Annie's Grand Rapids MI Recap

A couple of weeks ago Ticketmaster release seats and I managed to score my brother and I 11th row floor tickets. It wasn’t until we got inside the Van Andel arena that I realized how good my seats were! My little heart still flutters at the sight of how near the stage was. So folks, if it is a sold out show, have some faith in Ticketmaster because last minute seats always seem to pop up

I’m not going into too much detail since we practically know the show like the back of our hands.

Mandisa! I forgot how much I enjoyed her on the show. Her voice is more powerful live than it was on television. My brother even started to sway to “I’m every woman”. I felt that she lost weight (or maybe the “camera adds pounds” thing is really true?). Anyway, she looked great in the silver silk top she was wearing.

I suddenly felt the air had risen in pheromones… and what do you know, the screaming fans confirmed Ace’s presence on stage.  I found myself screaming too. I didn’t realize to what extent that I had become smitten by Ace until I came home and saw how many pictures I took of him. What can I say? He had me with the slow stripping of the jacket.  Ace also mentioned that they all had the day off yesterday and that he could confirm how beautiful the people of Grand Rapids were.

Next up was Lisa who was as cute and bubbly as she could be. I LOVED her glitter make up (course, anything sparkly becomes instant love for me). Even though her set was very Piano Bar-ish, I enjoyed her singing and hope that she decides to continue on with her career.

Paris, Paris, Paris. I really wished that you took the jazzy route instead the pop thing. None the less, I did watch your booty popping rendition of “Crazy in Love” because it reminded me so much of my former home of New Orleans (people in NOLA booty pop like no other). I think some of the older people in the audience were shocked with Paris’s dance moves, especially when the chair came out. ** Funny side note: my brother felt so awkward watching Paris that when it was over he said out loud “I’ve never been so happy to see Bucky.”

Bucky…why do you have to sound like you have peanut butter and jelly stuck to the roof of your mouth? Not that we in the audience sounded any better when we all sang along to the chorus of “Drift Away”.  Cue intermission time, where we all could get something to wash down the peanut butter down our throats.

Just as the pheromones signaled Ace’s arrival on stage, the use of fake fog/smoke welcomed Chris to the stage. I’m not familiar with any of the songs Chris sang but from the hyped up audience, I could tell that they all enjoyed his set.  Once his third song was over, I began to get butterflies because I knew ELLIOT was about to come on stage! And so Elliot did, wearing a Michigan State shirt and his (in)famous hat.  LOVED LOVED LOVED their duet (but I am shamelessly biased).

Elliot’s performance of “Never Too Much” and “Moody’s Mood for Love” showcased his vocal capabilities. I still can’t believe the man never had vocal lessons. Although, I did think that his voice sounded a little strained. I hope he isn’t coming down with something (then again, maybe that is why “Trouble” was so short?). I wished his set was longer because I could have listened to him for hours. *Sigh* I guess I will have to wait until he puts his CD out!

The guys perform “Patience”. Love the harmonizing! Can I take you all home with me?

Kat enters the stage wearing a black ballgown type of dress. The dress was too long to be walking around in that she almost tripped over it while singing. Oops, I guess I did a Paula Abdul by focusing on her outfit first. Anyway, Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” was fine but “Over the Rainbow” sounded like her voice was strained.

Taylor comes out with “Jailhouse Rock” and gives several girls a heart attack as he runs past them. I was so caught up with his performance that only when he went by the strobe lights where he looked like he slowed down that I realized how fast and energetic he is. The man has mad harmonica skills too! I think my favorite of his set was “Taking it to the Streets” although it secretly made me jealous of his dancing skills ( I have two left feet).

I’m about to become lazy (seeing that it is 3 AM) by just saying that the Group Encore was just plain fun and I  just wish that they did more than two songs!  I am going to upload pics to my flickr account and the video clips to gofish in the morning.  Oh and a word of precaution for the videos…I’m a shortie and with everyone on their feet, it was hard to focus and be on tippy toes! The videos were pretty good though!

Toodles.