Like many others, this was my first AI tour experience. It was all because of a certain contestant whose name begins with an A’ ¦.that’s right, Anoop. His voice blew me away during the auditions and he remained my favorite throughout the competition. I was pumped to finally see him live. I was also looking forward to Kris, Allison, Matt and all of the cheesy group numbers.
My two friends and I jumped in the car and started cruising along’ ¦and then came to a complete stop. Atlanta traffic is a nightmare anyway, but this Friday afternoon was particularly bad. On the way into the venue, I noticed that security had collected signs and were not allowing any inside’ ¦.five points for security! We got to our seats a few minutes before the show started and our nerves were already shot from the drive. Obviously we weren’t happy to find ourselves surrounded by pre-teen girls and their moms who had the most ear piercing screeches I have ever heard. Luckily we didn’t have to sit through much of the pre-show video stuff and we got right down to business.
Michael- I’m a tough critic when it comes to anyone singing Gavin DeGraw since he’s one of my favorite artists. He is incredible live and most covers just don’t stack up. I hated Michael’s cover of Gavin on the show, but he did a good job with ‘In Love With a Girl.’ His voice sounded nice and the tempo of the song seemed to get everyone ready and excited. ‘Closer’ was okay for me. I preferred his first song.
Megan- One of my friends and I took a bathroom break during Megan’s set. Sorry, but the line was too long when we first got there. I heard the first half of ‘Put Your Records On’ and she sounded good. I’m not sure why I was never crazy about Megan’s voice. She sounds similar to Adele who I adore, but something is just missing for me. My friend who stayed behind said she was fine on her second song.
Scott- I missed his first song’ ¦the line in the bathroom was still pretty long. We got back to our seats just as he was joking about the high five. ‘A Thousand Miles’ was really good. I really think his voice has improved since the show ended. I found his performance pleasant, but it wasn’t really exciting or standout.
Lil-I wasn’t really a fan of Lil on the show, but I enjoyed her live. I think she sounded good on ‘No One.’ Something seemed off on her performance of ‘Single Ladies’ but I can’t put my finger on what it was. It did get most people up and dancing, though.
Anoop- Well, I won’t claim to be impartial or objective or anything of the sort. Fantastic. Amazing. Beautiful voice. ‘Always on My Mind’ was flawless vocally. My friend, who was a Kris and Allison fan, leaned over to me and asked, ‘Now, how was it he didn’t last longer on the show?’ That performance received the loudest and most enthusiastic response so far. ‘Mad’ was next and it is exactly the type of song he should record if he makes an album. ‘My Prerogative’ was just all sorts of fun. I noticed more ‘moves’ in this performance than I had seen in other videos. He seemed really comfortable and happy to be in Atlanta. I noticed mostly male voices chanting ‘Anoooooop.’ He seems to be the guy’s guy of this group.
Matt- ‘Hard to Handle’ was great, but it wasn’t as exciting for me as I was expecting. I’m also a tough critic when it comes to anyone covering Otis Redding (my absolute favorite artist). Matt has amazing talent on the piano, though. ‘Georgia’ was a crowd pleaser for obvious reasons. ‘You Found Me’ was good. I think I’ve just heard that song way too much for it to seem fresh for me anymore. Overall, Matt was entertaining and seemed much better than on the show.
Group- Overall, it was decent. ‘Beggin” was the best part.
Intermission- My friends and I just sat and observed. Two young girls ran by with homemade shirts for Matt. I was just about to comment that I hadn’t seen many homemade shirts when my friend noticed a girl walking by. She definitely had a punk look so I (admittedly judging by the cover) took her to be an Adam fan. Imagine my surprise when ‘Adam, you suck’ was painted on her shirt. The girls behind us starting their screeching when Adam’s picture flashed on the screens, so we started preparing ourselves for the ear assault that would soon happen.
Allison- I expected Allison to be good, but she was. Any teenage girl that can rock Janis Joplin will get some respect from me. ‘So What’ was fun and really showed some attitude and spunk. ‘Cry Baby’ was just fantastic. The fact that she can convincingly perform that song is impressive. ‘Barracuda’ was really good, too. Allison is just authentically rock. It’s who she is and there’s really no getting around it.
Danny- I’ve always like Danny’s voice (not counting ‘Dream on’ ) but I wasn’t really a fan. I wasn’t expecting a lot, but he got a great reception from the crowd. ‘PYT’ had most people dancing. ‘Maria Maria’ was pretty boring for me. He sounded fine on ‘What Hurts the Most, ‘ but I hate that song’ ¦so I didn’t really care for it. I really didn’t mind the little speech he did before ‘My Wish.’ He’s just being genuine to himself, and he can’t really be faulted for that. Again, he sounded fine on that song, but I couldn’t help thinking about all my friends at the Rascal Flatts concert at Lakewood that same night’ ¦it’s like I was with them in spirit.
Adam- Well, I’ve never been an Adam fan and all of the shrieking around me didn’t help me enjoy the performances. Everyone else seemed to love it, though. I though ‘Whole Lotta Love’ was okay, but mainly just because of the song itself. I’ve never really bought Adam as that type of rocker. He seemed much more genuine during ‘Starlight’ and the Bowie medley. I’m not really a Bowie fan either, so I didn’t care for that portion of the set. ‘Mad World’ was enjoyable. Again, that’s just a great song. ‘Slow Ride’ was my favorite part of his set.
Kris- Out of everyone, Kris exceeded my expectations. Anoop remains my favorite, but Kris really impressed me. I know many people were worried that his more intimate style might not be suited to large arenas, but the moment ‘Heartless’ started his voice filled the arena. It’s much stronger than it seemed on tv. He nailed ‘All These Things That I’ve Done, ‘ one of my favorites from the Killers. ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ was beautiful and sincere. ‘Bright Lights’ was also really good and he moved seamlessly from piano to guitar. ‘Hey Jude’ is always fun and his voice sounded great.
Finale- Fun. How could it not be? It’s Journey!
Other observations:
-One guy was either really drunk or genuinely loved everyone because he danced to every single song. I’m going to go with drunk.
-One man in front of me was a huge fan of Adam AND Danny. Shocking, I know ;)
-My favorite comment of the night was when my friend leaned over to me and said, ‘I just realized Adam has the same haircut as Kate Gosselin. It’s just darker and swoops to the other side. He has The Gosselin!’
Overall, it was a really fun night. Most of the singers have really improved since the show.
