2004-02-29
3:12 p.m.

BEVR: Cotton and Shine/Charlotte, NC, 2-24-04

I KNOW this it TOO LONG!!! But if I spend any longer editing it'll be time for St. Paul!

Photos by Shine in NC

Cotton and Shine's BEVR Charlotte

Lord, I have been trying since Wednesday afternoon to figure outThe Way to put 2-24-04 into words!

First of all, the expedition begins for me when my principal approves request for 1/2 day leave - "personal leave -out-of-town-trip". Well, it was! Now, were Chell, my principal, I coulda run into her office and breathlessly said, "I gotta have a half day to go to Charlotte to see Clay Aiken!" And she woulda been like - "You Go, Gurrl! I'll see you there!" Anyway, I quietly slip outta there after a completely insane non-stop morning of leading 2 first grade classes in acting out the song (and book, by Jeanette Winter), "Follow the Drinking Gourd". 4 groups, 20 minutes each to show them what to do, get them costumed, practice singing while following the blocking through the "set" (roll paper and easels can be turned into amazing things!). My arms about to fall off from encouraging them to go 'round and 'round here and 'round and 'round there, my voice about gone from singing twice with each group, once more for the last performance by the "best actors". Whew!

So now I'm on the road, Mapquest directions in hand to Nell's (no, not OUR Nelle, a NC Nell) house. Nell, a former Tom Jones FANatic regaled us with tales of her TJ escapades while feeding us a delish lunch. She's been watching Clay from the beginning but does not "know all that computer stuff you Gals know", she says. Broads could take lessons from this one on following and finding the subject of our obsession - oops - Life Style! Got invited into TJ's hotel room - somewhat like Mystery Broad's faboo sweet treat! (Thank you MB!)

Binoculars handed out to all who need them, experts with cameras in hand, we load up and caravan the rest of the way to Charlotte. Broad Christine (Shine in NC of Montage and Video Fame!) and Pam in one car, (more on THAT later!) Linda, Nell and Moi in the lead. No, I'm not driving - that's Nell, following Mapquest. Stopping at TGIFriday's Concord Mills, we meet up with 2 more members of the ClayNation. While those 2 are served lunch, I have my purdy new Powerbook serving up Clack for all to enjoy! Off again, we make only one wrong turn and make it to the Renaissance. Unload and N, L, and P head in to meet up with Charlotte fans (you know, those with that OTHER name!). Christine and I go on the hunt for

BroadFest!

Did we have Mapquest directions? No. Did we plan ahead? Obviously not! What do we do? Ask the Renaissance bar tender for directions! Very Broadly of us, don'tcha think? Off we go - directions on a COCKTAIL NAPKIN!

Did any of you hear about the waitress who got tipped with - a CAR? Well, that should happen to Christine! She is transportation challenged! To the extent that we were traveling in style in her Dad's work car - work in progress, more like! (Her car is in the autospital!) This Broad has herpriorities in order! Paycheck going to Clayventures, ClackCam, Claytix for Five Cloncerts! Car. Schmarr. Clayton is more important!

BTW,if the President's Staff Position of Transportation Secretary is still open, this Broad is your Gurrl. If the President ever gets locked out of his Volvo, Limo, or Bus, Shine has talents beyond being Queen of Montages. She knows how to HOTWIRE a car! Thankfully, that talent wasn't needed on this trip! Still - Quit an adventure! I'm Looking - Looking - Looking- OH!, I almost get whiplash - J& J - there it WAS! We finally search for a place to turn around and get ourselves Back to the Broads!

In we walk - first sight is - Purple shirt! Beautiful lady (oops) Broad - Alice! And right behind her is Robin! The hostess points toward the bar and there's Chell! Chell's, an assistant principal in Wake Co.; I, a K-2 media coordinator in Davidson Co. Been seeing each other for months on pp's, but Charlotte was our first meeting! Isn't she beautiful?! And Chell's Mama Cedar! What a great job Chell and Ali did putting this together complete with goody bags with everything you need for a date with clay including a that Sweet Treat from Mystery Broad!

Again, I get to see Raleighgurrl! (Cloncert during which a hockey game broke out) and Sue G! (parade, Sue?) (and sister,Linda). Cha Cha Trusty! Hi Cha Cha! We were late, so I missed some of the Broads. NASTY!! OK, NSST and Best Daughter-in-the-World Ashley. Michell VA is so young! Who knew?!GrannyTramp was there! (Hi Barbara! Ask her about her email ID somtime! Sounds like she should be on the back of a Harley!)

OMG! We have a concert to get to!

Ok, the show was fantastic! Killer! The KING (oh, yeah!Clayvis has entered the building!) was in COMMAND of HIS COURT!

Some cute girls sang barefooted, I think?

Then Kelly did her set. I love the song she wrote, "Beautiful Disaster"! And isn't it cute, she made a shirt to shout out to Clay's fans!

Then they started building Clay's Set! Love the set! Classy, strong, clean lines, multiple (O, yeah!) levels, and the CATWALK! Do I madly want to be on the front row! Lights dim. Commotion across the arena - then - - - OMGOMGOMG! There he is! No, THERE he is. NO, OMGOMGOMG! He's - no, he couldn't be! Jerome must be convulsing cuz HE'S COMING IN THROUGH THE AUDIENCE!!! Clayton is in the house!

Kyrie entrance was stunning! That. Is. All. We. Are. Dead.

That man can sing ANYTHING! (I'm on Bus # 1) Didn't listen to Prince in his prime, so didn't know When Doves Cry. Now, I'm in love with the song! I do know that Prince is a musical genious and not just anybody can sing his songs. They are musically challenging. The range is unbelievable! I love the way it starts with just Clay and his single, rich voice. And that first "Satisifi-i-i-i-i-ied" where he does that blues rif WAY_AY_AY down into his LOWER register! GAH!!! It just vibrates in my chest! And then he just ROCKS THE HOUSE!

Love the hot moves with Angela! (Our skinny white boy is learning some MOVES, ya'll!) We want it HOT HOT HOT in Raleigh,too. He'd better not calm things down cuz he's in the house with Mama Faye!

Perfect Day - WAS. Perfect.

IWCY, wonderful. Loved him sitting on the steps looking so relaxed, arm on knee for No More Sad Song,(no s, reviewers can't seem to get that!)

So happy to hear When you Say You Love Me. I'd like to see some Angela/Clay moves on THAT one. (We were all HOPING for Touch! Can't wait to see how he does THAT one live! I keep getting the picture of Clay with C**men or what's-her-name? brunette? on AI tour.)

Love, Love, Love, band, singers and Clay blend well and have a blast! Acoustic set was am-azing! To hear just that pure voice without the album noise was wonderful. Have always wanted to hear him do some Sting. The whole set was just nnni-i-i-ice ! When I Need You, MOAM, CIMM, (love me some James Taylor, too. Only concerts I've been to in years were Sting in Greensboro and JT last year in the Triangle- during a Tornado warning and thunderstorm - OUTDOORS!)

Quiana and Clay's Without You duet was beautiful, looking forward to hearing him and Kim on that, but Quiana kicked butt!

The only quibble I had was The Way. Hold on! I love the song, and it was beautiful as always. It's just where he is. I miss the interaction with Clay's Gurrls! Some of his best performances, to me, were those first few times he did The Way with the band - GMA, The View. The interplay between Clay and Sholanda was just cool - not like the flirting with Invisible, just little glances. I don't know. He's just so far away and I'm kinda used to seeing his sensual face and mike stand caressing! And trust me, I had my binoculars up the whole time! I can see why he's doing that one on the upper level. He really is trying to reach everyone and the mike would tie him down. (mmmm - tie him down? - -oh? Where was I?) Yeah. I guess I just want him to come (ooh!) sing it right to me!!!

I swear. That man is going to KILL us! He didn't just come out there and "sing the album"! He changed it up. He suprised us (again!). He - well - he just seduced us! And Ooh, Be-bay, didn't it Feel Good?!!

And now - THANK GOD for all you people with camcorders and computer savy. Cuz, like the rest of you, it's like Chinese food - an hour later it's GONE! You know you were seduced. You know you are SPENT! But you JUST CAN'T DESCRIBE WHAT IT WAS! Your brain has shut down. (Well, maybe not shut down, just focused in other regions! So now, we Clack away and go Oh! Yeah! THAT was what it was! And puddle all over again. Ain't it GLORIOUS?! HE is Glorious, (No, Clay, Get your eyes off the bracelet - that ain't the kind of GLORY we're talking here! We are talking Skinny Red-Headed Sex God on a Stick, Glory! And that's YOU, Be-Bay!

Love you, Broads! Love you, Clay!

"Please, Sir, could I have some MORE?!"

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