Flashback IT 2004 - Share your pics/stories!

[ILClaymate]

Today marks the 1 year anniversary of the Independent Tour show in Duluth, GA.  I thought it might be fun to walk down memory lane of the IT through pictures and concert experiences.  Please feel free to post any of your own pictures or stories you have here on the 1 year anniversary date!

[ILClaymate]

[tessie]

Pretty pictures Angela....great idea!  Thanks.

[lovinclay]

OMG!  A YEAR ALREADY!  TIME SURE FLYS WHEN YOU'RE HAVING FUN.....AND WE SURE DID HAVE FUN LAST YEAR!!

[ILClaymate]

[ILClaymate]

#02 Wed 25-February 7:00 pm EST Duluth GA
Closing Artist Kelly Clarkson Arena @ Gwinnett Center
Wardrobe Wrist watch, pin-striped blue shirt, blue tie, grey striped slacks.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution CONCERT: 'Idols' appearance at Arena a wild success "The show was sold out, totally," said Arena booking manager Jerry Goldman.
Managed By SMG Arena Opened 2003 Seating (Max 13,100)
Merch Rate 30% Box Office 3% Tax Rate 6%
Box Office Summary Gwinnett Center Duluth
__DATE______SOLD____CAPACITY__HEADLINE ARTIST
Gross Sales $417,642
02/25/04___95%___9,166___9,636__Clay Aiken / Kelly Clarkson
02/07/04__100%__10,760__10,760__Kid Rock
01/19/04___69%___4,940___7,180__Sarah Brightman
12/13/03__100%___9,001___9,001__Manheim Steamroller
11/28/03__100%___8,394___8,394__Michael W. Smith
10/22/03___55%___2,843___5,131__Nickelback
10/19/03___94%___7,999___8,500__Mana
08/23/03___50%___3,249___6,443__Indigo Girls
08/13/03___92%___6,890___7,500__Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
07/26/03__100%__12,086__12,086__Journey/Styx/REO Speed
05/08/03__100%__10,306__10,306__Avril Lavigne / Simple Plan
05/07/03___81%___5,471___6,734__Good Charlotte
03/06/03__100%___7,084___7,084__Coldplay
02/28/03__100%__12,302__12,302__Bruce Springsteen[/size]

[ILClaymate]

[ILClaymate]

Here is jj's concert experience (copied from the OCD today)

HUBBY AND I GOT TICKETS FROM TICKETMASTER AND THEY WERE OK TICKETS. WE WERE NOT ABLE TO GET FLOOR TICKETS, BUT WERE ON THE LEFT SIDE UP ABOUT 6 ROWS NOT TOO FAR FROM THE FRONT. WE HAD A HUGE SCREEN RIGHT ON THE WALL ON THE LEFT OF THE STAGE.
CLAY SANG FIRST AND I WAS HOPING HE WOULD BE LAST, BUT I WAS THERE!!! THE WEATHER WAS HORRIBLE. THEY WERE PREDICTTING POSSIBLE ICE STORM THAT NIGHT. WE BOTH TOOK THE DAY OFF FROM WORK AND WENT OVER TO THAT SIDE OF TOWN EARLY. WE FOUND THE VENUE AND DROVE AROUND IT SEVERAL TIMES. WE SAW THE BUSES SITTING BEHIND AND THEY HAD GUARDS STANDING OUTSIDE THEM I MADE PICTURES OF THE BUS AND MY HUBBY LAUGHED AT ME. AFTER THAT WE WENT TO A SMALL MALL NEARBY WHERE A LARGE GROUP OF CLAY FANS WERE MEETING BEFORE THE CONCERT. WE ALL MET IN THE FOOD COURT AND HAD A GREAT TIME TALKING AND SHARING OUR CLAY LOVE. THEY HAD THIS HUGE BANNER FOR EVERYONE TO SIGN FOR CLAY. IT FOLLOWED CLAY ON THE TOUR AND WAS BEING GIVEN TO HIM NEAR THE END OF THE TOUR. SEVERAL OF THE FANS HAD FOLLOWED CLAY FROM NC CONCERT TO HERE. THEY TOLD US ABOUT THE NC CONCERT. THIS IS WHEN MY HUBBY REALIZED IT WASN'T JUST ME THAT HAD CLAYMENTIA. WE GOT SOMETHING TO EAT AND THEN WENT BACK TO THE VENUE. WE GOT OUT OF THE CAR IN THE FREEZING COLD WET WEATHER AND WENT TO STAND IN LINE WITH THE OTHER CRAZY FANS JUST TO FEEL THE CLAYMOSPHERE. IT WAS AWESOME TO SHARE WITH EVERYONE AND SMILE AND BE EXCITED TOGETHER. THEY FINALLY LET US IN AND IT WAS SO NICE TO BE WARM AGAIN. WE GOT OUR PROGRAM AND HEADED TO OUR SEATS. I CAN STILL CLOSE MY EYES AND FEEL THE ANTICIPATION I FELT THAT NIGHT. CLAY CAME OUT AND THE CROWD JUST EXPLODED!!!!! THE WHOLE NIGHT WAS GREAT. WE EVEN ENJOYED KELLY. AS WE LEFT THE VENUE I REMEMBER SAYING TO MY HUBBY,"HONEY, I AM SORRY BUT I HAVE DECIDE I WANT TO BECOME A GRANDMA GROUPIE AND FOLLOW CLAY." HE LOOKED AND ME LAUGHED AND SAID,"NOT WITHOUT ME!" I LOVE THIS MAN. JJ

[fantasys about clay]

AWW! LOOK HOW PRETTY! HE'S SOOOOO PRETTY!

I LOVE HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ILClaymate]

Concert #3....2/27/04
Tampa, FL
St. Pete Times Forum

#03 Fri 27-February 7:00 pm EST Tampa FL        
Closing Artist Clay Aiken St. Pete Times Forum
Home Town 140 miles from The Beu Sisters' home town of New Smyrna Beach, FL
Wardrobe White t-shirt, light green button down shirt open at neck covered by a darker green shirt with a zipper going down front about 6 inches. Bluish grey jacket with darker blue stripes on back. Stripes also on sleeves from elbow to cuff on the underside of the forearm with a bright solid blue area on the front of the forearm. Very interesting and very very soft. Jeans had pockets all down the legs. by Ruby Gonzalez
Kelly's T-shirt Clay Rocks
St. Petersburg Times Clay soars, Kelly rushes... Aiken ran right off with the show, dramatically appearing from the back of the arena to lead the band through a cover of Mr. Mister's 1980s hit Kyrie...
Tampa Tribune Vocal Fans Idolize Aiken's Endearing Touches The spiked-hair crooner who looks like a younger version of Barry Manilow was greeted with screams from adoring fans, known as "Claymates," on Friday night at the St. Pete Times Forum... The audience of 10,823 was predominantly female and of all ages - from grandmothers to preteens.
Pollstar Ranking #9 worldwide in 2003 with 328,700 tickets sold
Arena Opened 1996 Seating (Max 22,000)
Rent $24,000 / 30% Merch Rate 35% Box Office $1.75 facility fee Tax Rate 7%
Box Office Summary St. Pete Times Forum Tampa
__DATE______SOLD____CAPACITY__HEADLINE ARTIST
Gross Sales $369,213
02/27/04___93%___8,365___8,966__Clay Aiken / Kelly Clarkson
02/07/04__100%__10,969__10,969__Rod Stewart
01/30/04___62%__11,816__18,798__Gaither Homecoming
01/16/04___98%__13,189__13,366__George Strait
12/21/03__100%__15,914__15,914__Simon & Garfunkel
12/03/03___70%__10,633__15,174__Aerosmith / KISS
11/07/03___65%___9,083__13,878__Brooks & Dunn
10/11/03___90%___6,771___7,500__Alabama
10/04/03___78%__10,931__13,983__Toby Keith
08/13/03___98%___6,887___7,000__American Idols Live
08/07/03___57%___5,824__10,089__50 Cent
07/30/03___93%___9,392__10,000__The Dead / Bob Dylan
07/26/03___66%___8,408__12,672__Brooks & Dunn
07/14/03___89%___8,933__10,000__Justin / Christina
10/23/02___64%___8,541__13,422__American Idols Live

[ILClaymate]

[ILClaymate]

[ILClaymate]

[ILClaymate]

[tessie]

Angela,

You are doing a fine job here.  I didn't realize you were bringing over member reports from the concerts.  What fun memories they will bring!  I love reading what everyone thought from how they got to the concert to how they got back home.

Please continue if you have time.  I think this should be mentioned in the various threads to make people aware that it is here!  It is a great idea!

[heater]

Clandy, this was such a good idea!  It is going to be a great way to relive our experiences seeing Clay live, some of us for the first time.  I look forward to seeing highlights from the rest of the tour!    

[Moonshot]

I went to the Tampa IT concert way back when!

I went with my mom, sister, niece, and nephew. I was in the 9th row for this one and also had my new digital camera that takes audio/video.

Tampa is approx. 2.5 hours from where I lived in Florida. I left work early in order to get to the concert on time. My niece was on crutches from an ankle injury. We had to park pretty far away from the venue and since my niece couldn't walk very fast I carried her on my back. She was 11 years old and not a lightweight. But we did get there quicker. They allowed us to go in the ground floor entrance and take the elevator since there was no way I was schlepping my niece up that long flight of stairs.

Who did we see at the elevator but Jerome! I wasn't as outgoing as I am now so I only said "thank you" to Jerome because he pushed the elevator button for us. Once we were inside the elevator I told my niece and nephew who he was.

My seat was in the 9th row but my family's seats were all in the 15th row. I was pretty close to the catwalk...only about 5 seats away. I was so excited! I knew about the "walk through the crowd" entrance from Charlotte so when the lights went down I started looking to my side and behind me. I knew he'd be coming from somewhere other than the stage but I didn't know from where. Then he came from the back of the stadium and up. Even now when I hear the first notes of "Kyrie" my knees go weak!

The concert was awesome...even though Clay was beginning to get sick and lose his voice. During "Run to Me" (which was dropped shortly thereafter) his voice cracked and squeaked and did all sorts of un-lovely things. When he was done he simply chuckled and said "at least you know I'm not lip-synching". You could tell he was upset with himself but he just worked through it. There were only a couple of other times that his voice didn't do what he wanted it to do but overall the concert was incredible!

Afterwards I was on the "Clay Concert High" and anxious to be fangirly and discuss the show...unfortunately there was no one to do that with since I was with my family. So on the walk back to the car I called Outthereforclay and was fangirly with her to get it out of my system. Then it was to the car and I drove the 2.5 hours home. In the car my then 7 year old nephew kept bouncing around saying "eeeeeeeeee!!!". My sister scolded him to be quiet and he answered " I can't help it! I'm so happy!" ~~~ which pretty much summed things up for me too!

I got home sometime after midnight but couldn't sleep so I wrote up my review for the cellcert thread and ended up going to bed around 4am. I took a bunch of photos. Here is a link to them:

Moonshot's Tampa IT Photos

Moonshot's Video Clips of Tampa IT
Click on Archives, Click on Concert, Scroll down to the bottom for Tampa ~ please right click save target as if you wish to view them

[tessie]

Michelle....

Isn't it fun to go back and remember?  Thanks for the memories.

[ILClaymate]

Michelle ~ thanks for much for the experience!  How exciting!

Show#4
Miami, FL
2/28/04

[ILClaymate]

Stats courtesy of the Clayboard:

#04 Sat 28-February 7:00 pm EST Miami FL
Closing Artist Kelly Clarkson American Airlines Arena
Wardrobe Stubble. Regular jeans, gray jacket, long-sleeved beautiful bright blue t-shirt with green one underneath. Took the jacket off early on. The Miami Outfit is considered by many to be the hottest outfit on the tour.
Kelly's T-Shirt Clay Rocks, red with black letters
The Miami Herald (subscription) 'American Idol' stars show strong signs of development ''Animals strike curious poses / They feel the heat, the heat between me and you,'' Aiken sang, grinding a bit against his background singer... He sang his unlikely selection extremely well, revealing the gospel roots of the tune by opening it as a ballad amid hearty piano chords, and then taking it to a rousing finish.
Sun-Sentinel Aiken and Clarkson show off Idol mettle With his loose-limbed walk, jacket-and-jeans wardrobe and half-shy stage moves, Aiken comes off like a John Cusack character, and it's impossible not to be won over by him.
The Palm Beach Post 'American Idols' lack independence At one point, he grabbed a cellphone from a female fan and talked to the person -- in this case, the fan's mother -- on the line. He's not the first to try such an attention-getting device, but his affection for his fan base is clearly genuine. (And of the thousands in the audience, the Aiken contingent -- or "Claymates" -- was the loudest.)
Hollywood Reporter Bottom line: Promising, big-voiced singers still need nurturing.... But when he settled into a cover segment featuring the songs of Sting, Leo Sayer, Prince and a brilliant reinterpretation of James Taylor's "Carolina in My Mind," Aiken's set took off.
Arena Opened 1999 Seating up to 19,094
Merch Rate 30% Box Office Included in Rent Tax Rate 7%
Box Office Summary American Airlines Arena Miami
__DATE_____SOLD_____CAPACITY__HEADLINE ARTIST
Gross Sales $245,818
02/28/04___87%___5,395___6,204__Clay Aiken / Kelly Clarkson
12/31/03__100%__74,376__18,594__Phish (4 Shows)
12/17/03__100%__11,799__11,799__Simon & Garfunkel
11/15/03___75%__16,601__11,000__Luis Miguel (2 Shows)
10/16/03___86%___9,941__11,481__Mana
09/27/03__100%__11,165__11,165__Elton John
09/26/03___65%___3,266___5,000__Kid Rock
08/24/03___76%___4,563___6,000__B2K
06/03/03___79%___5,429___6,821__Yanni
02/21/03__100%__11,589__11,589__Santana
02/13/03___69%__13,047__18,748__Jimmy Buffett