Jamie lives in Tulsa and has only been watching Idol since Season 7. Check out her recap of the recent Tulsa concert below:
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Hey everyone. I tend to be a bit wordy so be warned. This recap will probably be a bit long. A little background on me. I’ve been watching only since season 7. A lot of my coworkers watched it and talk about it all the time and they convinced me to watch it, especially when they said there was a guy on there who had lived in Tulsa and was really good. Well Tulsa being my hometown I had to check it out. So needless to say I am a huge David Cook fan and I went to two shows that season and one show last season. I will preface this review by saying my favorite this season was Lee. I liked him since Top 24 when he did a song I just love, Chasing Cars. I also liked Crystal and Casey.
So my friends and I wanted to get there for the meet and greet before the show. So we get to the venue we waited about an hour and a half before the first one comes out and its Tim. We were at one end of the barricade and of course he started at the other end. He was very nice (and pretty!) and he said he was excited because his family was coming to the Dallas show the next night.
After Tim we waited. And waited. And waited.And then we melted because it was so freaking hot! We were starting to wonder if anyone else was going to come out. Finally people started jumping up, as we had all gone back to sitting on the ground, and I look at the doors and I catch a glimpse of a guy that looks really short so I immediately think it must be Lee! It turns out to be Lee and Andrew and lucky us they headed our way first. My friend had printed a group picture for everyone to sign and individual pictures of Lee for him to sign. I also had a copy of Slumberland that I was excited to get signed. He actually didn’t have anything to sign with but luckily I had a black Sharpie in my purse.
When I gave him the cd he turned to Andrew and said “Hey have you seen the actual cd before?” Andrew said no so Lee showed it to him. There is a half moon and stars on the cd. He seemed quite proud of it which I thought was cool. I told him it was an awesome album and I couldn’t wait for the new one. We took a pic and before he walked away I also told him he needed Converse like mine. They are shimmery black Converse and he said he had black ones but not ones like mine and he told me they were “dope” and asked where I got them. He went on to the next group and my friend was like “he still has your marker” I didn’t really care but suddenly Lee remembered and said to me “hey I stole your marker.” He went to throw it back to me but of course I missed it! That was a little embarrassing. he said sorry and my friend’s boyfriend that was with us said that I was nervous. Even more embarrassing, lol.
We looked at the pictures on the camera and discovered that my eyes were closed! So my friend’s bf suggested we move to another open spot in the barricade and ask for another. We debated for a few minutes because I felt sort of silly asking him for another picture but I really wanted a better picture so we did it. It was at that point I also noticed Andrew hadn’t signed our group picture. I think when we took our pic with Lee and I was talking about my shoes Andrew just moved on. So when he reached us we got his autograph and a picture. When Lee got to us I told him the picture we took didn’t turn out and asked if we could have another one. He jokingly yelled “What?!” but of course graciously agreed to do another. And here is the first time I melted. After the picture when he pulled away he had his hand on my arm and he slid it down and for the briefest, briefest moment he held my hand before letting go. I’m such a dork, I know but it left a big smile on my face!
Katie had come out during this time and she was getting close to us. She is much tinier than she looks on tv. She was wearing bright orange nail polish which I complimented her on. On the show I thought Katie was a little pageanty and she kind of annoyed me but in person she seemed completely different. Very personable and friendly and more like a regular teenager. After Katie we headed back over to our original spot and then Big Mike and Aaron came out. Aaron was so tiny, especially compared to Mike! I admit I didn’t really think much of Mike on the show. I was just always kind of “eh” on him but I like him more now because he complimented my earrings. I was wearing guitar pick earrings that said Cain’s Ballroom on them. For those not from the area, Cains is a historic music venue in downtown Tulsa. Bob Dylan, the Sex Pistols, The Killers, and Siobhan’s favorite band Hanson have played there among many, many others. So I was pretty thrilled to receive that compliment. Anyway both guys were super nice.
Next out was Casey! The first thing I thought when I saw him was “he’s so pretty!” He’s also very tall. I felt sort of stupid around him as I couldn’t think of anything to say except “I like your shirt.” He was wearing a bright orange Bubba Gump shrimp shirt. Oh and I almost forgot! While Katie was still out there I had turned around and I suddenly see this bright red hair heading up the front steps. It took a second to register but then I realized it was Lacey Brown. She climbed over the barricade and it was kind of funny because security immediately came over and Katie had to say “she’s with me.” and I think I heard her say she had a pass for her. Lacey and Katie hugged and were excited to see each other. Lacey hung around and talked to people for a bit and posed for pictures.
After that we decided no one was else was probably coming out since it was close to 5 so we went to dinner and came back. As we entered the venue I was pleasantly surprised that it seemed like a decent sized crowd. The upper deck was closed off but the rest of the venue seemed pretty full. We had floor seats about halfway back right in the center. I saw Lacey heading to her seat with who I think was Katie’s brother Ryan. I had seen him outside with the Idols earlier.
Didi started off and while I really liked her voice I just did not dig the song choices. I knew the name of the first one only because I’d read about the set list here at MJs. I thought she performed them well though. Andrew really surprised me. I didn’t really like him on the show so I didn’t expect to like him at the concert. But I really dug his seat and he did get people out of their seats. I liked his arrangement of Straight Up and I found myself groovin to it and Sunday Morning. This is often a recurring theme with the Idols but he really did sound better here than on the show.
Katie was good too. I had never heard the Demi Lovato song before and I didn’t really like it very much. But I really liked Fighter. I thought she sounded almost exactly like Christina Aguilera. Tim was another surprise. I thought his voice sounded really strong! He was much better than I expected. When he was on the show I always liked his positive attitude but never really thought much of his singing. But I thought he was really good in concert. Even on Vida la Vida.
I really liked Siobhan’s opening. It reminded me of Alice in Wonderland and seemed very Siobhan. On the show I liked Siobhan at first but then she kind of lost me with her song choices. And I did get tired of “the scream” but live I thought it was pretty impressive. I really liked Paint it Black and Stockholm Syndrome but I didn’t like her version of Spiderwebs. I just didn’t think she sounded very good on it. Like it was too low for her or something. But overall I thought her set was very entertaining. My friend’s boyfriend said she gave him chills.
Everyone has been raving about Aaron’s set and I think the reviews have been well deserved. I’m not really into country music so the only song I recognized was Walking in Memphis but I thought he did a really good job. He seemed much more comfortable on the stage and had more charisma that he ever exhibited on the show. My only complaint was I thought the band seemed a little loud on Fast Cars and Freedom and almost overpowered him a little.
First group number: I hate to say it but for the first, and probably last, time in my life I actually enjoyed a Miley Cyrus song. I can’t believe I just typed that.
Like I said earlier I didn’t care much for Big Mike on the show. I thought he had a good voice but there was always something about him that just bugged me. At the concert I thought he sounded good but I didn’t really did the song choices. I really liked This Woman’s Work and the crowd seemed to love it too. But I didn’t like Ready for Love. For the first half of the concert I felt like it just sped by but Ready for Love seemed to go on forever. I don’t like the song to begin with and I didn’t like it when he did it on Idol. My Love was just ok. I appreciated that he picked an upbeat, contemporary song but again I’m not really a fan of the song. The girls sitting in front of me loved it though. But despite not really liking his song choices I thought he did a good job. There were some guys a few rows behind us who yelled a few times “Big Mike! We love you Big Mike!” It was pretty funny.
The crowd on the floor was standing at the end of Mike’s set and they stayed standing when Casey came out. The crowd definitely loved him. When he strolled out I thought he just looked like a rock star. I loved his first song. I thought I Got Mine was just the perfect song for him. That is definitely the direction I could see him going in. On the show I liked him but thought he had a few lazy song choices but I thought he had a great set at the concert. Although I preferred Jealous Guy to Don’t, I enjoyed Don’t. And wow his guitar playing was just awesome. I also thought his voice sounded better live. I came away with even more appreciation for his talent.
I thought Crystal was awesome too. I love What’s Up? so I was excited when I heard she was performing it. I thought that was a perfect song for her. And I am probably the only person to think this but I don’t really like Up On the Mountain. I just don’t care for the song so I didn’t really enjoy it when she sang it on Idol or at the concert. But I think she sounded great singing it. I just couldn’t get into that particular song. I loved Piece of My Heart though and Come to My Window was good too. But my favorite was definitely What’s Up? I also thought her voice sounded really good and strong throughout her set.
And then it was time for Lee. I also really liked all of his song choices. I loved Rocket Man and being a big Pink Floyd fan I loved his inclusion of Welcome to the Machine during that song. One thing I really like about Lee is the emotion he puts into his performances and I really feel like he’s connected to the music which in turn makes me feel connected. I could really see that during Hallelujah. And I love Kings of Leon so of course I loved Use Somebody.
I didn’t think the group number was as bad as I had read it was or as bad as it was on Good Morning America. I do think the band was a little overpowering during that number too as I found I couldn’t hear them that well. But who knows, maybe that was a blessing. Haha. Crystal and Lee had a few cute moments during it. At one point Crystal had her hand out to Lee and I guess he put his hand on hers.It was hard to see from where I was sitting but I got a picture of it. And then when they were walking off stage they high-fived.
Afterwards we decided to head to the barricades again. My friend’s boyfriend has a bit of a crush on Siobhan now so he was hoping to see her. They were putting the barricades up as we were exiting and people were all crowded around one area and my friend saw one side of the barricade was clear so we head over there and get a spot right at the front. I have no idea why more people didn’t do that instead of just cramming in one area. I can’t remember who came out first, maybe Tim but he started at the opposite end of us again. So when Lee came out right after him all of us on that side were waving him to come over to us. And he obliged! This time I just wanted to ask him for a hug as he’d already signed 3 things for me and taken pictures. So when he got to me I asked “Can I just get a hug?” and he said “Of course” and hugged me. It almost seems like a blur now, lol. There was a lady standing behind me that had a young daughter. My friend and I had let the little girl stand between us at the front so after I got my hug I asked the mom if she wanted my spot and I was going to move back. I had gotten all I wanted, lol. M friend still had our pictures and was at the front so if anyone else came out she was going to get them signed.
Siobhan and Didi came out and Siobhan seemed very quiet and shy in person which kind of surprised me. Didi was just as bubbly as she appears to be. Also to my surprise Crystal came out! For some reason I had the impression she didn’t come out much. The lady who I gave my spot to asked if I wanted it back since she heard me say I wanted a picture with Crystal. But we didn’t get a chance for a pic. I did get her autograph though which was cool. We actually got everyone’s autograph this year.
A couple of other tidbits. We were standing next to a woman who was one of Casey’s teachers in school. I think high school. So when he saw her he said “Hey!” and gave her a big hug. It was really sweet. I also heard a guy ask Lee how he liked Tulsa and he said he loved it and that he liked the weather. He said ‘I love the heat.” and I just wanted to ask him if he was crazy, lol. I was glad to see a good crowd at the aftershow meet and greet as it wasn’t that big before the show. My friend commented during the pre-show meet and greet that there weren’t that many people there compared to last year’s m&g. And also not as many as when I went during season 7. But after the show I thought it was a decent number.
So it was definitely a fun experience. I think everyone sounded better than they did on the show. I wish more people would have bought tickets for the tour and seen for themselves. I do think the crowd was a bit more sedate than it was during seasons 7 and 8 but they still seemed to enjoy it.
I took some pictures but the show pics are pretty crappy. My camera is not that great and we were not that close. And my battery light started flashing so I decided to skip Big Mike and save it for the top 3. I really wanted to video What’s Up? and some of Lee’s set but I didn’t think my battery would last. So I only took like a minute of video of Lee. And when we were outside after the show it died completely so I didn’t get any pictures of Crystal. My friends did though and they have the pics of us with Lee and the other Idols on their camera. On mine I only have the picture with Casey. But if you want to check them out they are here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/batgirl478/AmericanIdolSeason9Concert?authkey=Gv1sRgCMuukJCM4v-4ngE#
