JLamb’s American Idol Tour 2009 Madison, WI Recap

What a nice recap, thank you very much. Some positives about most everyone, I like that.

Wow. I thought I wasn’t going to be interested in the tour recaps this year but it turns out I am, just because we get such a cool, diverse group of people delurking to offer them. Loved reading your perspective on the idols. Thanks! What do you do in the business, if you don’t mind my asking?

Other than the fact that I have always been a major Adam fan and I am also a Danny fan I could just as easily have written your review. I agreed with almost everything you said about the performances. I enjoyed reading your recap/review.

I hope someone signs Matt soon. I would love to see him do an entire show. I really loved all of the top 5 and think they all deserve to go further.

Great insight and observations. Love to hear the “inside take.” Glad to hear you’re an Adam convert.

I saw my concerts more than a month ago, but I totally agree with just about everything you said. (Except I came in as an Adam fan with OTT expectations, which he left in the dust the first minute.) Your analysis of the others, particularly Matt and Danny is spot on, IMO.

Nice recap,

Thought you were a little too hard on Danny and Allison and a little too much praise for Matt but it’s your review.

Although I enjoyed Matt, neither myself nor my hubby (who never watched AI) thought the first half was that good, with the exception of Hard to Handle. However, we both agreed after watching them live that the top four definately deserved to finish where they did on the show. As to Danny going country, I think he has a real shot at putting out a decent album now that he has signed with RCA/Nashville.

matt will probably go the route that Jason and Brooke went..go sign with a independent label or something..

though, he should have gotten sign before danny

Nice recap! Short and to the point. As a Kris fan, I totally agree that he “goes to another place” and I am glad he knows how to take us with him!

cheetara- Jason didn’t go independent. He signed with Atlantic, a major label. I think the same will happen for Matt, but like Jason it might take a few months.

Thanks for nice recap, I could identify with all your responses to the perfromances, The specifics you pointed out were great notes and thanks for saying something positive about everyone.

Jlamb this was great, glad you had a great time, thank you for posting.

Nice recap. My daughter and I are going to our second concert tomorrow, I will look for some of the things you mentioned. I may get brave enough to write a recap myself! BTW-are you by any chance J.D. Lamb? If so, I have seen you and your band several times in my past in Northern Michigan. Just thought I’d ask.

Nice review, thanks. It is surprising to me, that even though there are very different perspectives on the relative quality of individual performances, review after review contain basically the same overall comment: “In total, the thousands of us leaving the venue were very happy people!” That IMO is a very successful concert.

Do people really say “holy cow” in Wisconsin?

Good review! I’m guilty of being a major lurker on this website, haha. I wanted to comment on this though!

I was at the concert in Madison as well and I couldn’t agree with you more! Scott and Matt really impressed me and were definitely highlights. I hope that they both find success. As for Danny, I was happy to see him out of the sheer loyalty and state pride that I have for Wisconsin but he was not among the best of the night. You can definitely tell that he enjoyed all of the attention too which made me want to push him off the stage so Adam could perform. Oh well, hahaha. I bought my ticket to see Adam and he did not disappoint. He was fantastic! Kris also was amazing!

At the end, everyone in the crowd was upbeat and had a good time. Frankly, a part of it might be because quite a few of them were half drunk, but also because it certainly was a fun show! =]

he holds our attention with the most convincing, emotion-driven presentation.

Awesome! Can’t wait to see Kris in his Solo Tour.

Great recap, I agree on everything you said about Kradison and Matt, very insightful. Thank you so much!

Thanks for taking the time to write your recap. I love getting a variety of perspestives. I am glad you brought up the staging and lighting issues. Those and many of the backdrops for the performers were very distracting.
Michael going “church” ? Actually, I think country suits hm better but can’t see him opening for even a major player now or ever.
Scott being in tune – good because he had some hits and misses and flats at my show. Otherwise, I very much agree with your assessment of the bottom 4. I find Anoop totally appealing though probably because I am one of those “paying close attention”. I am a sucker for smooth, silky and sultry. I agree with your comments about Matt just not to your level of enthusiasm. However, you nailed my reactions to Allison, Danny, Adam and Kris to the point that I have nothing to add or detract. Thanks again for you time !

Thnx

I agree with your review point by point. My favorite on the show and on tour was Matt, and I really hope he gets a deal soon…and with a major label.
Having seen Adam on tour, I am a new convert to the bandwagon. I’ve never heard him mention being a fan or being influenced by Depeche Mode, but he does have a Dave Gahan quality about him. Does anyone else see this? Maybe it’s just the black vest with the black pants and occasionally the hair? I mean this as a compliment as they are one of my very favorite bands and they are terriffic live.

Jlamb, appreciated your expert opinion, which is pretty close to my unprofessional opinion. Yay! I hadn’t thought about how quickly the stage goes dark between sets, and indeed this is a little unnerving, at least for the last three or four should you want to applaud and see their reaction (some of the others I can’t wait for darkness to descend and the next idol to go on).
I’m grateful, though, that when Adam leaves the stage it’s somewhat slowly as he descends through that hole. I’ve gotten to enjoy that moment when he switches from sex rock god to cute charmer just before the light fades and he is gone.

Thanks, I really enjoyed your recap and you bring a good point with the going to dark at the end of each set, I feel it doesn’t allow us to close the circle with each performer.

They all deserve that last bow so we can show them our appreciation. Except for Kris when he comes out with Heartless and has the “alone” moment with the crowd the other performers don’t get the chance.

Thank you for taking the time to share with us. I enjoyed experiencing the concert from your perspective. I agree with you on Michael and Danny, disagree on Matt. I’m an Adam fan so I appreciate you giving him a fair crack at winning your support. On Kris, I really can’t judge, I’ve only seen the vids, and I’m generally neutral on his style of music.

You recap was concise and informative, everything a recap should be imo, and definitely worth the read. Thanks again for posting.

I, too, looked around at the audience when Anoop was performing. He could not hold my attention even though he seemed to be well-received. I neither like him or dislike him. He’s just there.

I’m glad he is an intelligent guy. In a year he will be back at college finishing his studies and all will be well.

Thank you JLamb! I love reading the recaps to see how each person feels about all of the entertainers. Surprised and pleased to see all of the new posters joining us.

Thank you for your precise, concise recap. I pretty much agree with what you said except that I really liked Megan’s performance too. It was a good show and I’d recommend it to anyone.
And as a diehard Dreadhead I just want to agree with the person who said Jason was signed to a major label. His first single was just released through Atlantic Records, a little less than a year after he completed the AI tour. I still have my fingers crossed for Matt; labels take notice of fan appreciation and so many people have been impressed by Matt.

Loved your recap, especially from someone with professional music experience. You can now understand the Adam “syndrome” that many of us are afflicted with. I was not a fan of Matt’s during the season, but I did become one after his performance. Displayed fine showmanship, soul and “wicked” piano skills. If/when anyone from the top 10 does a solo tour, I’ll go. There’s something about each of them that I like. Good group, even though I still wish Jesse L , Alexis Grace and Jamar would have made it up there too. Thanks again for a great review.
here’s the Wisconsin State Journal idol concert review:
http://host.madison.com/entertainment/music/article_f8c5e0ae-9a14-11de-a9e5-001cc4c002e0.html

Positive and well-balanced recap. Knowing about your background in music made it more authentic for me. Thank you.

JLAMBS, thank you for your crisp and astute re-cap. It is nice to know that you are, mostly, in the pocket with, what, most have said on the blogs with some room for wiggle.
So many have mentioned the distracting parts of the staging….Hopefully the Stage authors are listening to these irritaions. I do agree,that,it is a cheat for some of the artists not to see the audience’s appreciation during blackout and the audience is,too abruptly disconected from the artists.(Sad)
I know mine is not a popular opinion on Alcohol, but I really dislike that all these large venues serve it. It makes people happy for a little while,then
really stupid and loud without focus for longer,and later just sad,
incoherent and possibly dangerous to us all!!!! Sorry, I ranted!!
I was early fan of Matt during HWW, but, felt he really fell on his sword during TV competition. I am thrilled to realise he just had nerves of the inexperienced…..And he is a big talent! AI machine does not take, too many, chances on the idols, as they know some will be loss leaders.( for whatever reason,don’t take)!!
Allison will get nothing but better if her voice is looked after. Adam will
engage the world, as I understand TPTB are arranging UK tour dates
etc. SO EXCITING!!!
And Lovely kris will have long career and, Hopefully, will play those smaller venues wherere he can see everyones face as he has said in a interview I watched. Or I could just put his record on!! I would pay $$$ for any of those 4 fab talents!!

Thank you, JLamb. I am glad you had a good time!

Letitride, I am also a sucker for smooth, silky and sultry.

You can definitely tell that he enjoyed all of the attention too which made me want to push him off the stage so Adam could perform.

too-cool-for-school, I almost choked when I read your comment. LOL.

So true about missing take-a-bow applause breaks. Made no sense. Maybe the lighting guys who are up in those overheads have no control to allow timing variations? Who knows? Thanks for great recap.

Do people really say ‘holy cow’  in Wisconsin?

yah, dat’s what we say when we’re up nort’ with the cheeseheads!

Off I go to get a drink from the “bubbler”…

I used to read the recaps on a daily basis, but I stopped after I realized they all said virtually the same thing. I now read them maybe 2 times per week, and I only read one. I choose this one, while this review wasn’t illuminating, there is still that one common thing that sticks out and makes me sort of annoyed…

No matter who is reviewing EVERY review since the tour has begun has ALWAYS been negative when it comes to Lil. It seems like since her demise in the eyes of the judges, no one will take her serious anywhere else. I didn’t see the show (financial restraints), but I am taking exception to this fact, people will at least give DGokey a semi-decent review, but Lil gets nothing from anyone.

The most annoying Lil review is when they comment on her “physique,” I find that annoying because being from the same culture as Lil I know for a fact that a “majority” of her male culture find her “physique” quite exquisite, while the would find Megan’s “physique” to be very lacking.

I apologize for hijacking this thread to find my voice, but I didn’t know where else to put this…

Have a grand day.

I attended the concert and shared your recap with my coworker who also attended the show in Madison and we had the same response that we agreed with you in large part with one significant exception.
Please note that we do not mean the following as any sort of slam at Kris (and my coworker is a diehard Kris fan), but are reporting our own experiences:

This was most definitely an Adam and Danny crowd. Prior to the show starting, screams were only heard for Adam and secondarily Danny during the intro footage. I was nervous for Kris when I heard what appeared to be a lack of enthusiasm for him, especially when in looking around I saw only one teeshirt for Kris amongst a sea of Adam and Danny clothing and signs. In both of our sections people were talking about the upcoming show only in terms of Adam and again, Danny, secondarily. I like Kris and my coworker LOVES him, so we were hoping for the best for him.

So, while we’d agree with your assesment of the concert overall, we could not agree with your observation that the energy level did not drop when Kris came on. Where I was sitting, everyone except the first 4 rows sat down when he came on and where my coworker was sitting, everyone sat down for Kris. While they applauded and were, as you say, very polite, the enthusiasm was at most 1/2 of what it had been for Adam, Danny or Allison.

In addition to other factors such as personal preference and the reality that rock is always going to increase the energy level as opposed to acoustic guitar/piano stylings, I honestly think from what I heard around me that Adam’s set wiped people out and they needed to recover. In my coworker’s section, people talked about leaving, but decided it would be rude, so stayed put. The people immediately around both of us spent much of Kris’ set talking about Adam.

I could feel the wave of energy return as people saw Adam come out during Hey Jude and once again everyone in my section stood up and stayed standing until the end.

And those are the views from our seats.