The long wait is finally over!! Sparkles has returned, for our recapping pleasure! Read her hilarious recap of the Milwaukee concert below:
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Call me Sparkles. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. My American Idol concert experience was a constant race against the clock. Damn, whenever I come up with a great opening line for this recap, it’s already been used. I mean, “call me Ishmael” is from Moby Dick, the next one is Charles Dickens and I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that the last one is from that great American philosopher Sanjaya Malakar. So let me just start with this: Hello, my name is Sparkles and I’m not wearing any pants. Now that I’ve suitably introduced myself, I shall commence with my recap.
Season Nine has been called Season Nein by some people (nein means “no” for those of you who don’t speak Spanish). But as much as I admit this was a pretty craptastic season with absolutely no “moments” (unless you count “Pants On The Ground”), I was still going to go to the concert. I want a moment this season damn it, and if the show couldn’t give it to me, maybe the concert would. But do I get my moment? Do the Niners finally redeem themselves? Did I just waste my time and money? Read on, dear readers, for all will be revealed…
So this will be the fifth season I’ve gone to see the live Idol experience and written a crappy recap (henceforth to be referred to as a recrap). This time the Idols were coming to Summerfest – The World’s Largest Music Festival. It’s an annual fest here in Milwaukee that lasts 11 days and has over 800 bands playing on various stages. It’s $15 (or cheaper with various promotions) to get in and you can walk from stage to stage and see whoever you want. The Idols, however, are at the Marcus Amphitheater which requires a separate ticket for reserved seating at typical concert prices. You can check out my photo & video links at the bottom to get all the deets if you’re so inclined. You should know that Sparkles was thinking of you while taking photos & video of all the sights and strange people. I’m such a giver.
So I was able to score a ticket in row B. For those of you who are alphabetically challenged that’s the row right after A, which means I was very close. This year instead of attending with my usual partner in crime James, I went with 2 good friends of mine. Let’s just call them Kenny & Collette, the self proclaimed sweetest couple ever. She moved here from the Philippines about 8 months ago so they could get married. Collette watched American Idol and her fave was Aaron. She’s still getting used to our wacky American ways & I thought that Summerfest certainly would show her all that America has to offer. In other words: drunks, hippies and weirdos (refer to my video).
THE VENUE: The Marcus Amphitheater is a partially covered outdoor venue with reserved seats, reserved benches and general admission grass seats. The capacity is 23, 000 and it was no where near sold out. But a lot of shows this season were also not nearly sold out. I saw Clapton & Santana earlier in the week & the crowds for that show (especially Clapton) were larger. The Idol crowd may have been smaller but they were much louder, as far as screaming and shrieking goes anyway.
THE CROWD: it was the typical Idol concert crowd with mainly couples but also some families with young kids as well as pairs of girlfriends. I asked as many people as I came across who they were there for and I’d say about 70% said Lee, 25% said Casey and the rest said Aaron with a few Tim’s in there. Yes MJ is right when she said the guys are the big draw on the tour.
MY ROW: On one side of me was a young couple who were good friends with someone who went to high school with Lee. She said her friend really wanted to go but had planned a trip to Europe months earlier. She also mentioned that her friend said Lee was a rebel back in the day. On the other side of me was a couple with their young son, I’d say he was maybe 9. I think they were attending because the mom was a big Casey fan. She mentioned that they had met a lot of the Idols because they were staying at the same hotel (the swank & historic Pfister for those of you who must know these things). She said she was walking in the lobby when she saw Tim & then Andrew. She said Tim was all smiles when she asked him to pose & Andrew was really laid back and said sure. She then noticed Siobhan & Katie and she said they were oblivious and a bit non responsive. She said they looked a bit surprised when she grabbed them to join in on the photo. On her way back to the room she came face to face with Lee as he came out of the elevator who just said “hi, how ya doin?” as he walked away. She was too shocked to follow him. And lastly she bumped into Big Mike as he was leaving the work out room all sweaty. He was also very nice & posed for a photo.
In front of me was a mom & dad with their son who was maybe 12. I’ll call them the McSitters because they sat through almost the entire first half (yippee for me as I was recording). Behind me were two women in their early 30’s. They saw me with a copy of the setlist as I had brought it along to plan my video taping (by the way, thanks to MJ for having it up on this site). They seemed okay but as the night progressed they got drunker & drunker. More on that as the night progresses…
DIDI BENAMI: Didi’s set was a bit of a low key opener. She seemed very comfortable on stage though and was genuinely appreciative of the audience. For some reason Collette didn’t like Didi at all on the show. So after the concert I asked her what she thought. I expected her to roll her eyes or something but she said she liked her. I was surprised so I asked her what she liked and Collette said “her outfit & her boots.” Okay then.
ANDREW GARCIA: On the show, Andrew never seemed to do anything as interesting as “Straight Up.” So I was glad to see him do this song. He seems like a laid back, cool guy and he was really enjoying himself onstage. He was also very gracious to the crowd.
KATIE STEVENS: Katie’s set was all music I’m not a fan of so it’s hard for me to judge. She seemed like a polished performer up there though.
TIM URBAN: I wasn’t one of those whiners who complained when Tim kept staying week after week. Sure, he wasn’t the greatest singer but he’s very cute and I thought it would be fun to see him on the tour. But I have to say, Tim’s set was the biggest disappointment of the night. It really came down to the song choices which didn’t play to Tim’s strength at all. He pretty much stood and sang like a singer songwriter type, which he is not. Apparently he didn’t get the memo. It would have been so much better if he had sung one pretty balled like “Hallelujah” and then did an upbeat number where he could have run all around the stage. The girls would have went wild if he had done the slide or a jump like Ace Young did on the Season 5 tour. But Lee took “Hallelujah” and Tim did two medium paced songs. A total waste & it’s too bad because I really thought I was going to like his set, even if it was only in a guilty pleasure kind of a way. Whoever suggested he do those two songs should be fired. Maybe even killed. Or at the very least forced to attend every concert and made to watch only Tim’s set. Believe me, they will be begging to be killed after the second show. On a positive note, Tim is like super duper cute. And don’t get me started on that smile…or those biceps!
SIOBHAN MAGNUS: I wasn’t a huge fan on the show, mainly because of the screams that she did. But, like Adam Lambert, she has an outrageous fashion style that works well onstage. She had some cool intro music that sounded like a Danny Elfman song for a Tim Burton film. Mr. McSitter in front of me sat pretty much the whole first act but he popped up out of his seat pretty damn fast when he saw Siobhan in her fishnet stockings. The lights and smoke on her opening song were cool but made it very hard to photograph or videotape her as it messed with the camera’s focusing. That is probably why there aren’t too many videos of her. Also, I noticed that during the group numbers Siobhan was really getting into the singing, almost like it was a Disney thing such as High School Musical. A little weird with her goth like outfit but I got nothing against weird. In fact, weird is my friend.
AARON KELLY: Yes, it’s true, Aaron’s set was excellent. I usually don’t like the young kids on the show. It’s just uncomfortable for me to watch a kid having to work and take all that criticism. But there were no nervous giggles or goofy little dances like Archuleta did on the Season 7 tour. Aaron’s performance was very genuine and natural. And he sounded great. Collette loved Aaron on the show and was not disappointed with his performance. Unlike Tim, the Aaron fans got everything they wanted and then some.
INTERMISSION: I was wearing adult diapers so I didn’t have to stand in a long line. Yippee for me. For the people sitting within 20 feet of me, not so much.
MICHAEL LYNCHE: The two drunk women behind me were singing loudly through any song they recognized. When Mike said that his next song would be “Ready For Love, ” one of the women sang in a loud uneven drunken slur “ready for love.” I hadn’t realized that I responded out loud with “I don’t think that’s how it goes” until half a dozen people in front of me turned around laughing. Drunks sure do unite the sober folks. As far as Mike goes, I think he has a great voice. I’m just not a fan of the type of music he sings. But he really was a great performer, moving around the stage, kneeling, playing guitar etc. He talked about his baby daughter and mentioned that he had family in the house. One of the highlights of the concert is his duet with Casey, unfortunately the only duet of the night.
CASEY JAMES: I was a fan of Casey since his shirtless audition. He’s a great looking guy but what I really liked was his guitar playing. I’m a big Stevie Ray Vaughan fan (you can tell because I actually spelled his last name correctly) and Casey has a little of that vibe. Some guitar players try to sound like SRV but they don’t have the right attitude or soul, even though they may technically play very well. John Mayer comes to mind. So I was blown away by Casey’s first song. Has any Idol ever opened their set with a song that was less well known to the masses? That takes confidence. If you’ve read my past recraps you know I’m a big Tim Stewart fan so the back and forth solos between Casey and the Idol band guitarist were the highlight of the night for me. I especially liked when Tim did his solo and then gives Casey a look like “take that pretty boy!” I’d have to say this was my favorite performance of any Idol since I’ve been going to these concerts. Yes, I finally got my damn moment! I can’t believe we didn’t see this on the show. Instead we got “Power Of Love.” Are you kidding me? Anyway, I loved Casey’s set. He was the most aware and interactive with the crowd of all the Idols, always smiling and laughing at the crazy people screaming. After his set the Casey fan next to me said “how do you follow that?”
CRYSTAL BOWERSOX: Crystal definitely had the best vocals of the night. Sitting so close, I can say it was pretty amazing to watch her. She really sounded great. I was a fan of hers since her audition and I really thought she was going to win. As a matter of fact, I’ve watched since Season 1 and this year was only the second time that I didn’t vote for the winner when it got to the final 2. I won’t tell you what the other time was because I don’t want the Claymates or Glamberts to get on my ass if they even suspect that I didn’t vote for their fave. I will give you one hint though and say that it wasn’t Justin Guarini. Anyway, Crystal was my other fave of the night. I’m not a fan of the belters or the yellers so in my opinion Crystal has the best voice of any female Idol ever. Really expressive and emotional. Great on the show but something beyond amazing live. I’m really glad I got a chance to see her up close. And next to Casey, I’d say Crystal seemed the most in the moment and aware of the crowd and smiled and interacted a lot.
LEE DEWYZE: I’ll admit that I don’t quite get Lee. It’s not that I think he’s a bad singer. I’m just pretty much indifferent to him. Too much angst maybe. Sparkles is all about the joy and the fun, dancing, prancing and skipping my way through life. I got no time for angst. Angst is my antichrist. Angst is my enemy. Angst is a big pile of doggie doo doo. I think I’ve made my point. Anyway, the crowd loved him. Being so close to Illinois I’m sure there were a lot of Lee friends & fans who drove up. In fact Lee mentioned that his brother was in attendance. At the beginning of Lee’s set the drunk women behind me asked to see the setlist and were pointing at songs saying “oh we know that one, we can sing along.” I smiled and replied with the first thought that popped into my head which was “just don’t sing too loud.” They both stared at me like they didn’t know if I was complaining and if I was, was there anything I could do to stop their obnoxious behavior. There were a few uncomfortable seconds until Lee said “okay on this next one, everybody sing along” to which the drunks laughed and pointed at me and yelled “ha ha, see Lee wants us to sing so we have to.” All I could do was smile through clenched teeth and give them a big thumbs up. Thanks a lot, Lee.
By the end of Lee’s set I will admit that I did start to see glimpses of his appeal. My favorite was “Use Somebody” as his angst was put to very good use here. Maybe there is a tiny spot for angst in the magical rainbow and waterfall land that I live in. I’ll tell you one thing, if my unicorn runs away there’ll be some major angst and that’s no joke.
GROUP NUMBERS: The group number that ended the first half was okay. I would have preferred an upbeat number with the Idols dancing around. Seeing Tim sitting on a stool with a guitar was again, beyond dumb. The group number that ended the night was much better. It started with all of the guys & then featured the girls and then had all of them together. No one was acting goofy as had been done in seasons past. Maybe they’ll loosen up as the tour progresses. After the song was over Lee thanked the crowd and like the good mother she is Mamasox told us to drive safely.
CONCLUSION: After the show I met up with Kenny and Collette and asked them what they thought. Collette had a great time and enjoyed singing and dancing all night. I asked Kenny what he thought and he said “it was okay.” Okay? Wasn’t it fun? “It was too loud.” But didn’t you have a great time? “Too many people smoking by us.” You didn’t have fun? “It was alright.” But you have to admit, that was the most fun you had all month. “Yes, ” agreed Kenny finally. Of course it was only July 2nd. No matter, Sparkles got the answer she wanted.
I will say that these Idols are all so much better live than they were on the show. With the price of tickets, sometimes they are even free, you should really check it out. You wouldn’t be reading an American Idol concert recap on an American Idol blog if you weren’t interested. So what’s wrong with you? What are you waiting for? I, for one, had so much fun that I’ll be attending one more show. You’ll hear all about it, although it’ll probably be a week late. Sorry but there’s just no way to rush genius prose such as this.
I always like to include some useless Sparkles info for you stat-whores.
Temperature at show time: hot
Miles from my house to the venue: about 33
Cost of my ticket: about $90
Cost per Idol: $9
Cost of my Diet Pepsi: $3 (that’s 1/3 of an Idol!)
Favorite AI Season: yes, it’s still 5 & then 7
Number of Idols from Season 9 that have a first name as a last name: 3 (Casey James, Aaron Kelly & Katie Stevens)
Favorite Jonas Brother: Stanley, the one they keep locked in a closet
Favorite fashion accessory: red clown nose, of course
Words or phrases that freak people out if you randomly say them in a crowded elevator: “Why is this closet moving?” “Here kitty kitty, ” and “I like raisins.”
You know you’re a AI uber-fan if: you buy 2 copies of your favorite Idol’s CD saying one’s for home & one’s for the car. You also probably buy an MP3 copy too so you have one for the computer/iPod. And you actually care what their CD sales are in Switzerland. You will also read recaps of their concerts and royally rip on any that diss your fave in any way, shape or form. Of course your ID on these sites has your fave Idol’s name followed by the words “is hot, ” “rocks” or “rules.” Or better yet “iz hott, ” “rox” or “rulez.” The Idol uber fans are a strange bunch indeed.
CDs I will buy from this seasons Idols: I don’t usually buy the CDs but I will consider Casey’s & Crystal’s as long as they’re not too slick & overproduced. I’m sure Collette will get Aaron’s CD so I will give that a listen. I’m not much of a country fan but I do like the title song on Danny Gokey’s CD so I may like a song or two. I definitely will check out any CDs that have a free listen & will buy any that I like.
So that’s my recrap. Do a clown a favor and let me know what you think. If you’re a lurker who reads & doesn’t post, now is your chance to make your voice heard. If I get at least one person to register & post for the very first time I will dance a dance so dancey it will be dancemazing. Like totally dance-awesome! You wouldn’t want to deny a crazed clown that, now would you? I didn’t think so. Sparkles over & out & you’ll be hearing from me again…whether you want to or not.
My Sparklicious Photos
American Idols 2010 Milwaukee :: American Idols 7/2/10 Milwaukee, WI picture by Sparkledonia – Photobucket
My Sparklicious Videos
YouTube – ConcertCameraCat’s Channel
