He was destined to draw tears from even the manliest man with his gifted voice and his sincere goodness. The man was made to make differences. He did Tuesday for sure.

I have never heard him pull such feeling from the lyrics of songs we’ve all heard so many times before as he did in Pasadena. Although he was performing these holiday tunes for the umpteenth time, he seemed to approach each of them with freshness; he seemed to really want to find something unique in each song and then make sure we felt it, too. I commented to my friend that he actually appeared to be slowing the tempo down for ‘I’ll Be Home for Christmas’ and ‘The Christmas Song’. I found myself really listening to each word as if I didn’t already know them all by heart.

And the quality of his tone, the perfection of the pitch, the power of his glory notes! I challenge any naysayer of “American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken” to experience that voice I heard Tuesday night and say that he is a “flash in the pan” or a “television-manufactured fad destined for his 15 minutes of fame”. This man is a unique talent. He can sing and perform and he proves this again and again LIVE and without teleprompter or technological voice-enhancing tricks. In Pasadena, he seemed to want to bring it all and put it all together just for us.

I’ve read that his agent was in the audience, along with other notables---Michael Orland, Fred Bronson, etc. That makes me happy because although I know they already acknowledge Clay’s talent, it’s gratifying to know that there in the beauty and grandeur of the stately Civic Auditorium—not the cheesy set of American Idol--- and now---nearly two years from the oh-so-distant farcical circus of the “not-a-competition”…here is Clay Aiken, the star---standing alone with his millions of believers. He is a true star, you know.

Oh yeah, the songs. Well, he sang the heck out of every single one. I liked the opening number for the first time and I finally loved ‘Good News’. He was genuine but dramatic without being sappy in these “production” numbers and I really enjoyed them both.

But he truly shone, I believe, in ‘Mary Did You Know?’ His face, his hands! His eyes and lips! as he caressed each syllable. His heart simply poured into each note and filled us. As I watched him through my binoculars during this song and traced the passion in his occasional furrowed brow or gritted teeth, I knew I was going to cry. I could feel it building even as Clay’s own feeling was growing in intensity. I waited for the fist on the thigh at the words “The lame will leap.” It was there. And then when he hit and held the note on the word “Lamb”; the sound and sight of him was too much, and the tears flowed down around the binoculars pressed into my face.

As he quickly moved on to the next song, I sat there still weeping and thinking, how can he give so much to us over and over and again? How do we survive it all?

He continued to give. During ‘O Holy Night’ and ‘The First Noel’ and ‘Silent Night’…he simply and perfectly filled us with such love and light that it was almost too much to bear. My friend and I had rarely taken our hands off each other’s arms throughout the concert. We seemed to need something solid to feel---some reassurance that we wouldn’t just float away with the beauty of it all.

Of course, a Clay Aiken concert isn’t JUST about vocal perfection and soul-wrenching glory notes. It is about fun and funny. Clay was funny and snarky and bossy (I DO so love me some bossy Clay.) He told some screamers who dared interrupt his shtick to “Shut up...it’s my show…let me do the talking”. When he admitted that some might think it odd to be singing Christmas songs after December 25, he told us “It ain’t the end of Christmas until I say it is”. He chastised Quiana “That was my line and now you’ve ruined the whole bit. I’ll have to start over.” When he messed up his story about his friend getting a ticket for playing his CD too loud, he told himself, “I’ve said that already, haven’t I? Ok, well, I’ll just start again then.” And when he did, he started it with, “So my friend was just pimpin’ down the road to ‘O Holy Night’”. Too danged cute. He laughed and did his little soft shoe at the end of Sleigh Ride and he danced with Angela, once again holding her the wrong way---with his left hand around her waist and his right hand holding her left. What a dork.

He disappeared from the sight of many in the audience for a long time during ‘What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve’, crouching down to sing to someone in the front row. I heard later that it was a young girl in a wheel chair. Of course. He evidently kissed another woman’s hand before leaving the auditorium and leaving the rest of us jealous and bereft.

But he wasn’t finished, of course. He killed us dead with a spectacular glory note in ‘Don’t Save It All’ and for some reason, his ‘yea-ea-eah’ afterwards was especially full of angst and ecstasy and I died yet again….yes, Clay Aiken delivers multiple little deaths. I do believe that at this particular point in the concert my friend and I had fingernail marks in our forearms.

And yes, he looked gorgeous. After a comfy, casual sweater in the first half, he returned wearing those classy and panting-worthy PANTS!, and he looked handsome and accomplished and arrived. He was a star. He was our friend. He was Clay. After he thrilled us with the sheer power of his voice in ‘Don’t Save It All’, he said goodnight. Then he came back to slay us yet again with his heart in his voice and with his hands and eyes lifting us upward as he left us finally with ‘Good News’.

That was my last Clay concert until…the next time. Now we wait. We wait for snippets of him on entertainment shows and morning shows and we hope to see a clip of him boarding planes and shaking hands and hugging children as he begins his next alias as UNICEF ambassador. We listen to every single download and CD we have; we watch the same favorite concert videos again and again; we comment on this smile, that raised eyebrow, the one and only eyeboink, the graceful promise of the fingers; we hope to catch a giggle or a new funny story.

We wait for Clay.

There is something poignant about attending a concert that is poised to be your last for a while. Waiting for Clay’s Pasadena concert was poignant for me. This was his rescheduled concert from a month ago that---had it happened as originally planned---would have been my first JNT experience. As it was, it became my last.

Poignant.

Simply beautiful.

Simply…Clay.
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mrs. c.
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« Reply #6 on: December 30, 2004, 06:38:28 PM »

Amy, once again, a simple .....thank you!!!
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Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away!
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mackncsu
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I love it!


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« Reply #7 on: December 30, 2004, 06:46:22 PM »

gah Amy, you write the best stuff!!

Thanks!
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Tacet Twin #2 (the brains)
Dont hate me because Clay knows I dont play
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ChrisieD
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CLAY'S CLAYNADIAN GIRL !!!


« Reply #8 on: December 30, 2004, 06:46:56 PM »

Amy, thank you for your review. I've been waiting all day and of course it was worth the wait. Not Worthy
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Baby Dust I Close My Eyes and I Breath You In Baby Dust

                     UNCONDITIONAL
Marilyn
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THE EPITOME OF DECORUM


« Reply #9 on: December 30, 2004, 07:10:27 PM »

words fail me- but they dont you, Amy, and thank the Lord for that- you make me feel like I was there with you- thank you so very much for sharing it.

The man is beyond wonderful!
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ALWAYS AND FOREVER-UNCONDITIONALLY!!!
aikenforclay10288
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WOW
« Reply #10 on: December 30, 2004, 08:58:40 PM »


Amy- This is the first time i'm posting and i jsut want to say wow! reading your message made me feel like i was actually there with you!!!!!! wowwwww....

Renee [NJ]
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clayharmony
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« Reply #11 on: December 30, 2004, 09:50:53 PM »

Amy,
What a powerful writer you are.  Reading your eloquent review intensified my memories of the night.  I thank you for that.  What a treat it is to read your posts.  Weren't we lucky to 'feel the Clay!' Thanks again.
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Clay's jois de vivre gladdens my heart;
his spiritual consciousness and musical gifts bring  harmony to my soul.

What is beautiful is a joy for all seasons...

Life is a Song ~ Love is the Music
Tiffany
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Clay's Dove


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« Reply #12 on: December 31, 2004, 08:56:48 AM »

Wow! I love your review Amy. You described some many things perfectly about Clay. You said it all. Sounded like a wonderful night.
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Rest in peace our Angels Janet, Carol, Liz, Julie, Kris, Debi and JJ. Angel We miss you and you are in our hearts always I will love and support Clay always and forever. Proud to be a Claymaniac. 
GWENN
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HE'S KILLING ME!!!!!!


« Reply #13 on: December 31, 2004, 09:06:56 AM »

AMY--

I WAITED UNTIL THE LAST CONCERT WAS OVER TO READ YOUR REVIEW, BECAUSE, IT IS FROM YOUR PEN.  KNOWING YOU AND HOW YOU WRITE, MAKES THIS SO MUCH MORE WONDERFUL.  YOU CAN SAY WHAT OTHERS FEEL.  I KIND OF FELT WHAT YOU WROTE ABOUT BALTIMORE.  

AND NOW WE WAIT.

GWENN
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HIS VOICE WRAPS AROUND MY HEART.
KEEPER OF CLAY'S CHARM
ALWAYS AND FOREVER
ClayIdol88
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« Reply #14 on: January 13, 2005, 04:37:03 PM »

Hey ya'll! I'm from RCA, so I'm hanging out over here! I loved your reviews, I went to the concert and, yes, it was my first one. Not from lack of trying though! I met some great girls, three of them, afterwards, in that freezing rain! I hope they managed to get that Tshirt or something in a bottle to him! They were the first ones out there too! You guys are really great and it was awesome to meet some other fans after being the only one in my school. I can finally say that you guys do exist, and I'm proud of it.
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perfectmatch
Guest
« Reply #15 on: April 20, 2005, 07:59:44 AM »

It was indeed awsome I think back to it every so often. I met up with somemore Claymaniacs and it was totally funtimes! it was pouring rain though and I wasn't about to wait out in that again. MACK, PAMELA, and I waited out in the pouring rain in NC, or SC I can't member, last year but it was hot rain and we didn't mind. we were crazy. I had my bum of a Dad there with me who was whining to go home. aw poopy. but my cousin promised me he would get me backstage, um yeh that never happened.  :duh  he said next time. well hope there is a next time...... Cry!
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