Bean99's Sept 7 Grand Prairie TX Recap

We had a great time. Dh even liked it. Because of traffic and the distance, we got there about 6:40 or so but was inside in plenty of time. The concert didn't actually start until around 7:20. There were Pop Tarts walking around trying to get the girls to squeal and it worked, lol. There were also text messages on the big screen so I had to text "Chris is my idol". Chris seemed to have the most messages with Taylor and Elliot next.

They start with the AI music playing along with film clips of the season to start both halves.

Mandisa: She's a big girl but I thought she looked really nice and sounded great. She really does have a good voice for gospel or broadway. She sang 2 songs and then a duet with Ace which was surprisingly good.

Ace: There were a lot of girls screaming every time Ace came out. He's incredibly cheesy but fun to watch and he doesn't look too bad either. He did Father Figure and pumped his chest like a heart beating at the beginning which cracked me up. Then he took off his jacket to show off his muscular arms (not bad at all, lol). We both really enjoyed Maroon 5's Harder to Breath.

Lisa: She's really cute and was better than I remembered. Signed, Sealed, Delivered wasn't bad but she did well playing piano and singing to 2 Elton John songs. Then a duet with Paris, Waterfalls, in which Lisa sounded better.

Paris: I like her voice in Midnight Train to Georgia but lost me with her Beyonce song. Mostly it was about her dancing and shaking her booty and you couldn't hear her sometimes.

Bucky: He came out doing Superstition. I liked it and thought he sounded pretty good and easily had the best hair of them all. Then he did Dobie Gray's Drift Away which was also good but why not a country song? I can't say that I was thrilled with his duet with Kellie (You're the one that I want from Grease) but it was cute enough.

Kellie: She was wearing the extensions so had long hair and was wearing very tight black jeans and a black tank. I was surprised that she was so hippy looking. She looks thinner on tv. I liked her singing I'm the only one and Walking after midnight well enough but wasn't impressed by her chatting in the middle. It seemed very stiff and rehearsed.

Intermission: I wasn't going to take a chance on missing any of Chris so we just did a bathroom break and skipped drinks or a snack.

Chris: It was a whole new concert when he came out. Everyone was roaring and a lot were on their feet including me, of course. He did Whole Lotta Love, Wanted Dead or Alive, and then Renegade. He played guitar on the middle one. I thought he did great on all of them (surprise) and he sounded as good or better than he did on tv. He's made for big concerts. He moved around a lot and connected with the audience. He talked about being busy recording and mentioned about coming back to Dallas. Of course everyone roared again. Al & I loved his duet with Elliot. It was the first time I really liked Elliot's voice. I'd love to have it on my iPod. I noticed that Chris smiled, waved, and blew kisses when he wasn't doing his rock songs.

Elliot: He was chewing a big wad of gum the whole time. Elliot, spit it out! I wasn't keen on the slower song he did first but thought he did well on Trouble. He doesn't have a great stage presence but does seem like a nice guy and he has a lot of fans. Chris, Bucky, and Ace joined Elliot for Patience. They all sounded good and Chris and Bucky played guitar on it.

Kat: She's beautiful! I was impressed by her voice and thought she sounded better than on the show. She did Black Horse and the Cherry Tree first, then Think in which she told everyone to stand up. Almost everyone did happily, lol. She ended with Somewhere over the Rainbow which I thought wouldn't impress me since I've heard her do it so much but I was wrong. It was beautifully done and gave me chills. I really think she'll do just fine. I didn't think she said anything wrong unlike some reviews. I didn't even catch that she said y'all.

Taylor: I'll give him credit for one thing. He has a lot of fans and he does what they want him to do. I'm not sure what he came in singing but got most everyone up. He didn't sound right during the Bob Seeger song but I wasn't sure if it was his interpretation or if he's having a voice problem. I was less than impressed with his dancing and his frenetic dancing during Taking it to the Streets was strange! He seemed to scream through most of his songs for some reason but nobody seemed to care if he sounded good or not (or maybe they thought he sounded fine). I did like his harmonica playing. He did the phony leaving in order for people to ask for an encore and then came back and did one more song.

Group songs: All but Taylor and Kat came out for We are the Champions. They all sounded good and Chris/Ace got the most screams. Taylor and Kat came out for Living in America. I noticed that Chris made sure to go over to fans then and say hi.

I thought the band played a little too loud over some people. Most of the idols sounded as good or better than on the show and they all seemed to go fairly well connecting with the audience. Overall a fun night and we managed to get out the side door quickly and avoided the rush getting out. We were off the property and driving home in about 10 minutes which was great.