This was my first American Idol concert and I’m ready to go again. We had so much fun. My daughter and I made this a girls weekend in Atlanta for just the two of us. American Idol on Friday and American Girl on Saturday. I had planned on making it to the venue early in the afternoon to get autographs and pics, but with the 3 hour drive and 1 hour time change we didn’t make it in time. The people sitting next to me were there in the afternoon and showed me their pics of Kris, Danny, and Matt, which was cool. My understanding is that everyone except Adam came out that afternoon.
So after checking into our hotel and a quick dinner, we were off to the concert. We approached the venue around 6:30 and immediately wished I had gone earlier. We had to wait in a very long line of cars trying to get to the parking lots. Somehow, though, I ended up in a line of cars that were funneled to the parking deck attached to the Arena! Once parked, we had a very short walk to the entrance, which was so sweet. This was my first time to the Gwinnett Center Arena and it is a very nice facility. They even have a full food court so we could have arrived early and eaten dinner there. Good to know for the future.
We found our seats and they turned out to be awesome. We were in section 107, basically on the side about even with the end of the stage and slightly elevated for a perfect view, except for being from the side. Sissy said she couldn’t believe she was that close to Kris and Adam in real life, not on TV (she is 10 and these things are very exciting). The couple to the left of me were there for Kris. Well, he was there for his wife, and she was there for Kris. The mother and daughter to the right of me were there for Adam. Danny also had a whole lot of fans there judging by the applause he received. I know that shouldn’t surprise me, but Danny’s cheers at times were as loud as Kris’ and almost as loud as Adam’s.
There have already been so many reviews of each performer’s sets so I won’t go into detail again of what they sang, but just give my impression. Sarver got the party started very well, his voice was strong and he is just very likable. The floor was on their feet and partying along. Megan came out looking like Tattoo Barbie in her pink party dress, and her hair was a curly frizzy updo thing. However she sounded much better than I remember from TV and despite the strange hair, she is very, very pretty. I also give her props for not falling off of her mile high shoes. Scott rose out of the floor with his piano, and I thought sounded good and played great, but I’ve been hearing such good things about him on the tour that he didn’t quite live up to my expectations. He did get a great crowd response. The floor was back on their feet and the cheers were loud. I liked his jokes about the high five heard ’round the world and his imitation of Simon, even though I knew they were coming since I spend so much time lurking at MJ’s, ha.
Next was Lil. Sissy says it was fun to sing along to ‘Single Ladies’ since they had the words on the screen, and Lil was fun and energetic. I can definitely see the appeal of Anoop Dawg, his voice was smooth as butter and he has good stage presence. Sissy’s comment was, ‘I can see why he didn’t win. His performances aren’t memorable, I don’t remember a thing he sang.’ I’m raising a future AI judge, lol. I think he would be great on T.V. hosting a show or something. Next was one of my favorites: Matt G.! He came out and rocked it on Hard to Handle, starting with just the mic, then came the piano and he pounded away. I can see the comparisons he got to a modern Billy Joel. Matt had outstanding stage presence and energy and wow can the boy play the piano. In this concert I don’t think he lost the audience too much on The Fray song either, like I’ve been hearing. There were a lot of people singing along and the floor stayed on its feet for the most part. I was on my feet for Matt, but most of my section was sitting. Whatevs. The group number was fun, especially Tell Her About It, and the guys were fun on Beggin.
During intermission I tried, and failed, to win backstage passes. Oh well. Before you know it the MFB was back on stage and BAM here was Allison! Another one of my favs, she did not disappoint. I actually like her with the guitar on So What, maybe she is getting more comfortable with it now, because I didn’t see the awkwardness I had read about. Allison worked the stage like a pro and really rocked out. I especially like her interaction with Tim (who totally rocked the guitar on Barracuda). Sissy wants Allison singing So What on her ipod, but I don’t think that’s available.
Danny got a huge crowd response, and I liked him more than I thought I would. He has a nice voice and good stage presence. His so called ‘speech’ wasn’t any longer than some others talked and seemed appropriate for his situation and set. I think his dancing would have been better if he had on different shoes than big black boots. He has definitely been working out since the TV show and looked much more fit.
During Danny’s last couple songs, a woman in front of me was bouncing in her seat, I’m pretty sure in anticipation of ADAM! I don’t know what I can add that hasn’t already been said. He is a sexy, slinky showman with an out of this world voice. A pink bra, purple boa, and something blueish made it on stage by Slow Ride. He twirled the bra and threw it back out, and put the boa around Alllison. So fun! She put it back on the floor and he picked it up again later. A whip thing also appeared by the medley and he quite skillfully played with that before throwing it back out. The floor had been standing much of the show, but for Adam the entire place was on its feet. I was in such sensory overload that I thought he sang ‘woman’ , but I read today that he said ‘baby’ , and he playfully told us ‘people’ to dance. I don’t know if he toned things down for Atlanta but I didn’t consider anything he did raunchy, but his dancing was definitely way sexy.
After Adam lowered back into the floor with a thank you, it was time for #1, our American Idol, Kris Allen. As much as I love Adam I love Kris just as much or maybe more. His voice was rich, manly, and sexy. I enjoyed his song choices and had fun dancing and singing along. Some folks sat back down by the time Heartless was over, but my daughter and I stood and danced till the end of the show. My favorite was Bright Lights. When Kris gets his guitar and lights into the screaming guitar solo you can’t help but have fun because he is having so much fun. Before you know it, the other Idols were joining him on Hey Jude (he sounds wonderful on this), then up come Scott and Matt on dueling pianos again to begin Don’t Stop Believing. Some Kradam dancing, some Manoop dancing, a rain of bubbles and it was over. That was the fastest 3 hours of my life. I was ready to see it all again.
Some final thoughts: Who would I pay to see again on their own? Kris, Matt, Adam, and Allison. I would love to see Anoop again in some capacity but would not shell out concert type money. Everyone was much better than on T.V. and the concert is entertaining from start to finish. I would whole-heartedly recommend going to this concert if you have the chance.
