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VoxAngelicus wrote:

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I got home from tonight's concert a few moments ago and thought I'd post my recap of the concert while it was still fresh in my mind. The weather tonight was unusually warm for this time of year (upper 40s) and drizzling rain, so it was a lot better than the snowy weather for last year's Merrillville show. Just before the doors opened at 7 pm, I saw Jerome walking in the corridor outside the center entrance, and someone near me said that she had seen Mary walk by. Once the doors opened, I noticed that Clay's mother was near the main entrance, chatting with some fans and having her picture taken with them. She's petite and very pretty! I didn't want to intrude on her so I went with my hubby and mom to be seated. But it was exciting just to think that I had been that close to Clay's mom!

The venue looked about 75% full. Most of the main floor was full, except for the back rows and some of the seats on the far left and far right banks. From my seat I couldn't get a good view of the balcony, but my guess is that not many folks were up there. There were plenty of men in attendance at this show, and my husband commented that the audience appeared on average to be a little younger than at some other Clay concerts we've attended.

The show began slightly late, around 8:10 pm. I had only one complaint about this show, so I'll get it out of the way first and then focus on all the good stuff. Similar to what was reported at some of the other concerts during this tour, the lighting was a bit strange. Rather than red and green backgrounds, the colors tended to be blue, pink, and purple. Also, instead of snowflakes being projected on the backdrop, at one point it looked as though there were a bunch of Good and Plenty candies in the background. But that's my only gripe. In every other way this was a fantastic show!

Clay looked very handsome (as usual!). His wore his glasses and the shorter black jacket. His hair was quite light, and from where I sat, it looked as though he wore bangs for the first set. After the intermission, it looked as though his hair was brushed more to the side so that more of his forehead was visible. At least, that's how it appeared to me. If any of our excellent clack goddesses were able to take pictures, we'll know for sure. It didn't look to me as though security staff were harassing anybody, so I'm hoping that there will be clack of tonight's show.

Angela and Quiana wore the ball gowns with the full, ruffled skirts. They looked beautiful and both sang their solos very well tonight.

When Clay spoke to introduce the stories, he described them as the cream of the crop, and they were. I'd heard the first story at the Waukegan concert, about the woman whose dress caught on fire. The other three stories were new to me and were quite touching. The second story was about the little boy with cancer who wanted a puppy. The third story was the one about the couple who met and fell in love before the young man was sent to Korea on military duty, and the final story was about the homeless family who received a large sack of presents from an anonymous benefactor. I wiped some tears from my eyes, especially after the second story, and I heard people sniffling around me so I know that other people also were moved by these Christmas stories.

Clay was in very fine voice tonight. Toward the end of the Jazzy Medley he gave a wonderful little growl when he sang "I said a-walkin'...." He sounded particularly beautiful on WTOW and the "Sentimental Medley." He was accompanied tonight by the Bill Porter Orchestra, who had accompanied him for last year's Merrillville show and this year's concert in Waukegan.

One thing that was different about tonight's concert (I don't know whether Clay did this at any of the other recent shows) was that when he sang MGUCL, Quiana and Angela each did a duet with him for part of the song, and then the three of them sang together. It was lovely!

At the end of the show, Clay thanked all of his tour "family." He had Jamie, Jerome, and Mary come out on stage to be acknowledged, and he also thanked the lighting and sound crew members (I think their names are Fern and Jason).

Clay also mentioned that his mom and his brother Brett were in the audience. When Clay said that Brett had been serving in Iraq, the audience gave Brett a standing ovation. Clay then joked, "It's still my show! All eyes up front!" He then launched into a spectacular rendition of DSIAFCD. He walked over to Angela and put his arm around her while singing, "A hug is warmer when you're in it." Then he did his best Elvis impersonation when he sang, "Oh baby, that's a fact!" Next he walked over to Quiana and sang with her. At the end of the song, he deliberately took his time adjusting the mic stand to see if Angela and Quiana could hold the note before his final line. Quiana managed to hold the note the longest and did a little dance of joy for having done so well. Clay hit his beautiful falsetto notes at the end of DSIAFCD and wished everyone a Merry Christmas before leaving the stage.

Of course the audience whooped and hollered, so thankfully tonight Clay did sing AIW and sounded gorgeous! On the way out of the venue, I heard a woman commenting about what a powerful voice he has. That's for sure!!

It was a great finale concert, and I wish I could tell Clay "THANK YOU" for another excellent Christmas tour. He, his mom, and Brett are flying to Mexico tomorrow. Hopefully they'll have a safe journey and we can look forward to Clay's UNICEF blogs from the field.

What a wonderful recap! Thank you! He sounded spectacular on the cellstream, I can't imagine how wonderful it must have been live.