Kat's Sunrise FL Recap

First stop on the tour was Legal Seafood for some curried shrimp and my newest discovery, the pomegranate margarita. Mmmmmmmm. Most of the people at the restaurant were on their way to see the concert, and most of them were little girls who couldn't wait to see Pretty McPhee. I couldn't help but wonder if they were internet-savvy enough to know that Kat's been illing and would only be singing two songs.

In line, Claudette Yamin walked right behind us and told us all to enjoy the show. She's so tiny and adorable, and much healthier-looking than on television.

Anyway, into the arena and our seats. Section 8, row M, far aisle seats, which I was disappointed in. Our seat-neighbors, old pros at Idol concerts, explained that this was the best anyone could hope to do if you weren't family, hadn't won the tickets from a radio show, or weren't sleeping with one of the bigwigs, so we sucked it up. Poor Mom had most of her vision blocked by some burly biker guy with tattooed arms, but I think she finally got her line of sight back. That was the other funny thing--quite a diverse crowd at this show. Lots of little girls, obviously, but I saw a lot of young couples and a disproportionate amount of drunken frat boys. Then again, this is South Florida, and so there's just a disproportionate amount of drunken frat boys generally.

Mandisa was up first. She's definitely lost some weight, and if she keeps it up she'll be quite lovely and shapely, I predict. She was wearing some weird stick-on crystals over her eyebrows; the whole thing was very gypsy-ish. She sang "I'm Every Woman" and then gave a little speech about how she's kind of lonely, because all the other girls are on the tour bus talking to their boyfriends on the phone, and she's talking to...her mom. I thought this was cute, because I can definitely feel her pain. (Well, I would be talking either to my mom or to my ex-fiance-slash-best-male-friend...but that's another story for another recap). So she dedicated the song to Ruben, predictably, but the whole thing started getting rather annoying as she began weaving Ruben's name into the song. Okay. You like Ruben. 'Nuff said.

Next was the duet with Ace, and while Mandisa definitely overshadowed the ol' Face, they sounded quite nice together. If you were looking for cheese, Ace did not disappoint. The Scott-Stapp-as-Jesus pose, the pantomiming, the jacket strip, the beanie toss...they were all there. His hair was curlier than I've ever seen it before, but these kids ain't used to Florida and the six hair products it normally takes the rest of us to tame frizzies and flyaways into sleek, beautiful manes, so I'll give him a pass. But I can't crack too hard on Ace. He's a tool, but he knows he's a tool, and he has a blast up there. He's also much prettier than McPhee. Sorry, Kat Phans.

Lisa Tucker was sporting Mandisa's leftover sticky crystals on her temple. She sang what seemed like 15 seconds of "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" and then did the two Elton John songs. She sounds a lot better than she ever did on the show, but I suspect it's because the acoustics in the BankAtlantic Center hide a lot of vocal flaws. She's way too young to be singing Elton songs, and her voice still has this distinctly high-schooly tone to it, but girl done well. She duetted with Paris next on "Waterfalls," and I really enjoyed Paris on this song, because she used a deep, throaty alto. I also liked her "Midnight Train" much more than I did on the show. The Beyonce song was just an excuse for Paris to booty-shake, but so what? Her speech was about how Paris "loved to party," and suddenly I had a mental image of Paris at a Florida frat party, doing her chair dance, but completely wasted. it was funny. She's seventeen. She doesn't know what a party is yet.

Also, I only post this because it was pretty obvious, but neither Paris nor Lisa were wearing bras. In fact, Lisa's shirt was completely open in the back (except for a few little thin strips of fabric). I'm busty, so the thought of going out sans bra is terrifying, but I guess the two of them weren't bothered by it.

Bucky was, honestly, a disappointment. I love his voice, but he totally Boomhaured his way through "Superstition", and I couldn't even really hear him on "Drift Away." He introduced Kellie, who came out in sweats and without hair extensions, and explained that she would be unable to sing.

Intermission. Mom buys beer. I'm driving home, so I don't, and my sobriety will later prove to be crucial. See, after the concert, ALL traffic (at least on my side of the building) was dumped onto a highway that connects directly with the BankAtlantic Center. Great...except that's not the way we got there, and we had no idea how to get back. (Sunrise is pretty out of the way for me). So, after an hour of getting off at random exits and getting bad, bad directions from gas stations, we were finally told to go 10 miles up the in-the-boonies highway, turn around, and get back on the Sawgrass. The things I do for the Idols. I tell ya.

Anyway, second half. DAUGHTRY comes out and the crowd goes wild. (Florida is definitely Taylor and Chris Country, with a bit of appreciation thrown in for Kat as well). He sounded great, though he's just not my thing. Also, the tour is still set up, in my opinion, to make you think he should have won. Red strobe lights! A backup dancer on the Jumbo Tron! The Flames of Pimpage! Something that looks like psychedelic amoeba reproducing! It's...it's the Cellular Mitosos of Pimpage! The set seemed to go on for-EVAH, and then the duet with Elliott came. Elliott was dressed rather politically, in a Star of David T-shirt that also read "ISRAEL." Good for him for making a statement. His set was a wee bit short but he sounded nice. His "Trouble" was great but again, it sounded like he only sang it for 15 seconds.

Kat, singing "Black Horse" in her black prom-dress-thing. To me, it actually looked like very cheap clothing, like she got it off a rack at Bealls Outlet, and I was sitting fairly far back. I never though "Black Horse" was one of Kat's better performances (I liked "Come Rain" and the second Stevie song she sang), and she kind of did this whole "You like me! You really like me!" through it, but she still isn't that mobile because of her foot, so she gets a pass. She gave a little speech about how she's had such bad luck, blah blah blah, she can only sing two songs, can't wait until she gets her own concert and she can sing for us on her own (oh YAY). SOTR was very, very good. Less ornamented and melisma'd than on the show.

Taylor came down through Nosebleed Section 115, passed about 25 feet in front of my face, and made his way onto the stage. A kind usher let me go far up front to take his picture, but before I could get my camera ready, a burly security dude sent me packing back to my seat. But I was able to get pretty close, and although I promised myself I wouldn't get fangirly, that man is HAWT. I mean, sex on a stick hot. He's also a dynamo onstage. I don't know what concert Howard Cohen (the Miami reviewer) was watching, but Hicks take the stage by storm. Running, jumping, jamming on the guitar, twirling, flailing, and blowing on the harmonica. It was a great show, and he was also in top vocal form during "Do I Make You Proud." Total cheesefest that the song is, the dedication to the troops is appropriate and well-placed. My only Taylor complaint is that he did not do more tambourine chest-beating. That I was looking forward to.

"We are the Champions" and "Living in America." Meh. The kids are all tired, the audience is tired, and everyone knows it. But the concert was worth it, what can I say?