Cateye36's Sacramento Recap

Tonight was my first EVER American Idol concert and this is the first recap I've ever written. Please excuse the incoherent sentences, grammatical errors, and overall laughable attempts at humor! I have been going to quite a few concerts over the past 5 years or so but nothing this “pop-like”. I attended the concert in Sacramento, California. The first thing I noticed was that NO ONE was wearing a cowboy hat!!! Ok, I go to a lot of country music concerts…..anyway, here are my impressions. Like Lassie, I wanted to do something a little different and not just provide a song list.

Impression #1: The ratio of Women to Men in attendance was about 8:1 with the men being towed by the women. I didn’t see one group of three or more men who attended the concert without a female accompanying them.

Impression #2: The audience was about 98% Caucasian. I note this because I am Asian…..no one near me was of that persuasion….

Impression #3: Old people can rock out too! One of the oldest women in my section (approx 80, give or take a few years) stood up for DAUGHTRY and then again during “Living in America”. She was even dancing by “raising the roof” with her arms….Note to self: exercise the triceps before I reach that age so my arm flab is a little bit tighter….

Impression #4: The concert was NOT as loud as I expected. Being an audiologist, I am very protective of my hearing but the noise level was a little less than what I expected. I still used my hearing protection though!

Impression #5: The text msgs at the beginning and during the break were rather funny. I would have to say that approximately 85% of the msgs were for DAUGHTRY, about 10% were for Taylor, Elliott and Ace…and the rest were for someone named “daddy”…..man, must have been a lot of daddy’s girls there….Two messages had the biggest reaction:
1. Taylor should NOT have won. This one got a lot of boos!!!!!
2. Scream if you love Katharine McPhee. This one got a lot of silence…..

Impression #6: I was very interested to see that DAUGHTRY clips were the most often shown during the AI montage…..Taylor didn’t have as many clips—probably the same number as Elliott and Ace, if that.

Impression #7: Ace doing a hair band, head-banging move did NOT turn me on or move me. It didn’t look natural for him. Bucky doing the same move looked a lot better.

Impression #8: I thought the duets with Mandisa and Ace and Lisa and Paris sounded every bit as good as the duet with Elliott and DAUGHTRY. Also, during the song Patience, I thought Ace proved he can sing with the big boys by finishing up that song very strongly!

Impression #9: DAUGHTRY got a lot of screams……the audience support was HUGE, but not consistent. Elliott got a lot of love as well, and I think it equaled DAUGHTRY’S love. Taylor, on the other hand, got the loudest and most sustained applause throughout his set. He did have a lot fewer screams, but the place was buzzing the whole time he was on. DAUGHTRY also got a lot of screams any time his pic showed up on the screens and when he sang during the group numbers. The reaction to the other clips were not as loud.

First group: Impressions and suggestions:

Mandisa: Initial Impression--Great voice! Mandisa rivals Whitney Houston with the pipes, I think. She was a Hometown Girl (didn’t know that), so tonight had a special meaning for her. She was very entertaining and was a good choice to start the show off.
Suggestion: Lose the cropped pants—not a flattering look. She is definitely a beautiful woman though.

Ace: Initial Impression--Much better looking than when he was on the show. He DOES have the best arms of the men which helped “up” his masculinity rating with me. His voice sounded great with the songs he chose for his set.
Suggestion: Lose the chest pumps and beanie wearing. I just thought they were too “gimmicky” and really didn’t promote credibility especially if he wants to lose the AI image.

Lisa: Initial Impression—Very melodic singer! Lisa’s set was no surprise for me. I always thought that she had a wonderful voice and should have gone further on AI. I admired the piano playing since I was forced to play for 13 years and came nowhere close to her talent! Her renditions of Elton John classics were well done.
Suggestion: Lose the audience-yell competition. After all, who really cares what section is the loudest?

Paris: Initial Impression—I like the husky voice! I don’t remember her voice sounding like that on the show but that could be due to my faulty memory. She was the first person to get the crowd standing which was nice after sitting thru the first three Idols.
Suggestion: If I wanted to see a finalist from “So You Think You Can Dance”, I would have gone to see their tour. I would cut the dancing out – it looked rather amateurish to me. She also seemed winded after singing Midnight Train to George so perhaps she needs to do more aerobics. After all, she didn’t do THAT much dancing during Waterfalls and MTTG…..

Bucky: Initial Impression: WOW! I liked him better than when he was on AI (what the heck did they do to make me not like them as much on the show? Oh yeah, I wanted Taylor to win)…Bucky, Bucky, Bucky….Superstition sounded good BUT when you put the cowboy hat on, I knew you were starting to get serious. I’ve heard Drift Away numerous times by numerous artists and Bucky’s version hung right in there with the others. Oh yeah! I also apparently speak Buckinese because I understood EVERY WORD HE SAID!!! Yeah me!
Suggestion: Sing songs in the genre you are the strongest in which is obviously country. Oh, and also, skipping back and forth across the stage is not dancing….go watch Chris Cagle on how to move in a real sexy manner……drool drool……..Bucky can look rather sexy, but I felt guilty fantasizing about him because he started looking more and more like Ted Neely from Jesus Christ Superstar fame…..my thoughts started seeming a little bit sacrilegious so I had to stop!

Kellie: Initial Impression: What’s up her butt? When she came out for the duet with Bucky, she looked pissy…..but as the song went on, she lightened up and seemed to have a good time. She sounded just like her TV-self so no surprises. Her voice was a little husky so maybe she still has a touch of laryngitis…..was she out swimming, doing photo shoots, and dating an older man too?
Suggestion: Hair on, hair off….hair on, hair off…..can’t you decide? I change my hair color maybe twice a year….maybe you should stick with one or the other for a longer period of time…..

Intermission: Initial Impression: Yeah, I can go get some popcorn!
Suggestion: Shorten the lines, I didn’t get my popcorn cuz I’m too impatient to wait in lines that long!!! GRRRRRR

DAUGHTRY: Initial Impression: He really does have a good recording voice! However, I’m still confused as to why people describe him as “original”!!! I like rock music, and he sounds just like many other singers recording now. The Led Zep tune really got the crowd going…..EVERYONE stood up! WOO HOOOO!!! The concert has now officially begun! Wait…..they’re standing, they’re standing….they are now sitting for Dead or Alive….and Renegade……I do like DAUGHTRY’S voice, but those two songs sounded better by the original artists, I think……I really want to hear original music from him!!
Suggestion: Please lose the rocker – mic pose…..I swear, I kept thinking naughty DAUGHTRY thoughts….it looked like a sexual position that he would NEVER want to be caught in…..and if you still don’t get my drift….mic = phallic symbol…….

Elliott: Initial Impression: Great set of pipes! Elliott and his beautifully melodic voice….WOW!!! I thought he sounded great, and he really does have a lot more stage presence than when he was on the show. I even caught him doing a few “leans” to the side a la Taylor….was this a new move or did I just never notice before?
Suggestion: LOSE THE GUM!!! I also wish he sang more songs that I knew….he sounded great but I thought he lost SOME of the audience by not singing more popular songs….could be just me……

BTW: If Elliott is short, DAUGHTRY must be too. They looked about the same height to me

Katharine: Initial Impression: Will I laugh if she falls while trying to stand up? No seriously, she sounded very good to me, and I say that as someone who is not a fan. I thought she did a good job and got a lot of audience support.
Suggestion: Please stop the “hand on chest, trying to look surprised” look….I don’t buy it. She said something I thought was very funny. I’m paraphrasing here: “It’s so nice to be in California…..it’s been a long time since I’ve been here”…..What the Heck??? How long does she think she’s been on the tour? Does she think she “rejoined” the tour as well? Oh yeah, the Big & Sexy hair products must not be in use here....her hair looked flat, thin and wispy on the ends. She still is very pretty though!

Taylor: Initial Impression: Where the hell is he? Ohhhh, there he is, and he’s looking good! His set went by in a flash! What happened? I just enjoyed his performance so much, and he sounded very good and soulful in his songs. But where’s the dancing? Where’s the harp playing? Finally, he fulfills me in Takin It To The Streets! When he came out at the beginning of his set, it was like “magic”.
Suggestions: Taylor, call me! If you need to confess about your previous sins of drinking, smoking and cussing, I’m there for you! LMAO!!! We’ll talk over some Crown or Red Snappers!