The Detroit concert was a blast. I called in sick to work *cough, cough* – but srsly did go to the doc that am and funnily enough I really WAS sick. Not too sick to go down to the Joe early to stalk busses. After a couple wrong turns (construction) finally found the parking garage and made it outside by around 12:30. There was a nice crowd there and a lot of Jason fans, we kind of lined up behind the barriers and waited. A great shout went up as the busses finally pulled up around 2 pm.
The idols started coming out soon afterward – Brooke first (she was on vocal rest), then Kristy Lee, Chikeize, David A., David C., and Syesha (also on vocal rest). They took their time coming down the line, taking photos with the fans, signing things. I was particularly impressed with Chikeize, he was amazingly sweet. Someone gave him a gift and he was about falling over in excitement. He is warm and genuine, you can pick that up from him the minute you meet him. Wasn’t too interested in autographs nor in being in the photos with the idols but I did get a few nice photos of each of them. David Cook was in an uber-hurry and didn’t stop to pose for photos, just kind of a drive-by-signing kind of guy. Someone gave him a pirate puppet and he did seem pretty impressed by it, using it to hold his gift bags. Archie is adorable and still seems like he can’t believe this is all happening to him. Brooke is teeny tiny, I’ll bet her waist is about as big around as my arm. LOL

So anyway we were still waiting and hoping for Jason to come out, but as time went by it seemed less and less likely. Why was Detroit his media stop? RATZ. About a half hour after everyone else had gone back inside, Michael Johns came out. What a sweet guy he was. I thanked him for coming out and he looked at me with a surprised expression, like no one had ever said that to him! LOL He grinned and said “This part is easy!” He was teasing some of the Jason fans – “So you’re here for Castro, eh? That’s too bad.” LOL Loved his accent. After he left we lingered around the area some more, hoping for Jasonnn. We’d met everyone but him, Carly and Ramiele. As 4 pm rolled around we knew we wouldn’t see him as that was the start time for the meet and greets. A group of Jason fans walked down the Detroit River Walk to the Renaissance Center and had an early dinner together. Then back to the arena for the concert!

I was really happy that they let me bring in my good camera, I just wish I had brought my bigger lens. My sister and her friend met me at the venue. Our seats were in the 23rd row on the floor stage left. It was exciting when the Pop Tarts left and the house lights dimmed………..and here came Chikeize! He brought the crowd to it’s feet immediately. After his first song he said that Detroit had shown him the most love of any city so far on tour, which made me happy as he’s such a sweet guy. Then he said he was going to make a wardrobe adjustment – took off his jacket – and donned a Red Wings Jersey! Well that made Hockey Town pretty darned crazy – lots and lots of cheers for that!!!! His set was a lot of fun, I really liked him.

Rami was next and so bubbly and cute. I enjoyed her set as well, although the crowd was a little more subdued. She looked like she was having a blast up there!

Now it’s that sweet Aussie, Michael Johns – the crowd was going WILD! He is really, really awesome. I gained a whole new respect for him in Detroit, after seeing him outside in the afternoon and watching his set. Of course We Will Rock You and and We Are The Champions went over well in the Joe Louis Arena where the Red Wings had just won the Stanley Cup! Those are songs played during every hockey game there! He got such a great reception.

Next up Kristy Lee Cook. She asked the crowd to yell really loud, said that because of their ear pieces that they can’t hear unless the crowd is super, super loud. So she got everyone screamin’ and cheerin’. Smart girl! LOL Her set was good, she’s got a lot of energy on stage.

Carly came on stage, fan blowing her hair, singing like a powerhouse. What a little dynamo she is. Love it when she smiles, she is truly gorgeous. And her voice filled the arena. Wow! She’s so much fun to watch in concert, and I loved every one of her songs.

Seemed like the sets just fly by so fast! Brooke’s Let It Be was amazing. I really like her, in fact am going to go in search of Songs from the Attic later on today. Her lighting is terrible for photos except a little during the Feist song. Crowd was snapping their fingers right along with Brooke. Her smile is completely infectious! Yellow was beautiful as well.

Now time for the Cheezy Group Number – Pride. This seems like a Michael Johns showcase, in fact they even introduce him by name which they don’t do for any of the others. Weird. But he knocks it out of the park, and the kids sound great together.

Intermission with it’s interminably long lines for the ladies room. Glad I didn’t have to brave that! Sheesh. And then some silly Pop Tarts blasting a few tshirts into the stands, a Guitar Hero competition, and two really cute little kids having an air guitar competition. An adorable four year old won that with a lot of crowd approval! The new guitar hero commercial is a hoot with all the Idols dressed in their 60′s garb, and Jasonnn playing the drums! Whoop! (fangirly part of me emerges!)
He and Brooke didn’t look all that different but David Archuleta is hysterical!! That commercial is a must see.

Ah………now it’s time for MY Idol to come onstage! LOL!! In the dark I can see him settling onto his stool, plugging in the ukulele…….and WOW – it’s JASON! I’m so friggin’ happy right now. I wasn’t in my seat when he came on as I was schmoozing security into letting me run up and take a couple photos from thiscloseup! She agreed that I could take two! Squeeeee! So as he launched into Somewhere Over the Rainbow I got to go rightuptothestage and take pics. My mouth was probably hanging open in awe but I didn’t care. Ohhhhhh the pritteeee! Security watched and made sure it was only two which I found pretty amusing. Gawd is he ever adorable close up and that voice is so pure and beautiful. I never did go back to my seat, just kind of stood in the aisle in awe. Loved Crazy and so did the crowd! Everyone sang along with Jason for all his songs. That hadn’t happened with any of the other performers. The crowd truly did show Jason a lot of love in Detroit! Daydream made me smile – then all too soon he was gone. Far, far too quickly. Jason, come back, we’re not through listening to you sing yet!!!!!!

Syesha next – the girl can sing and she performs well – just not my style. The thing I noticed the most about her was her muscle definition – this girl does some workin’ out and it shows! Srsly! So she gets a nice reception from the crowd, then as she starts to introduce David A. the screeching level rises to new decibels! All the little tweens are screaming their heads off, it’s deafening!

Lots of smoke as Archie rises up from the stage singing Angels. His voice is beautiful and pure. It’s easy to forget how young he is! His Stand By Me was amazing and I loved the longer bit of Beautiful Girls thrown in. My fave from him was Apologize – he should record that kind of song, it’s just perfect for him and his albums will fly off the shelves. I quite enjoyed little David’s set.

Hard to believe the concert is almost over! Cookie appears to thunderous applause. He too does an amazing set. I am really glad he won American Idol – he truly will do a great job representin’ that title. Lots and lots of energy on stage, he’s already a fantastic performer and will only get better with time. He brings out a video camera and has the house lights brought up to film the audience screaming their heads off. How loud was that???? LOL He also pulls out his ear piece so he can hear the noise.

There’s quite a disconnect to go from My Hero, Hello, Billie Jean, etc………to the ending group song “Please Don’t Stop the Music”. They just don’t fit together! But that’s okay because the song is all kinds of Idol buffoonery and fun! They all camp it up big time during the number – David Cook and Michael Johns get their freak on with a cheezy little dance that cracks Ramiele up so much she can’t even sing! Jason and Kristy Lee do a little sheriff routine at the end where she points at him and he holds his hands up in surrender which is pretty darned adorable. Did I say I love Jason? LOL Then all too soon they are parading around and waving and the crowd and leaving! Oh noooooooo – is it over already?????????? How can this be????

So we walk outside and decide to go back to where the busses were. I still want to meet Jason! One look at the hordes of people there made us change our minds about waiting around though. The only way to have had a good place in that line would have been to leave as soon as Jason was done singing and hustle back there. Must have been hundreds of fans waiting. I sighed in disappointment and headed back to the parking garage to go home. That’s when I realized I simply had no idea where my car was. Guess you are supposed to pay attention when you park but I didn’t, I was too excited! Duhhhh.
I did find it though and all was well.

Overall an awesome experience! A little difficult explaining the sunburn at work the next day after calling off – I just said I was playing with the dogs in the backyard……(grins).

And that’s all from me………kind of long and blabby but that’s who I am. Srsly. Just sayin’.
Hope it wasn’t too boring. I flurved the whole day with the exception of no Jason by the busses. But I’ll get to meet him one of these days. He’s going to have a nice career and play sweet venues where he will have time to talk with fans and take photos and all kinds of stuff. I can’t wait!!! Until then……peace.

PS I’ll be posting more photos later to flickr…..my two special ones of Jasonnn are up there now which I am very proud of. The rest will be not so great as they were further away. But if you are interested you can check back for them. Thanks again to MJ for linking out front and for using my photo of David A. on the blog!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuffnthings/

Wow I am famous, one of my photos on MJà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s blog! LOL How very, very cool!

You take great pics Vagabond. Thanks for sharing them with us!

Anyhow thanks MJ for using my photo!

I interviewed Jason, Syesha, Carly and Ramiele. When David Cook was to come to my table, they ran out of time –

While I was interviewing those four, my kids met Chikezie, Brooke, Kristy Lee and David Cook outside at the busses! If someone can help me with how to post pics, I’ll post some – we have about 400!

Wow at the noise during the concert. While there were some empty seats, you would never have known based on the noise level of the crowd. I have never seen so many older people at a concert in my life, so it wasn’t just the pre-teens and teens screaming. I sat in front of a bunch of older people who were not happy with me dancing. I ended up moving where I could dance in the aisle! When Chikezie hit the stage, my hands started clapping and my feet started moving and I didn’t want to sit down the rest of the night!

I had an incredible time, so did my kids and my mom and dad. My mom thought it dragged a little toward the end but I think after Jason performed, she just didn’t care! Haha!

Up close and personal, Carly is very stunning! One little secret – she doesn’t like her knees!

Hello,

Sincerely,
Adam Graham

I told him, “Shame on you for not mentioning Jason Castro. He’s been receiving terrific reviews.” So, it was an oversight?

David Cook signing this girlà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s butt right next to me. the girl was all à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“will you sign my gluteous maximus?à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“you want me to sign your butt? ok.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  and he adds à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“well, that just ended my relationshipà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ 

Hee! That is priceless!

vagabond, I agree the security were really nice to the fans. Can’t wait to see your photos. I have very few that came out clearly.

LOL on the signing on the gluteous maximus!

Cookie, just say no!!!!

Heh, I’ve read the description of how that autograph was acquired, and it was pretty funny.

David Cook signing this girl’s butt right next to me. the girl was all “will you sign my gluteous maximus?” “you want me to sign your butt? ok.” and he adds “well, that just ended my relationship”

Cookie, just say no!!!!

Yeah, doesn’t David know that yellow tape is supposed to denote the cut point on socially acceptable signing areas.

Cook and Michael Johns à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“dancingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  on stage in Detroit

OMG!!! :blink_tb: :lol_tb: I’m almost afraid to see what they’ll do next.

I didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t catch what he was talking about in the beginning but the Phillipines makes sense.

I hope that’s it. He did say he’s coming over in this interview (at around the 3:40 mark) -

http://ondemand.streamtheworld.com/chum/

I have a ton of concert pics too but it will take me a while to edit – not sure how many out of that “ton” will be worthy of posting anywhere. We were in the 23rd row on the floor and the swaybots were in full force, making it hard to get clear shots. Security was nice and during Jason’s set they let me go up front for a couple photos, so am hoping those turned out!

I’ll write more later!