i found another one =D
http://mjsbigblog.com/categories/americanIdol/
BG2's Indianapolis IN Recap
Just got back from the show. Thought I would leave you with a few impressions while I am still conscious. I would start off by saying I don't dislike Kat but I think she seriously needs to start watching her mouth.
By the buses fangirly fun:
Watched the boys, Taylor, DAUGHTRY, and Elliott play football by the buses. I shot some video but it will most likely consist of shots of my feet. If there is anything worth sharing I will post it later. Taylor had on the Otis Redding brown tee and the infamous cargo shorts. DAUGHTRY had on a green hoodie. Sorry E-fans, only caught a glimpse of E. However, during the lead up to the show Mr. Yamin could be seen racing back and forth beside and behind the stage on a green razor-like scooter. He was wearing a Peyton Manning (Luv ya Peyton!) jersey and jeans. He was playing it up for the fans in the stands. I think this venue is probably the only one so far that allowed the audience to see the goings on at the side of the stage. Firstly because it is so open and also because it was broad daylight. Definitely fun atmosphere in spite of our lack of mcstyle and mcculture.
Taylor's hair is darker closer to his neck. When we saw him again a little later he was wearing a cap and you would not know it was him.
Kat left the bus area and went who knows where on a golf cart with some of our fine Indiana State Troopers (shout out to the men and women in blue. They are the finest!) Drove right by us and a bunch of fans. Wearing white tank top and white gym shorts - the kind with an elastic waistband. So, I waited around for her return with my little 10 year old friend who is a diehard Kat McPhan. She and I had made shirts for her and her mom to wear. All Katted out with glitter and iron on decals. Anywho. Kat comes back, drives right by us and the people who were still waiting for her and gives us a weak a$$ tiny wave and continues past the security gate. By the way, she was carrying a pretzel and a drink. Don't know for whom. Guess even the big city stars get a jones for our country food. (By the way, I did not feel that way until after she went all condescending on our country butts!)
3 Taylor autographs and a tiny dialog---SCORE!
1 DAUGHTRY autograph. I am so so on his singing but I give him props for fan interaction. He was there and signed and posed for pictures til everyone got what they wanted. Taylor did too. ( I will give you more on T later. Sawwry) I don't know if E came out later to sign. We had to get to our seats.
One of these days we flyover people are coming after ya Kat. I am sure she did not mean to insult many thousands of people with her "country like all of you" comments but come on. It is a state fair.. That is where you have pigs and cows and greasy carny food. We don't all drive tractors and date our brother/sister. Sorry the irritation spilled out. By the way, I left my goat at home with my uncle-dad.
Sound was terrific. I have attended lots of events at this venue and the sound has always been good. Like others guessed, I think the openness prevents the reverb you get in an arena. However, the grandstand is metal. The opening music of the Idol theme is a minute or so of deep bass notes and the freaking stands started to vibrate and I expected to see a space ship land any second. Very cool and freaky.
I am not a music expert by any means. I like what I like but I don't necessarily know why I like it, I just do. What does make an impression on me is if someone is putting it out there to entertain me. And that is what we got tonight. These kids worked hard to make me happy and for that I thank them. I had a great time! I think everyone there did also. It was very hard to judge applause level because I was up fairly high and I think most of the sound disperses out into the night when you have an open venue like this. It did seem like the second half was more popular and D, E and T were the faves.
I am not sure where the weather report of 72, sunny and light breeze came from but , uh, no. It was 84 today and the humidity was starting a return visit. It was warm before the show and did cool off a little by the end of the show. Those sitting on the track were probably much cooler than us. It was obviously hot on the stage cos all the idols were sweating.
Where were the dancing Pop Tarts? I have read about them and was looking forward to seeing them for a cheesy thrill. Yeah, I got a frozen mint chocolate chip poptart but there was no dancing. I was promised dancing.
Oh by the way, the local news talked with Kelly and Ace. Cute. However, they said Taylor was not available because he was busy watching one of his idols, Pat Boone, perform on another stage. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I love this man.
The Pat Boone thing was something I heard on the radio as I was driving home. I have no verification but it just sounds right to me. I always had a soft spot for Pat. Had a crush on his prettiness in the movie State Fair. Kinda funny karma.
I had a discussion with another fan about Kat's PR problems. My take is that she is still just a kid and the people around her need to work with her on foot in mouth disease. That being said she did show up, looked fantastic but needs to lose the long gown. I was afraid she was going to trip on the hem a couple of times. The songs were okay. She was generally well received. I did hear a couple of soft boos when she was explaining the illness thing at the beginning of the tour. I was embarrassed for my hometown. But hey, the governor of the state was booed roundly when he showed up at Reggie Miller's retirement party. Anyway, I did see Kat walking around in the staging area prior to the show start. She was still in the shorts and tank but she was being helped by someone. She had her arm over the persons shoulder and was limping due to the cast I guess. I want to like her so I will cut off the bile now.
I missed seeing Mandisa. I really wanted to see her.
Ace's crazy heart thing made me laugh out loud. You have to see it to understand the descriptions. I did not see him perform father figure on the show so this was the first time for me. The boy won me over. I don't know what he will do with his AI fame but I wish him well. He clearly is having a great time. Plus he jumps really well.
I enjoyed the Paris and Lisa. When they were done I turned to my friends and said "They are just 17. I want to kill myself"
Bucky was Bucky. I thought he came out strong on Superstition. Drift away was okay. The duet with Kelly (ie?) was fun. The song has special meaning for my friends so there were big grins in our groupl.
Kelly looked great. Her red satin top was perfect for her and the weather. No jacket. Now, she used to irritate the heck out of me on the show. I just did not get it. But since then I have warmed to her and I was actually looking forward to seeing her last night. My little friend was very excited when she came on. She is very charming and of all of them she seems to interact with the crowd the best. The fog machine was gunning for her though. She took it like a pro. What I saw was she was able to react on her feet and not come off as too polished and produced. I like her. She did mention getting to see the livestock at the fair and how much she enjoyed that. She did not seem to think we all had a mule and an outdoor toilet. Oops, my bad.
Intermission or as our crazy for sports audience said, halftime. Heh. Lots of text messages on the screen. Still light out. I kept thinking the idols might have to compete with a beautiful sunset. The thing about the set up at the fair is that the fans in the grandstand, with the advantage of being higher, can see everything going on. It makes the whole atmosphere more casual, especially since it was light out. Now when the second half started that changed because it rapidly got dark and you lost that open feeling but the lights kicked in and the stage looked totally different. The lighting made it look like the stage was glowing from underneath.
Second half. DAUGHTRY came out strong. I like Chris and he is singing very recognizable favorites. Great crowd response. Where I really liked him though was when he sang with others. The duet with Elliott was good. Patience was good also although I had not heard the song before. On tv Chris always came off to me as kinda cold and remote. When he was singing with the guys you could sense the friendship and I really liked him.
Side note, during the first half the main jumbotron and the side screens were showing the singers. During the second half the main screen had lighting and effects and the side screens showed the singer.
Elliott came out in his Peyton jersey. Sure crowd pleaser. Colts blue looks good on him. I loved the duet with Chris. Loved the Luther. His last song was fine but I was not familiar with it. People loved Elliott also. He did the "my ladies thing." Can't remember if he mentioned it but several of the idols commented on this being their first outdoor show.
Boys group sing was fine. I found myself thinking of the finale group sing when they all were in black. They sound good together.
Kat time. Looked beautiful but a little too glam for the show perhaps but that's okay. Hey , I saw the fair queen walking around in jeans and and a tee, eating some carny food, and wearing a huge tiara. Anything goes at the fair. I enjoyed Kat's songs but I have trouble with the smiling through lyrics thing she does. I think she is still holding off a little on the singing. Her hair was black and very straight. Not big but looked sexy.
Of course by now I am looking around to see how in h&** Taylor is going to make his entrance. And then, here comes a State Trooper squad car, all lights flashing, and I just started laughing. Way to adapt to the show setting. Huge crowd response. Loved Hollywood nights. That poor guitar will need some R and R after the tour. LFTC was great. I am having trouble remembering all the moves but let me just say there was spinning on HN, chest thumping with the tambourine on LFTC and on DIMYP he did the head from side to side thing. And, my personal favorite, the smile just as he starts the second verse. I always thought that was his way of letting us know the goods were about to be delivered. I admit I love this song. Don't know why but there it is. He dedicated it to the troops and pointed to the flag next to the stage. Crowd singing along. Left through the Enterprise doors. TITTS ( I have been dying to type that.) was amazing. I love this song. It never connected with me until I heard Tay sing it the first time. Now I love it. I am not sure exactly what it was Tay was doing on stage but he was EVERYWHERE and there was harp and the thing with the amp. I just lost it. My mouth hung open and I just stared and hollered. Can't describe it but if the guy can reach me in the back of a grandstand he is working it. When he was done he just kinda bolted out through the doors again. He did mention this was the best state fair. I am just cynical enough to call BS on that but whatevah. I did find it a little hard to make out what he said when he was talking but the song were crystal clear.
Group sings. No Bump thank God. When they sang We are the champions I turned to friend and said " I miss Freddy Mercury so much." Made me kinda sad. Taylor was doing some rapping during the final song but I could not make it out. They all left and then came back out for the group handhold and bow. Thank you and good night.
Wow, sorry this is so long. Just a couple notes about my Taylor moment.
We were out by the buses. The boys were playing football, with shirts, sawwry. They finished up and came over to the fans lined up along the security fence. They signed and posed for pictures. Crowd was respectful. Lots of women there referring to Taylor as their future husband. Tee hee. Now I was prepared. Had my DIMYP cd and my People mag. 2 sharpies just in case. And a ziplock bag to put said items into to prevent damage. Taylor signed my cd, the paper inside the cd case and my People. He had sharpies in his hand and asked me, his lowly subject, what color I wanted. I, very cool indeed, said " Whatever you want baby." Sigh, brain fart. Silver by the way. Then he stood there RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME signing and people started to ask him questions. Mind you , he is standing RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME TALKING. He was very serious, not grinning or joking around. He said all he wanted to do was make good music. Then someone asked him if enjoyed being famous. There was a looong pause and I don't think he actually ever answered that. I found that very revealing. I won't go all fangirly about how he looked. To me he looked very attractive in that guy next door way if George Clooney lived next door. Sorry ladies, no cologne detected. Taylor made sure everyone got what they wanted, within reason, and then headed back to the area closer to the buses. Chris came along and did the same. Did not see Elliott sad to say.
And that is my very long winded recap. If I think of anything else I will add a note. I had a great time and urge everyone else to check it out if possible. Peace and Love.
