Some background: I have watched AI over the years, never voted, and never wanted to. I didn’t watch this year until the final 13 were selected ‘ never missed another show if I could help it for the rest of the season for one reason’ ¦..you guessed it; Mr. Lambert. I am a 50-something professional who is most definitely a fan but not a fanatic and am generally pragmatic about most things.
I have never been to an AI concert and wasn’t going to make this year a first until I started watching some of the videos posted from the shows. On impulse I bought tickets ‘ not great seats but I had to take the opportunity to see Adam while he was in my area not knowing if I would be able to see him in the future. I told my husband about the tickets and asked if he wanted to go; he did (which surprised me). My husband ‘ ‘M’ ‘ is a trained vocalist whose tastes tend more toward opera than pop, and certainly not rock. M will listen to many types of music but his biggest complaint is the lack of 1) vocal quality and 2) vocal range in today’s professional singers/entertainers/ ‘musicians’ . This evening at the concert could be interesting’ ¦
There have been a lot of recaps of these shows so I’ll try to make mine a little different. If you don’t agree that’s okay ‘ we’re all entitled to our own opinions and likes/dislikes.
The concert was held at Conseco Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis ‘ home to the professional basketball team here. There was a good turnout for the concert considering it was opening day of college football and Indiana is home to several nationally recognized college teams ‘ I’m sure it hurt attendance at least a little. I decided to check at the box office to see if they offered ticket upgrades and if so, what was available. The tickets I had were section 102 ‘ side of stage and while not horrible just weren’t great. So, $20 later I had upgraded to F1 row 22 – left center stage 8 rows from the front. Excellent.
Michael opened and I was pleasantly surprised ‘ fun, engaging, crowd responded and was into his set. Vocally pleasant. M later asked if he was a ‘country’ guy’ ¦ wasn’t wowed but thought he was okay.
Megan’ ¦.. sorry. I hope she doesn’t have her heart set on a career as a live performer ‘ or even as a vocalist. She tripped twice over what I don’t know and was a bit of a downer after Michael. M asked how she ever got as far as she did on AI.
Lil – the vocals were just okay, I had a difficult time understanding her (the sound in general throughout the show was ‘muddy’ ) and while she appeared to be enjoying herself I wasn’t feeling it. Her vocal presence didn’t do much for either M or me. So far, Michael is leading this pack.
Scott ‘ I liked Scott much better than on the show. Vocally he was quite good and his piano skills are excellent. I could have passed on the dialogue ‘ I don’t think it added much to the set ‘ but there were moments when you could hear his talent. I would like hear him in a concert hall setting versus a basketball arena’ ¦. M thought Scott was one of the better vocalists of the night.
Anoop ‘ Good vocals, engaged the audience and was generally entertaining. I know he intends to move West to pursue music as a career ‘ I hope it works for him. I don’t have any specific criticism I just didn’t find him musically that memorable. M’s opinion was that he does not have any distinguishing ‘sound’ . [And I use the term ‘criticism’ lightly ‘ I’m not a singer!] As far as the group number at the and, when Anoop came out in the glasses my immediate visual was Steve Erkle (sorry Anoop fans).
Matt. I wasn’t a Matt fan on AI ‘remember I was only tuning in for one singer ‘ but tonight I was impressed with Matt vocally and musically. I enjoyed his singing, he presented range and style and his piano skills were great. M thought Matt was one of the top 3 that evening saying that he had good vocal range and quality. Matt was engaging and I think could carry a concert as a solo artist.
Group number prior to intermission; Beggin’ was the best for me. No comment from M.
Allison. Good vocals, the guitar was a nice visual but added nothing musically. I like Allison’s voice and I accounted for the fact that she just 17 as I watched her stage skills. I don’t know if this is common for her but she spent 50% of her performance bent over singing to the floor. I would have so loved her to stand up and address the audience more. I understand about ‘feeling your song’ but she looked like she was channeling intestinal distress. Barracuda was right on. M had no comment (not his genre at all).
Danny. I never ‘got’ Danny on AI so I wasn’t expecting here much either. PYT was fabulous ‘ but he lost me after that. The other songs were just okay and after all I had read about the samba dancing I was eager to see it. Unfortunately, Danny samba’d with the mike stand not with the audience ‘ I was not at all drawn into the dance. I know he has signed a recording contract and I hope it goes well for him; I’m not sure what musical genre really suits him. Side bar ‘ good crowd for Danny; lots of love.
Okay ‘ it’s time. I was wondering if everything I had seen on television and computer would come undone live. It didn’t. Was I a blithering idiot? – no. My initial impression was that Adam looks younger in person than on screen (which is a great thing for him or for anyone for that matter) and I was struck with the lack of ‘ego’ . We’ve all experienced people who think that they ‘matter’ in a way that suggests that no one else does. Some people call it confidence while I tend to call it self-absorption. I had heard and read that Adam is down-to-earth but I was quite honestly blown away by how strongly that emanates from him. Has anyone else had this sensation? (And you don’t need to be close to him to get it ‘ I was completely surprised by it.) That being said, Adam’s ability to make you feel like he’s singing/dancing just for you is incredible. Kudos to you Mr. Lambert! WLL was great. At one point M looked at me and giggled J I heard the chipmunk/ helium on Starlight ‘ his voice sounded inordinately high and I’ve listened to Starlight a lot; didn’t hear it on any other songs of his. Slow Ride ‘ lots of fun! Allison stood up! and the feather cat toy was a hoot! MW – good as usual as was Bowie. I was rooted while he performed. I ‘came to’ to applaud/scream at appropriate times but otherwise was transfixed ‘ I was completely sucked in. Surprisingly, M was on board with the talent (maybe not with the genre) but commented that Adam was one of the few that could carry a concert. Vocal range and quality’ ¦
Kris. Heartless was the best for me but, I hate to say this, everything sounds pretty much the same. We all know that Kris is a good musician but I don’t know if can carry a concert but, John Denver could’ ¦.. Lots of love for Kris from the Indy crowd too.
Group number ‘ would have selected something other than DSB. But, no one asked me.
Overall, an enjoyable evening and I am so happy that I acted on that impulse. If Adam goes on tour and is anywhere in our vicinity’ ¦.maybe even M will attend?
