Beck’s American Idol Tour Atlantic City Recap

I’m a 30 something mom of 3. Let’s begin by saying that on my 3.5 hour drive down to Atlantic City I stopped for gas at a station and joked to my husband that I heard Adam Lambert was considering trying out heterosexual sex – he probably has a line of volunteers for the position from here to Timbuktu. You can guess what drove me to travel to seedy Atlantic City to a historically corny Mickey Mouse concert.

I’m not going to comment on what anybody sang but rather my overall impression of HOW they sang and the kind of performance they gave.

That being said I was pleasantly surprised during the evening. The first surprise was that everyone sang well and had a beautiful voice. Any one of the “contestants” could be a future star with the right song and really good marketing. The only let downs of the night came from Megan Joy and Lil Rounds.

Megan’s gorgeous face was up on the big screen dazzling everyone and when she emerged, even from my nosebleed seats you could see how striking she is. She did a great job with her first song and sang her second well too. The let down came in between her first and second song when she seemed to stare out into space completely disconnected from the audience and in a monotone voice that underlied an attitude of “I’m bored shitless” or “I’m pretty but have the personality of a stone” or “I have no clue that my beauty and uniqueness could make me a star” said some words that meant nothing to anyone and served to turn people off to her second song. Way to take a great opportunity and throw it away Megan. You still have half the tour left- YOU CAN TURN IT AROUND FOR YOURSELF. Any decent actor with any stage experience can teach you how to connect with an audience. In fact I will help you now – Find anyone in the audience, make eye contact, hold the eye contact with that person and speak to them. Try this out, see if it helps you.

Next let down was Lil – some previous reviewers found her fun and indeed during AI, I also liked her. She was the only person that was better on AI than in the concert. Full on karaoke is what she delivered. During AI interviews I was able to “get to know” her a little and like her both as a person and as a caring mother to her kids. During the live show I wasn’t thinking about these things and I almost fully tuned out to her performance. It could’ve been any female singer anywhere singing her set. BORING.

Other than the Megan let down and Lil’s karaoke performance everyone else was fantastic and they all sounded better than on the show.

Michael Sarver can absolutely be a country star. I didn’t connect with him on Idol but in person he has a rich warm voice to match his warm and connected demeanor. He was also sporting an adorable mohawk type haircut that complimented his face. Loved him.

Scott has a beautiful voice and played piano really well. He connected with the audience and was inspirational to watch given what he has deservedly achieved.

Anoop has a really nice voice, he was connected to the audience and he wasn’t as stiff of a performer as he was on Idol. He’s too dull to carry a whole performance by himself. His set was just enough of him.

Matt was totally awesome. The entire Boardwalk Hall was into him. I didn’t vote for Matt once during idol but he was like a different person hearing him live. His piano playing was fantastic. His voice was fantastic. His personality was exciting and sexy. Loved him. Loved his duet with Scott.

Allison was much better than I expected. She is a blazing ball of fire. I know it’s been said many times before but throughout her whole performance I couldn’t stop thinking to myself “I can’t believe this girl is only 17″. She’s got the presence of Tina Turner but with her own unique swagger , spin and spitfire.

Danny Gokey was adorable and entertaining. He bored me to death on AI but at the concert he looked fabulous (loved the whole outfit – he should wear red more often,) sounded soulful, and danced sexy. He gave a little talk about looking toward the future and overcoming life’s obstacles’ and I thought it was a good message and that he was the right messenger. Aside from his major loss the way he handled the aftermath of the humiliating scream on AI during his Aerosmith song, was downright heroic. He would be best off as the lead in a boy band or any band in general. He has the leadership skills, talent and know how to front a group but needs others on stage to add more interest for a longer type of performance.

Next up was Adam – I was sure that since I saw every You Tube performance of Adam doing these concerts out there, I would be bored by now but NOOOO. When his intro came up I was so overwhelmed I almost started to cry. I needed to remember my station in life and get a grip on myself. However, in a darker room closer to the stage I would’ve let go like a wild woman. There were a few interesting things I did notice though. 1. His speaking voice at various moments was very high pitched. 2. He did some sort of different version of Starlight than he did at other concerts. Something wasn’t the same about it – it was still good though. 3. On utube I thought some of his dance moves were over the top. Live, however, his moves were totally appropriate for the song and the size of the audience. The back row of the nosebleed seats could feel the vibration from his pelvic thrusts. 4. He sang baby instead of woman (it didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would). 5. He wore his hair Elvis style and he looked completely gorgeous (love that look). 6. His set was over much too soon and I wasn’t satisfied! I needed MORE!!!! MORE! MORE! MORE! When he goes on tour I will pay whatever I have to pay to be up close to the stage!

Finally Kris came on. Kris is adorable and you just can’t help but like him. His voice is melodic and enjoyable to listen to. His personality however only really comes through when he is behind a piano or a guitar. Music really releases HIM along with his intelligence, personality and energy. He has a unique gift of being able to make people hear, see and feel, what he can hear, see and feel when he plays his instruments and sings. I don’t know what his future will hold,. I hope that it is great things- but he will always be able to open for Adam if he ever needs a job.

A note on the audience – It was a mixed bag ranging in age from 10 to 82. My section had a high proportion of elderly, and or chubby people. Many looked like they were trapped in their seats after squeezing themselves into them. In other words they couldn’t stand up to cheer even if they wanted to. I was glad to have a hip chick and her young mother next to me who could share the fun with me.

Overall, the evening was very enjoyable. Although I am a fan of Clarkson, Underwood and Cook I’ve never bought a single one of their recordings. I doubt I will ever go to an AI concert again. I eagerly await for Adam’s solo tour and forthcoming record. I have bought everything Lambert that has been put out there. I have never been moved by any artist as much as I have been moved by him.