I can’t seem to get any work done today, so I figured I would try my hand at writing a recap of last night’s show. I won’t give my age, but let’s just say that I am old enough to know better but young enough not to care. By way of background, until this season I was a casual viewer of AI — watched it if I was home and it didn’t conflict with “Lost”. I had my favorites but never bothered voting. It never even occurred to be to attend an AI concert. Anyway, all that changed this year when my (somewhat embarrassing and completely inappropriate) Adam Lambert obsession began. Although I have lived in Manhattan for 20 years, I have never ventured to the Nassau Coliseum for any reason, but figured that I would make the trek to see Adam and the other Idols. My date for the night was my 9 yo son “Sam” (not his real name, need to protect the innocent.) This was Sam’s first arena concert that did not involve a cartoon character, so he was pretty excited. We arrived about an hour before the show and within 5 minutes I had spent about $70 — parking: $7; 2 glow sticks: $10; 1 program: $25; hotdog, french fries, pretzel, soda: $20; watching your son’s face as he sees Adam Lambert live and in the flesh for the first time: priceless!
We found our seats and happily they were really good — stage left, first section up right on the aisle. We started talking with an older couple in front of us (Sam is super friendly) and they asked who Sam’s favorite was. He said Adam and they said that was too bad because they learned at the meet & greet that he was sick and wasn’t performing that night. I almost had a heart attack;Sam started to get upset. Luckily I quickly found Adam’s twitter that he was performing and just wasn’t doing the meet & greet. Crisis averted!
Overall, Sam and I loved the show. I have been to a ton of concerts but have rarely had as much fun as this one. As has been said before, all of the Idols sounded better than on tv (well, except for Adam and Kris explained below), all got a great crowd reaction and seemed to be having a fun time. You can’t help but smile through the whole shebang. The arena was about 80% full — only the very outermost/top sections were empty, and the crowd was really enthusiatic and
into it! Sam danced, sang, stomped, cheered and waived his glow sticks like a pro! Me too! My impressions re: each set below.
Michael — got things off to a good start; he really is likeable on stage, tries hard to engage the crowd — he really looks up into the audience and waves and tries to establish eye contact (Sam thought he waved at him — not exactly, but didn’t want to burst his bubble). Vocally he sounded good/liked the first song better than the second. Crowd was enthusiastic and he seemed to appreciate that.
Megan was MUCH better than I expected. I couldn’t tell whether she was wearing a new dress, or just changed it up, but she was not wearing high heels but rather gold flat gladiator sandals and gold biker shorts that she hiked up her dress to show. She moved all around the stage and had a good time. She sounded pretty good too. I had read horror stories on here, but she really did a nice job last night. And the crowd supported her too.
Scott sounded better than on TV and seems at home behind the piano, but even live he just doesn’t do anything for me. I found him bland — jmo. I liked him better in the medley. It will be interesting to see what happens with his career.
Lil was a lot of fun. She was relaxed, into the music and dancing, crowd danced and sang along. Sam loved her and bopped along to Single Ladies. Vocally she was so much stronger than she ever was on the show. It is nice to see her doing her thing, but again, it will be interesting to see what happens with her career wise.
Anoop really should rethink those purple sneakers! Anyway, vocally he was very nice — I always get the vibe with him that he is like the most talented member of every male accappella group I saw in college. Which I guess he was! Most of these guys are now doctors, lawyers or bankers, not pop singers. But he is charismatic and sounds lovely and we enjoyed him. Crowd liked him too.
Crowd really came alive when Matt came out. I thought that he started strong (loved Hard to Handle) but then the set slowly lost steam and excitement. I was expecting to be blown away based upon what I’ve read on the internet and I was not. I did enjoy him, as did the crowd and he has a lot of potential. But again, I thought his set kind of fizzled out.
Don’t remember a lot about the 10-6 medley except that Megan and Lil should not sing together (ever!) and that Beggin was fantastic.
Allison! Nothing new to say here. Fantastic voice, good stage presence, crowd loved her. Sam loves her hair and thinks she is very pretty. Hope she does well because she is a real talent. Felt like a “real” concert once she took the stage.
Danny surprised me the most. I was not a fan. I did not enjoy his tv performances at all. I did not get the love from the judges. But I thought he was GREAT last night. The crowd LOVED him. He moved well on the stage, his dancing was pretty good and his voice sounded great. There is no doubt that he can really sing. His set list was not really my cup of tea, but he sang everything well and with joy and personality. I didn’t even mind the “sermon”– it was actually sort of inspiring. Color me shocked. The whole “sock-gate”was a non-issue at the show. Unless you were in the first row you couldn’t tell what was thrown (I thought it was a stuffed animal!) and I don’t even think Danny noticed it.
Adam. I have never heard as loud a sound in an arena as the sound before Adam took the stage. Stomping, cheering, screaming, clapping. It was deafening. When he took the stage it felt like a “special guest star” had arrived. His performance, IMO, was just on a completely different level than everything else that came before it. He completely commands the stage and you cannot take your eyes off of him. He appears to have had a haircut, and had glitter all over his hair. Everyone was standing during WLL and he sounded energetic and terrific. Then the sound problem started. I have seen the youtube videos and the sound issue was not arena wide. But from where I was sitting during Starlight and Mad World and Life on Mars it sounded like he had either inhaled helium or was purposely singing like Alvin and the Chipmunks. It was just bizarre. Everyone in my section was asking everyone else what was going on. It was disappointing because Adam’s voice live is just beautiful (yup, I have been making the rounds of the morning show concerts). They really need to fix that sound issue. Once he got into Fame and Let’s Dance it was not as noticeable. His dancing in the Bowie Medley was the best I’ve seen. He seems to have discarded a lot of the prepared choreography in favor of a slinky go with the flow movement. Oh, and Slow Ride was fun (Sam’s absolute favorite of the night) …We especially liked the end when Adam picked Allison up in a hug and twirled her around. Cute. Yes, it rained bras and jockstraps and who knows what else. Adam’s set was over so fast ..it seemed like it was over in the blink of an eye. The crowd just went bananas for him.
Kris. The crowd showed Kris a lot of love as well. I personally did not like the curtain separating him from the band, but that’s just me. The helium/chipmunk issue also affected a few of Kris’ songs, especially when he was singing in a higher register — it gave his voice an unnatural “tinny” sound. Kris is absolutely adorable, and he really gets into the music while singing and playing. Putting the sound issues aside, his voice has a nice tone to it. But for me, he seems like an exuberant puppy — a bit wet around the ears. While, I have a feeling that I will like the music he puts out in his album, I feel he has a lot to learn as a performer. Overall I found his set to be perfectlyenjoyable, but not surprising or exciting. JMO.
DSB, Kradam sort of robot dance, and then the show was over and we made our way back from Long Island to the island of Manhattan. Sam thought it was “the best show he’d ever seen”, and “completely awesome” and that he “loves the American Idol top 10!” A fan is born.
