2003-09-12
9:50 p.m.

BEVR: ClaynadianMomma/Seattle

Broad's Eye View Report: ClaynadianMomma/Seattle

Another Great Canadian BEVR -

ClaynadianMomma and ClazyDaughter hit Seattle

I thought about getting a ticket way back in the month of Clay (some people still call it May! Go Figure?!) before we went up to our cabin on Lasqueti Island, and would not have hesitated moment if it really had been just "Clay Aiken in Concert" but I figured that it would be a really cheesy show aimed at teeny-boppers and that I really couldn't justify, etc etc..... We went up to our cabin where we have no power and no Internet, so I was completely cut off from all things Clay. There is a community Internet center about 20 minutes away -it was hard to get away, but eventually I did. All I wanted to do was look up Clay, see if there was news, new pictures, videos or even watch the ones I had already seen, but the computers just weren't working well enough. I went home sad and lonely (Baby won't you dance with me... I digress.... Did I say undress.... whew! No, I didn't.)

Time passed. I kept thinking about Aug 26 and how could I swing getting to the concert and then feeling silly for my silly, silly obsession (I had not yet met LBFCA and was afraid I was alone in my OCD) I went back to the internet center and tried to get my Clay fix again - disappointing again - but I did check out ticket availability for the Seattle concert and to my great surprise there were still tickets available from Ticketmaster - unbelievable!! Also floor seats on Ebay. Still - I had my family to think of and look after - and what would Clay think of me if I deserted them to go to his concert..... By now it was only about 2 weeks until the concert and I just couldn't get it out of my head that I NEEDED to go. If Clay turned out to be no more than a pop and a fizzle I could simply have had a fun time, but if - as I so firmly believe - Clay becomes the superstar I expect, I would just kick myself around the block if I missed the opportunity to go to his first concert tour. I know how special it was to watch the Beatles on Ed Sullivan the first time and this would be the same kind of life-long memory.

So..... I took a deep breath and asked Lindi - my 18 year-old daughter - if she would like to go with me - she responded VERY enthusiatically. Now - remember - she doesn't DESERVE to go, because not just once but TWICE she didn't tape AI for me claiming that the show was a stupid, commercial blah blah blah - she was just in a bad mood - she's just as nuts as I am now!! I warned her about what I was likely to behave like, but she still wanted to come. So, I have no electricity, but I do have a phone, and it's Friday night and I'm afraid that those remaining tickets are going to evaporate, so I phone Ticketmaster and start (sheepishly) ordering my tickets. All went well until.... They ask for my zipcode - but but - I don't HAVE a zipcode!! I live in CANADA! I didn't know what to do, so I hung up. I dialed again hoping I might get a person that I could reason with - but no luck - and the tickets I was offered were now row 8 instead of row 6 - aaaaagh!! I still didn't know what to do and hung up again. But I couldn't just give up!! Think! Think! Think! I need a plan. I called back, and when it asked for zipcode I entered 00000 and it worked!!!! I was through! But the seats I got were row 8 and even higher numbered than the last time. Oh well. At least we would be there.

Now, to get to the concert from our summer place, we had to take a walk-on ferry for 1 hour, drive for an hour, take a 2 hour car-ferry ride, and drive for 3 hours - nothing compared to what some of you broads have done of course - but I still thought it was pretty extreme. At the border crossing, at the coffee stand, in the drugstore I was telling everybody we were off to the American Idols Concert to see Clay - I don't understand why their attitude was so just "that's nice". I was so pumped. Finally we arrived in Seattle and found our hotel but I was so spazzed-out from the drive that I could hardly park the car in the tiny spaces in the hotel parking lot.

After we got cleaned up, we walked towards the Key Arena, but didn't really know where we were going. Finally I spied a group of 15 year old girls walking in the general direction, so we followed them. After security checks etc we were finally IN! And immediately went to join the crowd trying to buy souvenirs. What a crush - and it was going so slow. - and then it was almost 7:30 so I sent Lindi in and said I would stay until I got my T-shirt - I knew Clay wouldn't come on for a while yet. But, the last person before me got the very LAST Clay poster - aaaargh - I had to settle for other stuff.

By the time I got to my seat we were well on the way with the back-up singers opening the show - I didn't care - I was having a hard time waiting for HRH anyway!! Then, yes, then.... It was time... the gorgeous boy rose and OH he is so cute, so gorgeous, so intelligent, so talented, so sexy - oh his eyes, his voice (when I could hear it over my own screams). Actually, the really strange thing was that I felt like the whole crowd tried not to scream when he was singing or talking, 'cause we all just wanted to listen to him. It was sometimes just too much, though!

Intermission seemed like it would never end. I enjoyed the "Girl is Mine" duet - especially the interplay with Ruben and when Clay got Lei'd. Then the group numbers were fun in a spectacular Disneyland sort of way, but I didn't want to take my eyes off Him and in watching him I realized what an incredibly gracious good sport he was. Even though he MUST have known the crowd was crazy for him, he never stole the show, never tried to upstage anyone, never tried to own the stage - until it was time for his solos. THEN he owned us and he played us and toyed with us and generally basked in our adoration. When he came out to sing "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" - there was no doubt that we all could feel the massive ClayLove tonight! We screamed and screamed, and then shut up so he could sing. And then we screamed and screamed - again - when he stopped singing for a few moments - and then we shut up again. I especially loved the way we all played together for that last acappella line - we got to scream-interupt the line :

....

Enough to make kings and vagabonds......

scream scream scream ........

believe .....

scream scream scream ......

the very.....

SCREAM scream scream scream scream SCREAM .....

best.

SCREAM SCREAM SCREAM SCREAM THUD THUD THUD THUD

I wonder how long we made him wait for that last note - oh- he was just loving it, and so were we!! That was for sure the Claymax of the concert for me!!

But for one Grandma in the crowd I bet the Claymax was when Clay sang "Happy Birthday dear Granny" for her. Yes, he got the whole crowd to sing but, whereas Ruben held his mike out to the crowd, Clay actually sang right into the mike and oh, how I wish it had been for ME. Can you just imagine!!

Poor Clay, though. He was limping, though trying hard not to show it, and when we got to "Invisible" I don't think (not that there was any thinking going on in my head by this time) we even got one good knee bend. I laughed a lot, though, because I think he was making fun of us with his shirt clutches - there seemed to be at least twice as many as I had seen in any of the previous videos! And, sorry to say, I didn't think they had the whole sexy flavor of other shows - I think he was tired and in pain and just trying to keep on being a good sport. But all the time he was singing about his rejection and invisibility I was thinking "How could anyone be so mean to him - poor baby, come to Momma...." But his EYES coming at us from the big video monitors - now that is sex on a screen!! A few other songs and then it was over. Life will never be the same.

As soon as we got out the door to the hall I spied some phones and called my other daughter who was still up at the cabin. As soon as she picked up, I just started screaming next to the receiver - I wanted to share the experience with her - and also remind her that she did NOT really want to be here with me because she would be dying of embarrassment!! When I got off the phone and turned around, there was another Canadian - with signs and stuff - and I was being all Clayzy so we went over to talk to her. Well, she was hoping to spy Jerome - wanted to let Clay know she was there... OMG She was a friend of the family!! She showed us pictures of her with Faye and friends in RALEIGH and at the AI Finale. I was sooo pumped. I was talking to and touching someone who had touched Clay's momma, who gets to touch him all the time. OMG. She talked about being with Faye in Raleigh when Clay called to talk to her about the foundation and how he wanted just to call it the Bubel Foundation and she told him that he was thinking with his heart, but not with his head, and as a good business decision he HAD to have his name in it for it to be recognized and successful. When she got off the phone Faye reportedly said something like "You all think he is just wonderful, but just try LIVING with him! He is very stubborn!"

We spent the next couple of hours with our new friend. Finding the buses and waiting, but without getting to see HRH - I think he was just beat, and it didn't really matter to me anyway, 'cause I don't really want to just be another fan. If I ever get to meet him in person - I want to be able to really talk, - frankly, I want to be his friend - I know the chances are less than 1 in 26 million but still... The idea of knowing someone who might have a way to get a message to him if I ever had something really worthwhile to offer just shook me up so much!! We had our pictures taken on Clay Street - just a few blocks from the arena - and drove around being lost in Seattle for a while and really not caring because we were just having such a good time sharing our extreme Claziness. Eventually, our friend delivered us back to our hotel and she was off to Portland following Clay to the next concert. I hope she had a really great time!! The next day, we went on to have a nice mother/daughter day being-clayzy-about-Clay as we headed north towards home but the urge to turn south to Portland was pretty ding-dang strong!!

ClaynadianMomma