Cat's Washington DC Recap

I've finally recuperated from my weekend.

DC concert was great, even though I was up in the rafters. My seat was high, but very close to stage left so I was fairly happy. No one in the nosebleeds stood up for ANYTHING as any time you stand up you feel as if you are going to fall out onto the floor seats the pitch is so steep.

Mandisa's second number, If I Were Your Woman, was very very good, although the Ruben nonsense is beyond stupid.

Lisa was much better than she was on the show, but I wasn't close enough to get distracted by her scary eyebrows.

Ace's chest thing on the jumbotron was just creepy. His set was decent, but I didn't like the duet.

Paris. Her set just doesn't work. The choreography, the vocals. It just doesn't work. Pity, cause she has a great voice.

Bucky has no stage presence whatsoever. He's still adorable, and I was happy that he wasn't consistantly sharp as he was on the show. Pretty much in pitch. Amusing side note, he said something unintellegible between songs, and the lady next to me said "What did he say?" The guy in front of her said "I dunno, I never could understand a word he says". The whole section cracked up.

Kelli was much better than I expected. Her pitch was good and she has a lot of power. Her patter seemed hackneyed, however, and someone needs to buy her a couple of new outfits.

Intermission was cool, I knew when it was coming so I was first to the ladies room! Yay, me! I was interested to find that most of the top floor were Soul Patrollers. Mama Yamin came in to the arena as I was getting back to my seat and got a standing ovation...it was very cute.

Chris' set was great! Yeah, he doesn't smile or move around much, but his genre doesn't require that. He did this back and forth sing with the audience which was very well done, and I think he's going to do REALLY well in his niche.

Elliott got lots of love from the audience. The duet was excellent, I didn't get any sense that MMFL was too long or that the crowd was restless, and I sincerely don't understand when people say he doesn't have any stage presence. He was second only to one in that department. He seems really comfortable up there, and he's quit doing that up and down bop and gone for the more finger-snapping strolling thing. It works. It really works well.

Boys number. Awesome. Just. Awsome. Great vocals, great harmonies. You'd never believe that these guys haven't been doing this for years.

Girls number. Yuck. Bad songs, bad choreography. Cheese, but bad cheese.

Kat. I actually enjoyed her set. She has a very pretty voice when she's not trying to belt or overdo the mellisma. I was not expecting to like her, so I was a little shocked to find myself smiling. I don't believe, however, that she just started speaking on Monday after a month of silence. Please. And I could have done without the "you really like me" crap. And the pagent gown. And the pretend tears that don't make your nose red. But enough of that.

Taylor was great. I wish he would stop the Mick hand on hip move, it's just silly. I just kept thinking how much I would like to hear him sing stuff that he wanted to sing instead of AI material. Not that I didn't enjoy it, but I think he'll be so much better out of the cage. I guess I just see an edge to him of trying to "give the people what they came for", instead of expressing his own vision....what comes from inside him. In other words, as much as I loved his set, I think he's using a formula with his dancing, tamborine use and such. He will always intellegently play to the crowd, I think, but when he's on his own it will be less staged.

The finale was hysterical. The stage set reminds me of a race track. It's probably one of the worst sets EVER. All black rubber and round and round and round we go. Kat had no idea whatsoever what to do or where to go. She ended up at the end next to Chris looking like she was laughing her ass off at being so lost. I thought that was the most sincere I had ever seen her.

I then beat feet to the Hard Rock where the people were packed in like sardines, a little scary (there were a couple of girls there who have taken the summer off work and are following the tour...THE WHOLE TOUR..around. Yikes.), and the air conditioning couldn't keep up. LMBO is one of the best blues jam bands I have heard in years. Alas, no Taylor. But fun was had nonetheless.

All in all, I had a really good time.