I attended the American Idol concert last night with five family members who varied greatly in their ages and reactions. I am a 40 yr old female who has followed AI since season 2. My family members who attended were my mom(70 yrs old) , my cousin(30) and her mom(also 70) , my daughter(17) and another cousin(18) -who was the lone male in the group.
My two cousins and aunt are from Arkansas and two of them were Kris supporters. In fact, the male cuz wore a plaid shirt and spiked his hair and everyone thought he looked like Kris. He is very thin and nice looking and even had the face scruff going on. He wanted Kris to win but ended up downloading Adam’s NB because he liked it better. His favorite is Allison, as he thinks she is ‘hot and amazing’ . My 30 yr old cousin had not seen one minute of American Idol since season 1. My daughter loves Adam because ‘he is so hot’ and thinks he has an amazing voice. She is also a fan of Allison, Anoop and Kris. The adults had seats in the lower section-two sections from the stage and eight rows up-excellent seats! The kids were in the center on the SIXTH ROW on the floor!
I’ve read some comments about Memphis giving a ‘tepid’ response’ ¦they must have been at a different concert. The FedEx Forum was packed except the back nosebleed sections and it was a loud and lively crowd. I’ve been to several other concerts from other seasons (including a couple in Nashville) and I thought this was by far the best crowd. Adam is my favorite, but I am also a fan of several of the others. I figured Memphis would be Kris Allen territory since it is so close to Arkansas. I suspected I might be wrong when the fans in front, in back, and to the sides of us were either Adam or Danny fans. Also, the crowd went crazy every time they saw Adam on the screenshots. The Kris love wasn’t far behind, but there were louder screams for Adam.
Michael got a very good response. All of the floor section and the first few lower sections stood through his first song and sang along. The whole arena waved their arms when he told them to. My mom and aunt loved his voice and after the concert my daughter said she was surprised at how good he sounded and thought he had good stage presence. I enjoyed his set and he was a pleasant surprise. He was a perfect person to start out the show and everyone was up, happy and ready for more.
Megan’s first song was actually pretty good. My daughter thought it sounded a lot better than it did on AI. After this song, I took off to go get a T-shirt for my daughter. (The lines were murder before the show.) When I returned, my family’s impression of Megan’s 2nd song was not favorable.
My mom and aunt enjoyed Scott and think his story is inspirational. He got pretty good crowd response and I liked that he talked to the audience some.
When they flashed LiL’s opening, the crowd gave the loudest response of the evening to this point. The entire floor and lower sections stood and cheered loudly. I believe Lil’s family and friends were just one section over from us and they really got into it. Lil came over and pointed and waved at them several times. I’m sure they were so proud to see her up on that big stage! I did see several younger children in the group, so I’m sure her children were there and got to see their Mommy perform in front of thousands of people. The crowd loved the last song and when she told everyone to ‘get their hands up’ there was a sea of waving hands for the single ladies dance. My daughter filmed part of this for her best guy friend who loves Beyonce and Lil. (He is an amazing dancer and has learned the entire dance to single ladies.) Daughter also loved Lil’s outfits.
Then this voice came across the arena and it was beautiful. My Mom did an ‘mm-mm-mm’ sound. Anoop rose to the stage singing ‘Always on my Mind’ . My cousin kept saying that he was ‘so fine’ . He did sound amazing and got huge appreciation from the audience after his first song. Daughter is officially IN LOVE. According to her, Anoop is ‘tall, beautiful, smart and has a sexy, smooth voice’ . She took more pictures of him than of anyone else. She loved his outfit AND his nerd glasses. (oh, young love) He did look really good in that dark suit. His last song got everyone standing in the lower bowl and there were lots of screams for his hip moves. Hey, my daughter loved them and from the sound of the screams-she was not alone. I’ve read lots of talk of the clouds, hearts, etc. on the screens and the only one that distracted me was the water droplets during one of Anoop’s songs. They seemed out of place and distracting or maybe it was because I really needed to go to the restroom. Anyways, all of us loved Anoop and thought his voice had a wonderful tone. It seemed to pierce through the arena.
The crowd was on their feet dancing and singing to Matt’s ‘Hard to Handle’ . Best response of the first half! ‘Georgia’ was amazing-Matt’s voice has texture and his piano playing was rocking! The crowd screamed wildly when he did the piano part. My cuz LOVED Matt. She kept saying, ‘Look at his legs’ . Matt seems so comfortable on stage. Being behind the piano doesn’t cut down on his interaction with the audience. He sold his performance whether he was out front dancing (the boy has got some moves) or jamming behind his piano. The piano just seems to be an extension of him. My opinion of Matt has gone way up now that I have seen him live and I would love to see him do a whole show. I know my cuz would pay to see him do his own show! On the way home, she kept talking about how sexy he was and how she loved his legs.
Michael sounded good on the Elvis song and the audience got into it. I thought all the guys looked stunning in their black suits and it was a good number. From what I could see, everyone was up and loving it! I ran out at the very end to the restroom -blame it on the raindrops in Anoop’s set. The teens came up to talk during intermission and there was more gushing over Anoop and Matt. Evidently, a security guy had asked my daughter to sit during Anoop’s second song because some people complained in the section behind her. (People were standing on the sides, but not in the center part.) Oh well, everyone was right back up during his last song. Also, a couple of girls who were wearing Matt shirts got cussed at for standing during ‘Georgia’ . One of the girls turned to tell the ‘old folks’ that Matt was her sister’s favorite and they had driven six hours to see him. My daughter said the girl just kept singing and standing-good for her! Non-AI watcher cuz kept asking how the blond-haired girl made it into this group of singers’ ¦I really didn’t have an answer for her.
Allison brought the concert and the crowd to a different level. The whole place was on its feet during ‘So What’ . Lots of little girls around me were really dancing and loving Allison. Male cuz was totally into her. She was so intense during ‘Cry Baby’ and she covered every inch of the stage. I loved watching her and I could feel her emotion. She is almost in her own little world’ ¦but, I was there with her. It seemed that the audience also felt this -there was just a different kind of energy in the place. Allison’s voice sounded so strong on ‘Barracuda’ and she and the guitar player had some intense interaction. Daughter said Allison has pink, blue and yellow on the underneath part of her hair and it looked really cool with the wind machines. Male cuz said she is beautiful up on stage and he was blown away.
Danny got a huge reception and everyone was up dancing and singing to PYT. I’d say his reception was second of the night. My mom and aunt really enjoyed him and I thought his voice sounded the best on the first two songs. He worked the stage and had good interaction with the audience and they responded very enthusiastically. The ‘sermon’ wasn’t really bad at all-it seemed to be more about ‘reaching for your dreams’ and it didn’t bother me. His dancing came off pretty good also. It fit in with the song. I’m not a big fan of Danny’s but his voice is good -bluesy and unique. His stage presence doesn’t seem as natural as Allison’s. It is obvious that he is trying, but at least he’s working on it. And a lot of people of all ages were loving it. Danny got huge applause after his set’ ¦ and then the applause transformed into a roar’ ¦
The roar turned into ear piercing screams when Adam’s intro flashed on the screen. People were on their feet from the floor to the top of the forum. You could see arms everywhere in the air and then WLL started and Adam walked out onto the stage’ ¦then you could see jumping and fist pumping’ ¦it had turned into a ROCK CONCERT! No doubt, the loudest this crowd had been all night. We had Elvis hair for Memphis. Adam did seem to tone down the crotch grabs but he gave the full thrust for ‘every inch of my love’ . ‘Starlight’ was vocally and visually stunning and he seems to have added movement around the stage. Some of the floor and sides sat in the middle of SL but popped right back up when they heard the first few notes of ‘Mad World’ . There were screaming girls throughout MW (which was slightly annoying) and one erupting scream when he rose from the stool. Adam conveys so much emotion when he is just sitting and singing. It’s in his face and body language and how they match the words he’s singing. Watching him on AI or on youtube videos can in no way prepare you for hearing and seeing him in a live concert! Slow Ride brought the house down! It was a fun, fist pumping rock concert once again! I’ve been to many rock concerts over the years and I swear Adam and Allison look like they’ve been on that stage together for years. It all just works! The Bowie medley was as amazing as everything else and people went nuts when he stripped off his jacket. What an amazing twenty minutes that seemed to fly by! There was just so much to watch and enjoy! Male cuz was very impressed and thought the sound coming from the crowd during the intro was the loudest he’s ever heard at any concert, (Obviously, he never attended an NSYNC concert.) My daughter said Adam is just on a different level and we all agreed.
Everyone stayed on their feet and Kris got a HUGE welcome. People stayed standing throughout ‘Heartless’ and the lower level and half the floor sat when the Killer’s song started. Funny thing -There was this guy dancing in the area between the first two floor sections, who was loving this song. He was head banging and throwing his body all around. One of the spotlights focused on him and Kris saw him and got kind of tickled. Most of the floor sat once he started ANS and remained seated. There was still loud applause but it did seem to diminish as the set went on. I was surprised at how strong his voice sounded. I always liked his pure voice but didn’t think it was that strong during his time on AI. After this concert, I still like Kris and I am sure he will do well. However, seeing him live didn’t translate to more interest for me or my gang. He is a very talented musician and I can tell he is really feeling his music but I wanted him to invite me in. By the time you spend that much money and time going to a concert you are primed and ready! You are just waiting on signals to either be involved or feel involved in the music. For me, there is something different about Allison being in her own little world and Kris being in his. Daughter thinks he need a better look’ ¦a cool T-shirt and a guy necklace’ ¦some cooler jeans. She said that even Michael had some bling on. Male cuz was disappointed, but was too high on his Allison love to really care.
Everyone stood for DSB and there was some really cute Kradam dancing. Male cuz hasn’t been to an AI concert since season 1 so he was shocked at how much better it is. My daughter said it was the most fun she has ever had at a concert. The two young ones stayed after to try and meet the idols (just in case). As reported, they didn’t come out but there were chants of ‘we want Adam’ . Daughter and male cuz came to the house and we talked about the concert and looked at the pictures they took until 2:00. All in all, it was a wonderful family event and I’m glad American Idol can appeal to such a variety of ages and musical tastes! Definitely, time and money well spent!
