2004-03-23
6:06 p.m.

SURPRISE! BEVR: Puddle of Goo, Grand Prairie, TX 03/19/04

Deep in the heart of TX!

This is so exciting for me, y�all, because I didn�t even know I HAD a BEVR, much less the possibility of showing it off to anyone. Last week my BITs were on Spring Break and we had decided to go off to Branson, MO for a couple of days �or so I thought. As we were leaving Tulsa, the auto suddenly veered SOUTH instead of NORTH�and I wasn�t even the one doing the driving. mr. puddle had an evil grin on his face as he announced that we were going to Dallas. My then-8-year-old BIT screamed �That�s where Clay is gonna be!� (She�s a quick study). Seems mr. puddle had conceded to the power of the Aiken and thought we gurrls needed to be with Clayton�deep in the heart of TX! (I�m sure this had nothing to do with the fact that I spent most of the early part of the week whining about leaving my clack behind and besides, why are we going NORTH when Clayton�s going SOUTH? Nope, nuthin� to do with it).

Totally Unprepared

After dumping, er, dropping, er, settling mr. puddle off at the hotel with the basketball tournament, the BITs and I made our way to the venue (with the invaluable help of Mapquest and the lovely, although not-a-fan, hotel concierge). Of course, I felt sooooo unprepared. We had no signs, no clack, no broadly whereabout information, no baggies, cigarettes, or ample cleavage. (Thank goodness I had at least brought my favorite purple shirt with me). Horrors! We had no gifts for Clayton! Well, Lil BIT saved us on this one. She spent her travel time making pencil drawings of Clay and Kelly and graciously let us put those along with her brand-spankin� new cute TX teddy bear with the cowboy hat (please don�t embarrass me by asking how much the bribe was) in a gift bag along with her personalized love notes to both Clay and Kelly. (Anyone know if Build-a-Bear has a 6-foot-tall bear with a cowboy hat?). WE HAD NO TICKETS! Flyin� on faith alone that this was meant to be, we arrived at NextStage and were prepared to grovel. We ran into a lucky, lucky woman who was able to upgrade her 4 tickets to within Clayton-spit distance and was willing to sell me 3 of her 200-level tickets. Y�all know Clayton fans are the best in the world. At this point I figured beggars could not be choosers�we�re in!

It�s ShowTime!

Of course we had to stop at the souvenir stand to pick up the legendary program and necessary clack. (The program and I needed a moment alone). Oh look, Big BIT says to Lil BIT, they have a little teddy bear that is wearing a Clay t-shirt. $20 bucks? So what??!!! (Cancel Build-a-Bear). The venue is beautiful and our seats were wonderful. (We saw AI2 from the rafters in Cleveland last summer so Row CC of Sec. 203 was amazing). We even managed to find the proper backstage-bound pile of gifts to put our meager offering with. Time for the show!. Being big fans of the Disney Channel, my BITs were quite enchanted with the Beu Sisters. Big BIT was completely ASTOUNDED when she realized �They�re singing this a capella!!� It was wonderful to have a �fresh� perspective. When they were done, we waited patiently and ding dang it if I didn�t see a flurry of security activity by the door on OUR side of the arena! EEEEEEeeeee! The lights go out�the din begins�and I hear the Amazing Vox and see the Amazing Head (not THAT one, silly!) in the spotlight. Clayton was Coming!!! He was coming�.from the door on the OTHER side of the arena and actually got nowhere near us� but He!Is!Here! Lil BIT was screaming (and I think I actually poked her pretty hard in the side of the head with my elbow) because she could not see where he was so I grabbed all 63 pounds of her and foisted her in the air. Heck, with all the adrenalin that was going through me, I could have foisted JEROME into the air. The emotion that I was feeling was one of pure joy because I saw the look on HIS face, and IT was one of pure joy. Pure, unadulterated, this-is-the-best-da**-thing-that-has-ever-happened-to-me JOY. I could not believe how happy he looked and I knew at that moment, that Clayton was here to stay.

He was simply beautiful. The rest of Kyrie was a blur�Perfect Day was, well, perfect. Again, there was joyful Clayton singing his heart out and it was one of my favorite songs of the night. When he said the words, �Helloooo Dallas, Texas!� he sort of drew out the word �Texas� and, well, I was verklempt. He talked to meeeee and said he was so glad to be back performing after his week-long break and loved the �hometown� crowds. We love you too, honey. Not sure how I made it after this. I do remember that when he did the whole Deep In the Heart of TX/cellphone bit, I was taken. And the BITs were now verklempt! They thought giggly-squealing-girly Clayton was the cutest, funniest thing they had EVER seen. They are now his for life. And when he told us all to �Hush!� well, dang if we didn�t listen. The place was so quiet you could�ve heard a pin drop. The power of the Aiken is a glory to behold.

It was just after this that I was feeling distressed. Besides not seeing any Broads and missing my chance to meet Julie and KJ, I could not find Carol(FL)�s phone number. I so badly wanted to give her a cellcert in return for the multiples that she gave me. Think!Think! Think!Think! It was then I remembered that I had part of her cellcert saved on my voicemail and I could retrieve the number from that. Sure enough�and as we got to Invizzle�I dialed her up and although I couldn�t hear her, I could see that she had answered (I as hoping it was her and not a jail-escapee) and I knew Clayton was singing TO HER! And, Carol, honey, please let me apologize. Had I known you were losing your cellcert virginity at that very moment, I would have been more gentle. I didn�t realize this was your first time. The looks Clayton gave us during ISY were NOT appropriate for a �first time� and I will talk to him about that.

I have to say I was also not prepared for the beauty of the acoustic set. Sure I had downloaded the various songs, but in person, with Clayton singing just to you, it is a wonder. WINY and FOG took my breath away and left me teary-eyed. Lil BIT looked at me in the way that only your baby can, and patted my shoulder and said, �Mom, he is so beautiful.� She�s a quick study. On to WDC and the further verklempting of Big BIT. She was at once flabbergasted and yet completely taken by the glory note and by the grind. It wasn�t as hot as some I�D seen, but it was the hottest thing SHE had ever laid eyes on. She later said this was her favorite song and she could not believe that Clayton was dancing like that! I�ll admit that I didn�t enjoy WDC as much as I thought I would because I was foolishly thinking that The Way was next�and the set would be over. I was in tears by the time he hit the last glory note and thought that I might have to leap out of my seat, crash through the 100 level seats and fling myself onto the stage and latch on to Clayton�s leg. Well, knowing that I probably didn�t have enough money left for bail, and none of the Broads knew I was there to bail me out in the first place (�Why does that woman keep screaming that she is a puddle of goo? We�re ALL puddles of goo!�), I opted to cry quietly in my seat as the lights came up.

We enjoyed Kelly, missed �Whoopsie Daisy Clay� (leave it to me to actually be at a concert where something legendary takes place right in front of me and I have to read about it on the Internet when I get home), and were amazed by Open Arms. When DomClay re-appeared on stage, you could just feel the collective �GAH!� in the room. This whole experience has been made magical for me because I can share it with all of you. I don�t know if I really like surprises, but this one turned out pretty well. Hopefully NEXT time I will be FULLY PREPARED to receive the glory and the power of the Aiken�and hopefully I will do it in a room full of Broads!

~ Puddle of Goo

Posted by: Wendy in FL