2004-03-06
7:15 p.m.

BEVR: Mary from MD/Washington DC, 03-05-04

Broad's Eye View Report

OMG-where do I begin. I guess the beginning would be a good place to start.

January 21, 2004-I find out that there is a special sale going on for tickets to Clay's concert. I call my friend Pat (who lurks at LBFCA all the time), who tries to reach the woman who was supposed to order tickets for all of us (5). She can't reach her. We don't know whether she is ordering tickets or not, so we don't order. The next day we discover she did NOT order the tickets. Friday January 23-official presale of tickets. Pat goes online with Ticketmaster since this other friend decides we will all get better seats if we order them as a group of two and three, rather than five. Pat orders tickets and we end up in Section 101, Row E---which is over three quarters of the way back on the side. We are NOT happy campers...but what can we do!

Tuesday March 2, 2004--Pat and I experience our first concert in Philly. It was wonderful, but out seats really could have been better. We realize that the seats in DC are significantly worse than the seats in Philly. We are really not happy now.

Friday morning March 5, 2004. . Ten a.m. I am at the local ticketmaster. I figure I've got nothing to lose. I score three tickets in section 113, row J-the side section closest to the stage. Already I feel like it's going to be a Perfect Day. I go home and give Pat the good news. My mother-in-law, Char, meets at my house and we get into Pat's car. We drive to Silver Spring to meet up with Suz from MD. Suz graciously offered to be our "tour guide" on the DC metro so we didn't have to drive into downtown DC.

We arrive in DC shortly after four and go to Fado's. No Broads in sight. The Red Hot Topic Group is there, but somewhat less than friendly. They inform us that the manager told them that we are to be over on the bar side, so we march back to the bar and stake a claim to a couple of tables. Finally some Broads drift in. Barb in Tennessee was the first to arrive and greet us. We ended up with a nice bevy of Broads before the evening was over. Michelle VA did a wonderful job getting us all together. I won't try to mention all the names....I'm afraid I might forget someone. But the Broads were definitely in the house.

At 4:30 I marched around the room with a sign telling people to vote for TRL with their cell phone. Our Broads obediently pulled out their phones, and with a bit of browbeating...I mean "encouragement" kept dialing and voting. I took the sign to the Red Hot Topic side. It was a bit unusual. Someone in the group said "what's TRL?" I can only hope that it was a friend who had been brought along. Most of them just gave me blank stares when I was encouraging them to vote. I finally did get a couple people on their cell phones. One girl was from Iceland and was all excited to be voting for the first time.

When I got back to my table, Pat tells me the phone number must be wrong because it isn't working...however Suz got through, so I knew it was okay. I kept getting strange recorded messages the first few times I dialed, but finally the calls started going through. I kept telling our Broads to keep dialing and just about everyone with a cell phone got their three votes through.

Pat, Char, Suz and I left the group finishing their dinner (because we arrived early, we had been served early and were already finished). We went to the MCI Center and waited in line to get in. I had tried at Fado's to find a taker for our other seats, but no luck. I figured it would be pointless to try in line, and besides, I didn't want to spend a lot of time outside trying to sell my tickets. When we got inside the MCI Center, the main souvenir stand was mobbed. I decided I'd go back later. However, there were a couple other souvenir stands just a few sections down. I bought a few items, then we went to our seats. OMG-the seats were incredible. I already knew this was going to be a great show.

As we are sitting in our seats, I look down a few rows, and see Jacob, the backup singer, standing in one of the rows talking to some people. When he finishes talking Pat and I scream out to him, telling him how great his duet with Kelly had been Tuesday night, and also telling him that he looked much younger close up. He came up to talk to us.

It seems he is 25 years old. I asked him about Clay's voice, and told him that Clay should learn to do some warm-up exercises. Jacob said that Clay knows what he has to do to perform, and that he (Jacob) couldn't very well tell him to do warm-ups, because he himself didn't do them. I told Jacob to tell Clay that there were over 20 Broads in the house. Jacob apparently had never heard of us, but I assured him that Clay would know who we were. I also told him to tell Clay about Maylon coming to St. Louis from South Africa, and her daughter from Australia. Just before he left, I gave him a check for BAF to give to Clay. While I'm sitting there, Carol (FL) comes up and introduces herself. She had seen my LBFCA t-shirt (thank you Kati) and came over to find out who I was. A little while later, Sheri in Seattle came over. She and Mare were sitting just a few rows up from me. Then Mare came down. They were both delightful.

Meanwhile, I decide to make a trip up to the nosebleeds and give our three unused tickets away. On the way up the escalator, I see a young mother and her daughter (who appeared to be about 10). I ask them where their seats were. Then I tell them that they can have our seats in the lower section. I think they thought I was kidding, and since the tickets were the e-tickets, they didn't exactly look genuine. However I finally convinced them and they thanked me profusely. The mom said she had bought her tickets when they went on sale, and was told the ones she got were the best available. I couldn't find a person who was there alone to give the third ticket to, and offered it to a couple of groups, but no one would take it. As I was giving up, and walking back toward the escalator, I passed a group of women. It appeared to be a grandmother, with her daughter and granddaughters. Initially they.said "no" to my offer, then called after me, and asked for the ticket. One of them had a rather nice camera, and said she would use the ticket to get closer for photos. She asked for my email address and promised to send me photos if they turned out.

Back downstairs, my mother-in-law, Char informs me that Jacob had come back into the audience. Hopefully when Clay gets to St. Louis, he will know that Maylon is there. Now, like everyone else, we are trying to figure out where Clay was going to make his entrance. Since the steps leading to the stage were on the opposite side of the runway from us, we assumed he would be entering from the other side. A little while later, the woman in front of me says that someone had just told her little daughter that he would be entering down our aisle. Now keep in mind, this primo section of seats is half empty. We are seven seats from the aisle AND THERE IS NO ONE IN THE OTHER SIX SEATS! I started hovering near the aisle. Security guards were now positioning themselves all along this aisle. I thought perhaps they were just faking us out, because I knew this had happened at another concert. Kyrie starts. I look around the Arena, and see nothing. Then I realize that everyone is staring at our section. A security guard is standing right next to me. He tells me NOT to come out into the aisle. I promise him that I won't, but apologize ahead of time for the screaming I am about to do. I stare at the top of the steps. I see the door open, and more security guards come in. Then suddenly, THERE HE IS, in all his glory, standing at the top of the steps singing Kyrie. He comes down a couple of steps. I am trying frantically to remember how my camera works. Step by step he approaches.

I feel like I'm in the most wonderful dream I have ever had. Pat is standing behind me. We are both wild with excitement. Just as he is abreast of me, he stops, but unfortunately for me, he turns toward these two young women across the aisle from me. "Look at me, look at me" I'm thinking, but apparently my psychic powers weren't working because Clay continued down the steps and onto the arena floor. He was magnificent...his voice filled the arena....he was wearing the Charlotte blue shirt and grey slacks...and HE HAD STUBBLE! I had been worried about his voice, but it was wonderful.

After singing his opening songs, Clay made an announcement. He said he had some good news to give us, and that it was thanks to all of us that this had happened. He told us that he had just found out that morning that Measure of A Man had gone TRIPLE PLATINUM. He also thanked us for getting The Way into the #7 spot its first day on TRL. He asked if any of us knew today's position. I had called to ask my husband when we left Fado's but he hadn't returned my call. If he had, I would have been able to yell out "number 5 today".

Clay continues his concert. He pointed out his dance steps during Love, Love, Love and seemed very happy with himself. During WYSYLM, he went down into the audience and started dancing with this older woman. He spent quite a bit of time with her. I'm sure she was overwhelmed. The songs seemed to pass by much too quickly. When the stools came out for the acoustic set, I was distressed, because even though I was looking forward to these songs, I knew it meant that Clay's segment was almost over.

Soon, he was singing "When Doves Cry." Clay's voice cracked on this song, and he started laughing at himself. He was so damn cute! He knew we'd all understand. Then, the music changes and he is taking off across the stage. I knew what was coming. I had seen the videos, and I had seen the show in Philly...but even with all of this, I was NOT prepared for what was to come tonight (no pun intended). He was male, macho, sexy Clay in every way possible. Angela did her necktie thing, and made her butt grab. But when Clay came up behind her, he "danced" there for quite a while. He was totally hot... I mean off the thermometer hot...I've never seen so much steam generated on the stage before. Then Clay was off to center stage, then up the steps to do his band introduction. Tonight he chose to come back down on stage to finish the song. I don't know what makes him decide to go up or down for the end...maybe it just depends on his mood. Anyway, he comes down...the backup singers are at center stage, and suddenly he comes up on Angela's back again...and...you guessed it...starts dancing up against her again...for a rather long time! Everyone was going wild. This was starting to make the Miami When Doves Cry look like child's play. Clay was obviously in a very good mood, and having a lot of fun...and consequently WE got to have a lot of fun too. He finished with The Way, sung mostly up on the catwalk. His voice was in much better shape than it had been on the Today Show or The View.

Kelly did her thing next. Having been to the Philly concert, I knew to put in my ear plugs for her part of the evening. They really rev up the volume for Kelly. Pat said to me that it is amazing that Kelly doesn't lose her voice since she sings everything so loudly. Anyway, her set seems to go on forever....I don't dislike her...she's just NOT Clay. She doesn't have the "connection" to the audience that Clay does. Her attempts at audience interactions seem contrived. She's trying...she just can't seem to connect. Finally, she starts Open Arms and when Clay joins in, the audience goes wild. It is all too obvious who this crowd is here to see. The song ends...they say their good-byes...and it's over. "Come back," I'm thinking to myself...but he doesn't.

We leave the arena in an afterglow of Clay happiness. We meet up with Barb in Tennessee, and we all walk over to the Red Roof Inn to the Irish Channel Pub. We are joined a little later by Cha Cha Trusty, Ellen from VA, and Mary. There is a live band playing and they are very good. Pat jokes that Clay should consider replacing the Beu Sisters with them (trust me it would be a decided improvement). We are now cheering for the Band. They can't see us in the booth, and thank "the guys who are cheering." We yell out that we are Broads. They don't get it, and try to call us other things, like "dames". We make a few song requests, and order drinks and food. Cha-Cha shows us the photos she has taken tonight. They are absolutely magnificent. I am drooling with envy. We are having more fun by the second. Barb in Tennessee calls her sister delu, and Pat and I talk to her on the phone. Much later, Michelle VA, Sheri in Seattle, Mare, Chell and her mom Cedar arrive. We are able to party with them for a while, then around 11:30 we take our leave. We needed to be on the Metro by midnight. I hated to say good-bye. These women were wonderful...and meeting them in person just made them even more wonderful. I truly didn't want to leave. I was wishing that I didn't live so close by so that I would have been staying in town for the night. I hugged every Broad I could grab, then we left. This was an evening I will never ever forget.

On the way home, my mother in law said, that she enjoyed the concert (she had never seen Clay before), but had enjoyed just as much seeing the "sisterhood" that she witnessed among us Broads. And she was right. We are sisters. We are family. We love one another and take care of one another just as family members do. I am an only child. It is nice to know now that I now have these remarkable sisters to call my own. I am a BROAD, and I am proud to be a member of this group.

Love,
Mary from MD
P.S.
As icing on the cake, I come home and find myself being quoted (for the first time) on the MP for the directions I give for voting for TRL. Yes, dear Clayton, it has certainly been a perfect day!