Despite the fact that thousands of people audition in Denver for American Idol, the summer tour never stops here, which is disappointing. My daughter and I have wanted to go to the show for several years. We almost made it to Salt Lake City last year, but not quite. So, finally, we figured out dates and locations that could work for a trip and we headed off to Kansas City for the August 30 show.
Overall, we had an amazing night. Let me say that it started with some very sad and shocking things, but ended with kindness from others that led to a very, very excited 9-year-old girl. We went full-circle.
We arrived at the Sprint Center at about 6:10 pm. As we approached the venue, unfortunately the first thing we encountered were the picketers (from Westboro Baptist Church we later learned.) This was unexpected, shocking, and upsetting. Their signs included the messages “God hates gays” and “Kennedy is in hell.” These really gave me chills (in a BAD way) and even brought tears to my eyes. Disbelief. We went from being giddy to being rattled. We are so proud of Adam’s, and all the Idols’ accomplishments, and this just wasn’t right. I looked over at another woman whom we had walked next to earlier and I saw her wiping tears from her eyes too.
After processing that, we went inside. Since we traveled all this way, we decided to get good seats. Row 8 in the center!! Woohoo, we were very excited. Our energy was quickly building back up.
On the big screens, some great videos from David Cook and Carrie Underwood played, keeping us pumped for the show. I have to say, we had a lot of the 50-60 + age group around us. A lot of age diversity. From where I was sitting, I did not see a lot of racial/ethnic diversity. And, there were a lot of Adam supporters and what appeared to be gay couples throughout, which was awesome.
Michael came out and did a nice job. He had a lot of energy and his voice was solid. Some girls close by held up LSU banners, to which he smiled and said, ‘Hey LSU.’
Next Megan. Yes, the concert sound definitely enhanced her voice and she sounded better than the show. Nonetheless, to me she still did not sound good. She looked good in her heels, which looked better than those flats she wore on the show! She had the confident walking down, but the dance moves not so much.
Next Scott. I thought Scott’s voice sounded really strong. His performances were passionate, and he had a lot of rhythm while he was moving at the piano. Not my favorite songs, but he kept me interested. He did a funny impression of Simon.
Next, Lil. People have been commenting about who’ve been the biggest/most pleasant surprises for them. For me, it was both Lil and Anoop. Maybe it was their song choices…with their R & B styles, I felt I could really dance and get into the music. But apparently many did not feel the same way, because a lot of people– at least right around me– were sitting for these two.
I really was never a big Lil fan on the show. But live, her big voice sounded great, she had a lot of energy and presence, and she had good dance moves too. Loved all her bling too!
Anoop’s voice sounded smooth and sultry. He hit some very long, strong notes. My daughter loved his purple high tops. He was soulful, looked handsome, and ‘My Prerogative’ was a fun way to finish. I was impressed.
Matt. All the reviews I’ve read have said that Matt was the big surprise of the night, so I guess maybe I was too prepared for him. He had tremendous energy, and really connected with the audience. His piano playing was excellent. I’m not sure why I got the feeling that he was overly wired, but that’s what I got. ‘Hard to Handle’ was my favorite of the set, with ‘Georgia’ a close second.
Group number: The dueling pianos were definitely fun to see. I liked Sarver’s ‘Suspicious Minds, ‘ and he looked great in his black suit. (His jeans during the first set were really (too) tight.) The choreography at the end was very Motown and very fun. Matt was directly in front of us and he was very enthusiastic about the moves. It was a fun number, and now everyone was ready for the second half.
After the intermission, Allison came out like the force of nature that she is. As some folks mentioned in their comments, there were definitely sound problems at the show on this night. Allison’s mike was not working/wasn’t on for the first line or two of the song. After that, she kicked into high gear. I liked the progression of her songs — lighter pop, soulful Joplin, and then I thought she did a really amazing job on Barracuda.
These weren’t songs you really dance to; we just stood and listened to the power of her voice. And the red light show was dramatic and intense too. Can’t wait to follow her career.
Next up was Danny, who I thought looked really great. He looked liked he’d lost weight since the show (not that I know this for sure) and looked pretty buff. PYT was ok for me… A great song and fun to move to. I like the song ‘Maria Maria’ and liked seeing Danny try some Latin moves. They weren’t great but not bad either. One pet peeve I have always had with Danny is the way he pronounces some things. I don’t know why he says “muh riuh” instead of “maah riah” which is more of a Spanish pronunciation. Ok sorry for that. Major nitpick. I think his vocals were powerful for ‘What Hurts the Most’ and ‘My Wish for You, ‘ and when he gets that growl going he sounds great. Danny had a lot of fans screaming for him in KC.
Of course as expected, the screams were deafening in anticipation of Adam. Adam rose up from the stage and looked spectacular. We all know he is tall, but just looked totally larger than life with his height, his hair, the leather and those piercing eyes. Clearly he was born to be right there where he was. WLL was amazing ‘ it just completely rocked. Major pelvic thrusts on “every inch of my love.” I loved the diversity of Adam’s set. ‘Starlight’ was a sweet song with great vocals. I just went and read the full lyrics ‘ what a great song. ‘Mad World’ ‘ beautiful, although I agree with some other comments that there was some extra echoing going on. When Adam and Allison came together for ‘Slow Ride, ‘ I liked it even better than when they sang it on the show. They looked like they were having a truly great time together. And the Bowie medley ‘ fun and quirky. Adam took off the jacket and wore a leather vest ‘ a rather provocative look! (I hadn’t read about this before). ‘Let’s Dance’ sounded like no other version I’d before, and I loved it! As far as I could see, no bras, undergarments, whips or other items made it to the stage in Kansas City. It would be fascinating to attend several shows and just compare the make-up of the audiences. I’m guessing KC would be on the m-e-l-l-o-w end. And I’m not saying that as a dis, just a guess!
And finally, Kris. Kris received a lot of screams too and I felt like he got the respect he deserved. Although I voted for both Adam and Kris throughout the show (and my daughter voted for Allison), my soft spot was for Kris. I love his voice and his deep passion for music. Kris’ voice sounded beautiful. I especially enjoyed ‘All These Things that I’ve Done’ and ‘Bright Lights, ‘ mostly because I’ve listened to ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ and ‘Heartless’ so many times at home. The energy level did drop with Kris though. I think he’s more powerful on tv where the camera and sound can just focus on him without any other distractions. I also didn’t like all that smoke around him — my camera didn’t know where to focus! :-)
I loved ‘Don’t Stop Believin.” I just loved seeing all of them up there together having fun. I got a great photo of all 10 of them up there together. The sound problems were really obvious though, with the mikes not working for several of the singers during their solo parts. It was pretty bad. Matt was fiddling with his earpiece, and kind of shaking his head and smiling’ ¦as were a few of the others.
Throughout the show, the lights were fantastic. The colors were big and bright and often very pretty. At the end it looked spectacular. And then bubbles were coming out of the ceiling down onto the floor. My daughter was ecstatic, saying ‘I’ve always wanted to be down here so I could be where the bubbles are!!’
We did see a few girls leave during Kris’ set to go outside for autographs. We waited until the very end, but thought we’d still try to see if we could find where the Idols were going to be. My daughter really wanted to try for Allison’s autograph. As we were going down the stairs with hundreds of people, she said, ‘Sometimes, if you hope really hard, it can happen.’
Well, guess what? It did!
This is already way too long so I’ll try to wrap it up. We waited outside for quite some time, maybe 20 or 30 minutes? (not sure) People lined up against a rope that extended quite a ways, maybe half a block. And it was about 4-5 people deep. We chatted for a while with the ladies around us. As we were standing there, I checked Twitter, and thought it was really cool that Adam addressed the earlier situation with his tweet, ‘Thank you all for the support. Love overcomes hate. Love has no color. Love has no orientation. All is love. :)’ Twitter can be so cool sometimes.
Michael, Scott, and Anoop came out. Then Allison. When she made it to our area, the kind ladies in front of us took my daughters ticket and passed it up to the front, where Allison signed it!! Thank you kind ladies. And one even picked up my daughter and held her up for a little while so she could see! (I had already been lifting her for a while). My daughter was just so happy. We saw Danny Gokey, but were so tired we left and missed Kris. L I regret that a little, but my daughter really got what she wanted.
So, we saw acts of hatred at the beginning. And then we saw acts of camaraderie and sweetness at the end. And best of all, we finally saw the American Idols Live, and all of the excitement it brings to people of all ages across the country. I hope this tour has not been too much of a strain on the top 10, because I feel like it’s a lot to ask of anyone. But hopefully they are loving it and it will take them where they want to go in life. We fans are very appreciative, and I feel that we’ve witnessed history in the making.
