2003-07-20
7:52 a.m.

BEVR: Judy/Hartford

Yes, ma'am I was there and it was unbelievably wonderful. I think I must have been the only Broad there. I made a huge colorful shiny sign with just the letters LBFCA on it and got no looks of recognition for that or my beautiful red shoes. I did intend to march right down to the stage with it but they had a security guy at the gap between my section and the next so it was a no-go. I will say Clay is more beautiful in person if you can possibly believe it. From any angle. His voice was pure and strong and he showed no signs of the fatigue I have been hearing about.

It must me obvious to you by now that I am not much of a writer - I tend to just type along string of consciousness wise and ramble a bit. Clay was wonderful, gorgeous, and in great voice last night. I swear from any angle he is just so handsome it is unbelievable that he did not realize this years ago. Maybe he was just hiding himself until the proper moment. My very proper ladylike friend was squealing like a pig when he was onstage. We were way back (and although I brought them I completely forgot to use my binoculars) and most of the time I looked at the screens to watch him and then switch back to the stage just to see him live.

OoooooooooH! I love those deep kneebends he does when he goes for the loooooooooong notes. His stage presence is incredible. Just like he's talking to a bunch of his friends - which he is. There were a lot of Ruben fans there but it was obvious Clay was the overwhelming favorite of the crowd. I called Julie during This is the Night and Invisible. I really could not tell if she was on the phone or not during Invisible, the screams were so loud. Omigod I LOVE that song - or at least that song as sung by Clay. I was not so much impressed with the video but the live performance was awsome.

I run out of adjectives when Clay is involved, really. He looked so yummy in the white outfit and even more so in the suit and tie he wore for TITN. He gets a bum rap about the dancing. He has very graceful and rhythmic moves which he does in the group songs. Even in group songs I cannot take my eyes off Clay.

I am so pissed about the following - the first song after intermission is when he gets down and dirty with Julia (who is a local girl, next town down the road from mine). Well anyway I could not find my ticket stub and they would not let me back in. Finally the gave up torturing me and let me go. The ticket stub was right there in my purse in plain sight but I could not find it as I was trying to watch Clay. My god! If he ever touched me or looked at me the way he did with Julia I would just faint. Hmmmmm - maybe in my dreams tonight. I think he has this sex appeal thing down pat.

The rest of the concert you ask? Actually, I really enjoyed it. There were no techical problems like I've read about at other venues. The sound did not hurt my ears - good thing as I forgot the earplugs. Oh! and by the way - maybe they say this to all the audiences but Clay and others commented that we were the best and loudest by far. I know the Civic Center is big and it was totally sold out. And also for Invisible he wore just his jeans and that damned old brown striped shirt (outside the jeans) - we have no local sports team since the Whalers left town. I thought he might wear a U-Conn jersey but no. Oh, yeah, back to the rest of the concert. Kim C., Carmen and Ruben were really the worst of the crew - boring. Trenyce did a rousing job of the Proud Mary thing in a skirt so short that I could see her panties on a couple of occasions. Most improved to me - I did not like him at all on AI - was Rickey Smith. At one point he and Julia DeMato did a duet that was really terrific. Their voices blended well. I did not like her on AI, either, but she also has improved especially in her stage presence. IMHO she has the best bod of all the girls - the one I would take if you could order it in a store. I think her legs are longer then Trenyce's and she has the boob thing going for her too. Oh and just by way of expressing my contempt, after Clay finished TITN and Ruben came onstage, I decided to get an early spot in the ladies room and concession stands. That's right, I walked out on him. Charles Grigsby BTW has nice moves and I liked his voice on TV but I really could not hear him all that well at the concert. Ruben really is boring. Kim Locke, Rickey Smith and Trenyce should all have outlasted him - he looks even porkier now.

Kim Locke! I don't want to leave her out. She got a Clay-like ovation after her rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. One of my all-time favorite songs, and NOBODY, not even Judy Garland, does it better than Kim. What a great voice. I don't buy many female CDs but I'd buy hers. I forget the name of the other 2 songs she does right now, but she was on. After Clay I was most thrilled by Kim L and Rickey. Did I mention Ruben was boring and that his voice is nothing special at all? Yeah, I bet I did.

More news from after the concert. I remember at one point Clay interacting with someone in the Glory Seats. He said "Well, I love you too." I think this was just before TITN. Well, my friend, hairdresser, and Clayvert Jo-Ann dropped by the next day, after she closed shop, to hear about the concert. She used to be a Ruben fan before she had the big O listening to UM. Well, anyway, a client of hers told her this story about their experience. She (the client), her 10 yr. old daughter who adores Clay, her daughter's best friend, and the best friend's mother went to the concert last night. They were as far up the auditorium as you can go in the nose-bleed seats and the best friend had a panic attack about being so high up. Her mother went to the usher for help and they ended up being moved to row 4!!! When Clay came onstage the client's daughter yelled out "I love you Clay" and he answered. I remember the incident because I was so jealous and wanted so badly to be in those seats.

I have a few friends (well, 2 or 3) who sort of like Clay a lot, if you know what I mean, but are definitely on the sane side of SARS. No soulmate who truly understands the depths of my obsession. That is what makes us all seek out the Broads in the end. Thank Clay for the Broads. Invisible - sigh! moan! - I just didn't get it till I saw it live, but now I even love my mpeg download. I can't wait for this album. I can't wait for the TITN video.

Oh, my! but what a lovely shirt I bought at the concert. It has the same picture of Clay as on the concert poster:

He's too sexy for my shirt!

He looks so impish, so elvish in this picture. This shirt is going to be my night shirt till it falls apart.

Judy

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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."