2003-07-23
6:52 p.m.

BEVR: Cheryl/Toronto

I have 3 words for last night's concert in Toronto: Oh. My. God.

Not very original, but there you have it.

I hope you'll forgive me if my BEVR's short on details. I find the experience of being in the presence of Baby quite overwhelming and whatever and whoever else is going on around him gets lost in my SARS-affected brain. Hopefully sister-broad Joanne, who joined me for the second half of the show, will be better at this than me.

For the record, here are some thoughts and highlights of the show for me:

At first I thought this was going to be a very subdued crowd. My seats were in the third row floor just slightly off-centre. Everyone in the place was sitting down, politely applauding but not seeming terribly excited to be there, you know? That was, until Clay came on to sing TITN. It was very obvious who everyone was there to see, and from that moment on the energy in the place changed noticeably.

Clay and Ruben spent a lot of time bantering with each other and chatting to the audience. I think Ruben is becoming much more comfortable with doing this, and seems to have opened up a lot in the last little while, maybe taking a cue from Clay, who, of course, seems born to it. They appeared genuinely surprised at how popular they are here in Canada and remarked on the fact that so many Canadians watched the show even though we couldn't vote.

I won't say much about the other idols, because, let's face it, I was there for one reason and one reason only. I have mostly good things to say about all of them. Was surprised by how much I enjoyed Rickey, who did a great duet with Julia on "If I Never Knew You." Charles was a cute little bouncing ball of fun. Someone needs to call the fashion police on KimberMe, who came out in a green shirt with "Ireland" written on it (?), but she does put a lot of energy into the show. Trenyce is a ball of fire and had fun with "Proud Mary." Goatgirl, well... I'm sorry, but no matter how I try I just can't warm up to that girl because she gets to grind her little bottom into MY Buttercup EVERY NIGHT. Kim L - what a classy lady, and what a voice! "Inseparable" and "Over the Rainbow" were fantastic. I will definitely buy her cd. Ruben is a sweetie who seems to be loving every minute of the tour. At the end he thanked everyone for making his dreams come true.

Clay highlights:

Throwing incidents: There were 2. One was some kind of red bib, with a cheque attached. Ruben grabbed it and read the note. Then Clay tied it around his neck. He asked who threw it and thanked the woman who did. Second was a set of red long johns. Written on the back was something like "100% authentic Canadian thong." Hilarious! Props to whoever thought that one up. The girls tied it around Clay's neck and waist.

The famous "dance step" contest. Clay, Kim C and Trenyce came out and talked about a dance step that Clay had trouble with. They were trying to convince him to do the step, saying "Do it with me Clay." The words "No, do it with ME, Clay" immediately came out of my mouth, but not loud enough for anyone but Joanne to hear. They offered a backstage pass to whoever in the audience could do the step best. Ack! Wish I was a dancer.

Shoes! Someone sent Clay a pair of suede moccasins and he wore them on stage!

Songs: Every Clay song is a great song. But to me, "Invisible" is in a class by itself. This one song alone is worth 100 times the price of admission. And, broads, he sang the song with his SHIRT TUCKED IN! No jersey this time, he wore the "I *heart* T.O." shirt (Ruben got to wear the Leafs jersey this time around), but there was much clutching! and bending! and bouncing across the stage! Not to mention the DTTR in full unobstructed view!

Most touching moment: Clay was clearly crying, or trying very hard not to, at the end during God Bless the USA.

Most adorable moment: When they were introducing the band members, Clay was amusing himself (and us) playing imaginary piano and drums.

To sum it all up, all you broads who have not yet seen the tour, RUN, don't walk to your nearest ticketmaster. Clay in person is mesmerizing, tantalizing, awe-inspiring, and sexy as hell.

I have never been so exhilarated and frustrated at the same time. Exhilarated because, well, no explanation required. Frustrated because Buttercup built me up to the brink of ecstasy many times but that moment of glory, of broadly acknowledgement in the form of a wink, a smile or a come hither look was always just out of reach... sigh. I hope it's just because he was so into his performance and not because I scared him with my jumping up and down and screaming. And no backstage passes were being given out last night. Which means only one thing: I may just have to plan a road trip to see Mr. Maple Sugarpants again.

Cheryl

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Note from Nelle: You, too, can participate in the LBFCA Summer Series, and have your Broad's Eye View Report of Clay's Summer Concert Tour on the LBFCA Main Page. Just send it to Nelle via email, and she'll post it ASAP. (If you are a lurker, or otherwise wish to remain anonymous, just let me know that in your email). Don't worry about your BEVR not being the same size or looking the same as anyone elses. Here at LBFCA we celebrate diversity. Every BEVR is unique. This is your personal experience of witnessing what Katynka so gloriously described as "a little hockey-jersey-clutchin', white-leather-wearin', DTTR revealin', mic-flickin', thigh-strokin', eye-f***in', smokin', jokin', singin', hunk-o-burnin' libido."