Dee from CA's San Diego Recap

Wow, read Phantoms pbp and wondered if we were at the same arena. This is my only AI tour concert but it was great (California perspective). I had floor seats dead center 16 rows back. I had reservations about whether I would be close enough but those were great seats. Every performer seemed that they looked straight at me and I could see them just fine. Now the arena was divided into a younger more rowdy group to my left and an older, not wanting to get out of my seat crowd on my right. Maybe they gave tix out to the old folks home, don’t know. I would say though that 2/3 of the crowd were into the concert big time. So I guess where you sat made the difference. Also no matter what you go to in San Diego, the crowd brings beach balls and people hit them all over the place. It was a little distracting but if you are used to California you deal with it. The band overpowered a few of the singers (Paris, Bucky, Kellie) on some of their songs.  I am a Taylor fan, but I really enjoyed seeing everyone.

People who went to the preshow M&G said no Chris and the others looked really tired and some not wanting to be there (except for Ace…only perky one there). They must hate that pony show by now.

Mandisa was beautiful in what looked to be the red dress she wore on finale night cut down to be a top over shiny, loose black capris. Jewelry looked like finale as well. She had a large shiny necklace and bracelet and 3 gems over each eyebrow. Incredible voice, as expected! The whole crowd stood for her entire first song but sat down when she started talking. Dedicated her 2nd song to the marines that were in the M&G (seemed to be the theme of the night). When Ace came out of the center doors, everyone shot back up to their feet like a rocket.

Ace was the best I have ever seen him. If he performed like that on the show, he would have made it a lot further! He had on a black jacket with a purple guitar on the back over a maroon t-shirt, jeans, big A belt buckle, and Addidas. His heartbeat thing was amazing. He just stands there and pumps out his sternum to the beat. Sounded loud, clear and just great. He played the crowd like no other tonight (came close to outperforming Taylor, but no). Amazing leaps and energy and the crowd rewarded him. At one point he was back with the band and shaking his head up and down and his hair was flying everywhere. On Harder to Breathe he was all over the stage getting the crowd to do shoutbacks. The beach balls fit his act nicely. Some girls on my left held up a large sign for Ace and he pointed and waved to them. This started all the little girls in the crowd waving…and Ace tried to wave back to all, and chuckling as he did so.

Lisa was another big surprise for me. Such a little girl with a beautiful loud voice. She had on an aqua blue halter and eyeshadow to match with skin tight black jeans and high heels. She had maybe 20 sequins glued onto her right temple, made her sparkle. Very very good on Elton John. Halfway through the last song she got up from the piano and danced her way up to the top of the stage and really seemed to appreciate the reaction she was getting from the crowd. I liked her duet with Paris.

Paris was somewhat of a disappointment to me, not because she wasn’t entertaining but because I guess I expected a lot more from her. She looked much younger than Lisa tonight and wore an orange hoodie over tight black jeans. She had hair extensions. I work with high school girls (I know how they dance) and Paris was just OK in comparison. She ran to one side of the stage to bootie pop and then ran to the other side to bootie pop and then ran to the top of the stage and bootie popped some more. The only one who can run all over the stage and still sing is Taylor, so the band ended up downing her out. Her chair dance was very amateur choreography. She was the first of many who ran down to the first row on the floor and strut to the end and back (Paris, Bucky, Kellie, Chris). Her exit was something like “Princess P…goodbye” with sass. That was cute and fits her well.

Bucky was surprisingly good tonight. Came out in a white shirt and jeans. Is he ever thin! Sounded good on his songs, not pitchy like on the show. He grinned and seemed to love what he was doing. I loved how he was trying to get into the duet with Kellie. This would be so good if only Kellie could act the part. Bucky was right on and very cute in his role. Kellie ruined it with her indifference.

Kellie came out in her studded cross black leather jacket (that she wore for Bohemian Rhapsody on the show), skin-tight black jeans and leather knee-length heeled boots. She sounded OK but the band was too loud for her. She didn’t seem quite all the way with it except when she ran down to strut the first row and honed in on a white-haired older man for a private concert, ahem. When she took off her jacket for the last song, her red shiny corset looked like it was going to pinch her waist off and it shifted all that stuff downward. Her butt was going to pop any minute.

Chris had probably the best voice for the arena last night. Very strong, compelling voice and loud, but unlike the TV show my ears did not bleed and I really liked what he did. It gave me goosebumps. He is going places for sure! He wore a black-on-black thin striped shirt and jeans. He had on a silver necklace with a small cross on a green background. Full scrub stubble. I had small annoyances with him, like he sang to the rafters and not the crowd (truly he looked only at the ceiling when his eyes were open). He was chewing gum and he used the mic stand like a security blanket, dragging it after him like Linus. When he first appeared on stage, after intermission, he got the loudest single burst of crowd reaction of the night, but it was only a burst. Whole lotta love was good with 2 false endings. Stopped first to inquire if he should have a San Diego stop on his own upcoming tour and got a great reaction from the crowd. The beach balls were very distracting with his style. The crowd sat down going into Dead or Alive which surprised me. At the end he got the same crowd reaction that Ace got. I loved the Elliott – Chris Savin Me duet and Patience. The boys ruled!!!!

Elliott got a very loud reaction when he entered the stage for the duet…almost to the same level that Chris got. He was fantastic tonight in both his singing and showmanship. He was wearing a Tony Gwynn #19 navy blue Padre shirt….Wow, we love us Tony Gwynn here, good choice Elliott!! Elliott, you got to get rid of the gum before you come on stage….geez. How can you not love Elliott?

Katharine was incredible. Anyone who says different has their own agenda. If you are a Kat fan then you should have been here tonight. I have had mixed feelings about her all along, but tonight I have been won over and I will never believe any more crap about her!!! Well, maybe I will believe it, but I won’t care. YOU GO GIRL! To begin BH&CT, she was seated up top of the stage in the black dress with halter criss-crossed in back, very full skirt. From my perspective, it looked like she was standing up behind something. Then she moved up to her knees. It looked like she was rising up as if aided by a lift and then she stood up. The effect was pretty neat. She sang and danced like no other female tonight. It reminded me of how she danced on the finale for the “We’ve had the time of our lives” duet. She spoke briefly (same stuff), pulled her dress up (almost a wardrobe malfunction), and stuck out a barefooted leg about shoulder high and held it there for a moment. LMAO, I at first thought she was going to show us her new underwear like a 5-year old on her first day of school. She performed “Think” for the first time and it was my favorite song of the night. Her vocals were perfect for SOTR, no oversinging, I just don’t like the song and never will, but she sang it well. Crowd reaction was only average for the night. I was surprised at how very thin and bony she is.

Taylor rocked the house! He had on his shiny black Snoop Dogg jacket, the Something purple shirt, and the harmonica blue jeans with gray boots. JHR came on and everyone started to yell but hushed quickly. It was kind of weird because no one knew where he was (except for me, superlurker) and you could hear a murmur of folks trying to figure it out. I had a hard time spotting him, but the light was shining on his silver hair bobbing its way through the crowd. When he crossed sides in the middle, most people picked up on him and screamed louder (but not to Chris’ or Elliott’s level yet). He sang JHR in a recognizable fashion unlike some of the videos of him. HN was absolutely fantastic, spanked the guitar some like it was hot. His voice was great tonight, strong and clear and he owned the stage. Looked very happy. Everyone is still standing, even the old folks to my right. Dads have kids on their shoulders, some are standing on the chairs. If you are not standing at this point, you are not watching. No more beach balls. They were lost and never found again after Taylor’s entrance. He sang DLMD, yeah!!!! But that is when everyone sat down except for the few of us who were dancing. LFTC and 2/3s of us are back on our feet…too much effort for the old folks on the right. Said “Living for the country” several times. That’s OK, I kinda live out in the country, I guess compared to LA. Dedicated DIMYP to the marines and knocked the song out of the park. He was a little out of breath because his set is just one long song with dancing and singing and joy. His presence on stage leaves no doubt who is boss. He says goodbye and both he and the band leave the stage. That’s when the noise began at the level Chris got but it did not die off….it got louder and then louder again. Some near me started shouting Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, and of course I joined in. AND of course he came back for TI2TS. No shirt change, just one soaked sweaty crazy dude. At one point he went to the top of the stage and started running around in circles (kind of like the Ford commercial) with the lights all flashing. He just kept going and going and I was afraid he would go flying off that stage onto the band. He came down the other side and went to get the harmonica!!!! He walked straight out to the crowd and dropped both the mic and the harmonica at the very edge. He bent down to pick them up and looked up and gave his little grin tease to the crowd to get us to beg before he played. WOW!!!!! The crowd loved him again at the end.

For “We are the Champions”, the rest of the group are singing and then the doors open with the fog so thick you can’t see anything but a figure. Everyone thinks it is Taylor and screams, but it is really Bucky with an ear-to-ear grin on his face. GOTCHA. LIA went as expected with loud cheers for San Diego. Said goodbye and left the stage, but just walked around back to the other side and came back out. This is about 9:45 I think.

So now afterwards, we are deciding whether we should go see LMBO or not. La Jolla is about 20-30 minutes from here and Prospect is a crowded narrow street, and it can be bumper to bumper stopped at times, and parking is a joke. I am thinking he won’t be there, so we hang out to see if we can see anyone going to the buses. Yeah us and about 1000 others. The idols trickle out and just wave. The roadies are loading up the gear. It is dark and they are far enough away to make it difficult to ID people. The roadies are making fun of us by pretending to be the stars and waving, etc. We are laughing and yelling back pretending to be fooled but calling them “creative” names while forcing a smile. Bucky, Elliot, Kellie, Mandisa, Paris have all gone out to the buses. Taylor made two trips out to the bus and went back inside the venue. At about 10:45, the crowd had already trimmed down a lot and an authoritative guy comes over and tells us no matter what we have heard there will be no autograph signing tonight. This was about the time Kat comes out in black spandex shorts, black sports bra and a matching black walking cast and gets in a car (not the bus). I was too excited seeing Kat wave at us to look who was with her. She said something to a roadie that looked like Santa Claus, though. More people leave. There are about 100-200 left at 11:15 when Taylor walks out (more like walks at the speed of running) straight to us alongside the very authoritative guy. He signs whatever the entire crowd wanted him to sign all in about 5 minutes max. There are a few girls who 10 minutes ago were chanting “We want Chris” now are saying “We Love you Taylor”, “You are the best American Idol ever!”, “You’re the only one nice to us.” He did not look up because of all the camera flashes are going off in his face…that is until he got to a very beautiful young blonde. He looked up for the only time, paused, smiled his smile and went right back to signing autographs. We stayed around for about 10-15 more minutes but no one else came over to sign.