Negativo took in the Idols live show in Sunrise Tuesday night. Check out his recap below:
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Let me begin this review by qualifying that I’m a 43 year old married man with two small children who has never before attended an Idol concert. Not sure how many reviews we’ve had here from this demographic, so I presume mine may be from a wee-bit different perspective than the typical summaries that come down the pike (i.e., that of an old fart dude who’s almost completely out of touch with the pop music scene, and still stuck in the 70’s most of the time), so please try and bear with this old guy and his beer gut analysis.
Also, please see the warning below before reading any further.
WARNING: Crystal is my favorite. If a little bias slips out in her favor, well, tough crap it’s my review!!
Now on to the show…
The arena holds about 19, 000, and I’ll go ahead and guess the joint was about 2/3 filled. Not bad, but certainly not a jam-packed house, either. Most interesting to me was the multi-generational composition of the crowd. All around me were tweens and teens together with their parents and grandparents. What other concert would be such a family affair in this day and age? I found it very, very charming, and a throwback to eras gone by.
Starting out the evening’s performances, of course, was Didi. Now, let me just reiterate the fact that she’s one very, very hot chick (70’s term), but a singing career is not her future. Her first song (Lay It On Me) was a warbly train wreck, and though the second one (Terrified) was a much better fit for her voice it’s clear she’s much more qualified to be a model/actress than pure vocalist. The crowd was still filing in for her set, so just as well we got the mediocrity over with first . Did I mention that she’s really, really hot?
2nd up: Andrew. On the show, like everyone else, I liked him a lot during Hollywood but grew tired of his act by the Top 12. In concert, I was expecting that trend to continue, but I gotta say he was really one of my favorites of the night. His vocals were smooth as silk on both songs, and he really connected to the music. I thought he nailed both the arrangement and delivery of Straight Up, and sounded smooth as silk on Sunday Morning. I also happen to really like that melodic, rhythm guitar style of music, so for me Andrew’s was the best of the 1st set. Can you tell that I’m an old fart?
Third to perform: Katie. Lots of energy, but I was beginning to get annoyed with what would become a trend for too much of the night: CONSTANTLY TELLING THE CROWD TO STAND UP, DANCE AND CHEER. Stop it! I hate the preaching. If we want to stand and scream we can handle it on our own – we aren’t stupid.What’s next, comedians repeatedly telling us to stand up and laugh at their jokes?
Anyway, sorry for that tangent.
Back on topic, I thought Katie gave the show a nice jolt. My only complaint with her is I feel she’s trying to hard to sell the “sexy, tough babe” routine and it just isn’t working. I think Simon was right on point when he told her to go country, or at least country-ish, because she’s much more believable as the “small town girl next door” than she is as the “sexy-vamp-with-attitude next door”. Her vocals were good enough, nice power, but bubble-gum pop ain’t my thing so I was ready for that set to end after two songs. She got HUGE cheers from the tweens, though.
4th up: The Turbinator. You know, I have to say that Tim is much more talented than the show and certain critics have given him credit for. He has a very good, clear voice, and was my second favorite of the opening set behind Andrew. The tweens went SICK for him when he came out, when he blinked, when he cleared his throat, when he smiled, when he breathed, and anything else you can think of. His 1st song, “Better Days” was outstanding His second song, Viva la Vida, however, seemed to just drag on forever. It was pleasant enough, and his vocals were fine, but so blah I was tuning out after a couple minutes.
5th up: Siobhan. I guess she’s the most difficult for me to evaluate. I definitely was visually intrigued by her haunted house theme, replete with tons of fog, strange lighting, and being made up with a “Bride of Frankenstein” look. Not sure she connected with me musically, though. Her vocals fit the dark, horror movie style she was going for, but it’s just not my thing. I loved the hard, head banging guitar rifts but something about the weird puss on her face when she sings, like she has to take a dump, and the whining timber of her voice just grated on me. Sorry, liked the imagery, but the rest I could live without.
6th up: Aaron. Aaron and Katie have the same strengths and weaknesses. They both have strong voices, but neither one seems to pull off the act. Aaron is simply not believable as a country boy trying to strut about with the cocky cowboy swagger. He’s even trying to smush in some twang here and there, which is really bothersome. His voice was very strong throughout the set, but he lacks the grit to pull off some of the songs he’s performing. Memphis was a clean vocal, but he couldn’t carry the weight of Marc Cohn’s throaty delivery. He should stick to singing sweet, wholesome ballads that are more befitting of his stature for now. BTW, the tweens were very into him from beginning to end.
GROUP SING: Meh…
7th up: Big Mike: Mike’s first song, Woman’s Work, was gorgeous. He delivered it with a lot of soul, gave it a buit of an R&B groove, and really made it work for me, Dog. He should have quit while he was ahead. The next song, Ready For Love, was so slow, boring, lazy and painful I was Ready For It To End from the start. My Love was just more of the same blech. His falsetto is annoying and amateurish, and I’m not digging the whole “LOVE GOD” vibe he’s pounding us over the head with. Hated this set after the first song, and was relieved when it ended.
8th up: Casey. During the the Idol season, I found Casey to be just OK. He was pretty wooden on stage, and seemed more about looking pretty and playing his guitar than delivering vocals. Take him or leave him. Tonight, he absolutely blew me away. Maybe it’s because I was so ready for something roking after Mike made me nauseous with his endless testimonials of love, but Casey just KILLED it from the get go. Texas blues/rock at its finest.
First, he laid to waste I Got Mine, just shredding electric blues rifts like a guitar master. That wooden Casey was long gone, and in its place was the confident Casey getting lost in the song both vocally and instrumentally. His next song was some fluffy nothingness that was obviously included to make him appear more sensitive, and then he brought back BIG MIKE LOVE GOD to torture me with Have You Ever Loved a Woman. After that slop, he got back to the blues bidness, breaking out the slide guitar and powering out a rip-roaring version of “Its All Over Now” . Great job, Casey! I hope you keep the tender fluff to a minimum when you go out on your own, because your blues/rock chops are fierce.
9th up: Crystal. MommaSox was so adorable I just wanted to kiss her, wearing a big sunflower in her hair and an easy/breezy smile on her face she was like a breath of fresh air. She was getting ready to celebrate her 25th birthday, and during her opening number of What’s Up told us before the final verse it was so appropriate she was singing that song (the verse goes, “25 years and my life is still trying to get up that great big hill of hope for a destination”).
More than of the other sets, hers had the crowd intently listening, hanging on every note, and singing along to every word. Beautiful vocals and wonderful stage presence, she comes across as a real natural. Next was Come To My Window, which was performed well enough but since I don ‘t like the song very much it wasn’t my favorite.Crystal then gave a very inspirational Up To The Mountain, though if I had one criticism it would be to not lose the guitar, which she did for this number. When she has nothing in her hands it seems like she’s reaching for something to hold onto, and distracts from the fluidity of the performance. She finished with a rousing rendition of Piece of My Heart, and then it was over all to quickly. I love this girl, and you can bet I’ll be front row center when she comes back to South Florida on her own tour.
10th up: Lee. I was expecting to say that the little girls just can’t get enough of Lee, but then something happened that made the evening unforgettable. A woman deep in her 70’s was sitting directly in front us, and my wife pointed out that she was just screaming and hyperventilating like a 13 year old girl! It was friggin’ HILARIOUS! At one point she began repeating over and over again, with her hands clasped, “I can’t believe it’s really him! I can’t believe it’s really him!” I’m still laughing my ass off just thinking about it!
Anyway, let me say this about Lee: He really was a great performer, and delivered both vocally and in his stage presence. I loved his version of Beautiful Day, and Rocket Man was one of the highlights of the night for me. He was really being fun and enjoying himself, and his vocals were on point. Loved the way he mixed in some Pink Floyd “Welcome To The Machine” into Rocket Man, too…awesome. Hallelujah was also done beautifully. After that, though, his final two songs were just OK at best for me. Not my favorite arrangement on Little Less Conversation. Very repetitive, lacking the catchy beat of his Idol version, and fell a bit flat. He closed out with a forced version of Use Somebody that just didn’t do it for me.
One cool thing: During his set he broke a guitar string, and Crystal had her handler bring him out her guitar so he could finish without interruption. Class move, Crystal! Would have been nice if Lee would have been polite and gracious enough to thank her, though.
THE FINALE: Meh..
After that, it was time for us to head on back home. All-in-all we both felt thoroughly entertained, and hope more people choose to attend the shows when they come to your towns. Hope you guys enjoyed the first annual Negativo review!?
