LA Girl's Washington DC Recap

Am pooped like Kerri from the concert and LMBO, but will make a few observations.

LMBO was great. Hard Rock was packed. Tons of folks were in Soul Patrol Got Soul, Hicks Chicks and other assorted Taylorwear. Sam Gunderson, who is originally from here, had some of his own fans/friends there.

It was clear a couple of times that they thought Taylor had arrived.

They raised $1900 for Make a Wish via a raffle of a guitar signed by Tay and LMBO and a live auction for another signed guitar.

The sponsors passed out tee shirts, shots, pins and visors. There was a VIP section upstairs with food and open bar.

There was a small scrim separating the "stage" from the backstage and you could see LMBO chatting, smoking, drinking, etc. during their breaks.

The first half of the actual concert really resembled a high school variety show. Bless their hearts, they tried, but they just don't have polish or showmanship.

Chris was much better than I would have presumed. I started as a fan, then lost enthusiasm for him as the weeks of Idol ticked by. But, he was good tonight. He and Taylor are the only ones who I can imagine as headliners.

Elliott has a great voice and will do well in smaller venues. He just doesn't fill up an arena.

Toward the end of intermission, a scream went out and people started cheering. The object of the affection was a small, pink-shirted woman gingerly walking with a cane. Yes, it was none other than Claudette Yamin. Truth be told, Claudette got a bigger reception than Kat.

The energy in Verizon just dissipated when Kat took the stage. Those songs are not arena songs and her performance did not fill the venue. It appeared to me that she was either lip-syncing or had a backing track a la Ashlee Simpson. Something with the vocals and the movement of Kat's lips and throat did not quite match. The crowd was polite, but the dip in enthusiasm from Chris/Elliott to Kat was palpable.

Taylor was electric. The man is a born performer. He did his entrance to JHR from my aisle. He looked great -- has a really olive complexion and had gelled hair. From the second he started down the aisle EVERYONE, including my 8 months pregnant friend jumped to their feet. The only time during his set that people sat down was during DIMYP. He did a good job with it, but the song sucks. He did an interesting vocalization where it sounded like he was using his harp, but it was just some trick using his voice and the mike.

Kat was totally out of place during Living in America. She didn't seem to sing and was out of step with the others -- at one point, Bucky nearly tripped over her. After starting out next to Taylor, she was quickly shunted to the far end. The rest of them already have their shtick down and she just wasn't part of it.