American Idols LIVE! 2009
I never thought I would be going to ANY American Idol concert - much less this one - but I DID. Yes, a dream came true the night of 16 July 2009.
A dream + more.
The whole night was just so surreal that it still reduces me into a grinning loon every time I remember moments of it. Like right now! HAHA. I’m not sure which time I was happier… before the show or after it. LOL. I had the time of my life that night and I am just sooo thankful that I lived through that.
For my American Idols LIVE post, I’m going to do it the same way I did my reviews throughout the 8th season. What happened before that is so epic, it deserves its own post. (Warning: I came there ONLY for Adam Lambert and did not care much for the others so sorry if some parts come across as nitpicky. I know you should have fun in concerts but I will treat this like any other Idol episode.)
Anyhoo, we missed a few performances: Michael Sarver, Megan Joy, Scott MacIntyre, and the first two songs from Lil Rounds. When we were buying programmes and looking for our seats, i could hear Lil sing “No One”. We were so pumped/drunk/whatever that Joanne and I would sing along with the chorus. LMAO.
We entered the concert area itself right when Lil was singing “Single Ladies”. Again, drunk and all, we started grooving into it before we got seated. When I read that this was a part of her repertoire, I was like, “Dear Lord… why? The girl has no musicality; help her.” But when I heard it live, it was pretty good. It got me thinking why she didn’t go the Beyonce route during the show - it fit her voice very well. I didn’t care much for the dancing because I was too distracted getting settled in.
Next was Anoop Desai. LOL-ing at the intro. His picture on a background of clouds. WTF?! He started with “Always On My Mind”. I love his recorded version of that. I’ve always thought that this kind of sound is Anoop and not hiphop/r&b as he did in his next song “Mad”. My favorite performance however is “My Prerogative”. Hell, with the little alcohol I had in my system that night, I was dancing to it! (And I didn’t know I have the chorus memorized even haha.) Anoop sounds WAAAAAY BETTER live than in studio recording or through the TV.
My favorite part of the first act, or what I’ve seen of it, was Matt Giraud. Easily, the MOST IMPROVED of the bunch. I must admit, I warmed up to him after he was saved. Yes, I was a late bloomer on the Fedora love. I really enjoyed this set. “Hard to Handle” is one of my favorite American Idol must-sing songs. (No season goes by without someone singing this song at some point.) I was singing the whole song with him haha. I did notice him during Hollywood week with “Georgia On My Mind”. This man is GENIUS on the piano. Made me melt with his piano-playing. And I just about died when he did “You Found Me”. Why? Well, that’s one of my favorite studio recording of the WHOLE SEASON. I managed to get the last parts on video. That falsetto in the end… whoo! Matt, do more of this sound please!
I can’t remember much of the first group performance because I don’t know the song. But what I remember of it surrounds how pretty Megan is. =D
– 25 minute intermission –
(They were showing videos of the Idols. And every time Adam’s face flashes on the screen, the crowd goes batshit for that ONE SECOND. And meekly clap during Kris’s video at Disneyland.)
Allison Iraheta kicked off the second part of the show. It was kind of sudden how they did it. They just switched off the lights and turned up the sound. Meah. I must admit, I also wanted to see Allison - I really wanted to like her. “So What” went well. I was rocking out to it. But when she went to “Cry Baby”… well, on the show, I didn’t like her performance. Here too. I’ve always thought that this song was too big for her. And her voice was tired… she’s straining too hard. And “Barracuda” - I love that song. But after Outfest, I can’t listen to that song without thinking of the shortfilm “Bitch”. LMAO.
I wasn’t particularly looking forward to Danny Gokey’s set. I’m not a fan of the song “PYT” and I didn’t like his performance of that song on the show. “Maria Maria” was next. I think he picked this song, I think because he can do a little Latin dance. That was entertaining. I must admit, it was cute. “What Hurts the Most” is one of my favorite songs so that went well for me as well. Just when I thought I was about to sit through a Gokey set unscathed, he started a sermon. “I lost my wife… blah blah blah… it was my last year to audition… blah blah blah… a personal tragedy should not derail your dreams… blah blah blah… to all the dreamers out there, STAND!” Ugh. That REALLY put me off and made me HATE the last song, “My Wish”.
And then… the moment I went there for. ADAM LAMBERT. He had the most explosive intro of all I’ve seen so far. Of course, duh! When the guitar riff from “Whole Lotta Love” began… whoooo! The crowd went wild. We all know Adam sounds great on record and TV but DAMN… listening and watching him live is like SEX on stage! Gyrating, headbanging… the stage was his bitch! My favorite part of about it was when he straddled and stroked the mic stand as if it was a peen while singing, “Womaaaaaaaaaan….” FUCK YES! Family show, my ass. This is The Adam Lambert Show, y’all! One of my favorite Muse songs is “Starlight”. I would’ve been a happier girl if he did “Super Massive Black Hole” because that song is damn hot but “Starlight” is more singable. With that song, it once again showed how amazing his vocals are. He commanded that stage even though he was just standing there in the middle. Jeez. Vocal perfection! He did “Mad World” next. I used to love that song but after hearing him over and over again with it, I was passive. But it would’ve been a great time to insert some talking to the audience before he started with the song. He re-introduced Allison for their “Slow Ride” number. I love this song and the performance! They have the chemistry. (Although, I like the performance they did on AI more than this one.) For his last number, The Bowie medley…. *dies* “Life on Mars” is another vocal masterpiece. Then he threw off that Skingraft jacket for “Fame”. SHITZ YES. Then he stared to go Art4Life on the stage…. WHOO! If my eyes can have an orgasm, it would’ve had multiple by the time he got to “Let’s Dance”. Hearing him say “Bitches!” made me scream so hard LMAO. Once again, the stage was on fire. If this is a precursor to his solo shows, damn, I want a ticket yesterday! The whole medley was so good, all I could do was STARE. Ogle. Adam Lambert is such a performer. As what Cheeks said in his tweet following Adam’s set, “Stunning. Speechless.” I agree completely.
So after that sexfest on the stage, we now arrive to the American Idol. Kris Allen kicked of his set with “Heartless”. I love his take on it… and it’s a song where we can hear him say “homies”. HAHA. The newest part of his repertoire, “All These Things That I’ve Done” is a good addition. Shows more of what his sound would be like post-Idol. Although, I really wanted to hear “No Boundaries”. After all, it is the winner song, poor reception or not. Then he sat down behind the piano for “Bright Lights”. What I would give for him to do “Unwell” instead. “Ain’t No Sunshine” came next. I did like this song on the show but like “Mad World”, I heard it too much already. I’m still craving for “Falling Slowly”. My favorite part of Kris’ set was “Hey Jude”. He flubbed the first verse though haha. The rest of the Idols joined him on “na na na na…” part.
My favorite drunk karaoke (okay, even if I’m not drunk I’ve been known to break into song) song closed the show. “Don’t Stop Believin’“. It’s like “Smooth” for me. Whenever I hear it, I have to sing along. Scott and Matt were on dueling pianos. Megan didn’t join them because she had a little accident during her set. Sarver did the whole verse. The “Goodbye” (Kristinia Debarge song) bit was hot. When the 9 Idols were on stage, there was no question who owned the stage more… Lambert. Closed out the show with a glory note, he did.
Kris did not perform without an instrument. So I got the impression that he was a bit distant from the audience. I mean, he held his own after the sexfest that was The Adam Lambert Show but the connection to the audience was lacking. And I don’t know what it was but his voice was so soft that at parts, I couldn’t hear him. Even when he was thanking the crowd during DSB, I couldn’t hear him. Uh… sound people? And I know I have to consider that they were playing in Lambert Town Los Angeles but I kind of felt bad for Kris. The people were going crazy the whole time Adam was on stage but most (including myself) were sitting during Kris’ set. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed his set but going after Adam may have killed some of the buzz for him.
Overall, I enjoyed the show. It was not how Filipinos would party during a concert, sure (because back home, we go BATSHITCRAZY during ANY concert - jumping all over like all the seats are moshpits, kicking and screaming, singing along at the top of our voices… no one’s sitting. Filipino audiences reduced performers to tears because we know the words even to their most obscure songs). Like I said earlier, if Adam’s 5-song set is any indication of how his solo tour will be, sign me up for a ticket right now. As far as CDs go, I’d definitely listen to Adam’s and Matt’s if the latter does more “You Found Me” and piano work. I might listen to Kris too but if ALL his songs will have the laid-back singer-songwriter vibe, I might not keep the whole thing on my iTunes. Hopefully, he’ll do more poprock alternative like “All These Things That I’ve Done”. (It was tiring enough to sit through Brooke White’s new album because everything sounds the same.)
After the show, we waited outside to get a glimpse and an autograph from the Idols. On my case, Adam. Allison and Sarver passed by us… I took pictures at least. I’m not having them sign my Rolling Stone magazine. When Adam came out it was crazy! I was waiting there with Tania and man, epicness ensued! She was the one who gave him the scarab pendant he’s waering on the shows and she told him that. He backtracked to where we were and signed her shirt! OMG. So happy for her. I got my Rolling Stone magazine signed… uh, squiggled. LMAO. I didn’t have concert photos of Adam because I was video-ing his set but I had rad post-show pictures of him while he was signing autographs.
And that was it. *breathes* Pinch me. I’m too dazed for it to hurt. The whole night of 16 July 2009 could be described in one word: SURREAL. And I am not just talking about the Idol Concert. In fact, what happened beforethe show was more epic than the show itself.
OMFG. This past week has been such an unbelievable experience. Happiest I’ve been in a long time. I’m just so thankful for everything that happened, the people I’ve spent it with, who are a part of it… I have no words, really. Never in my wildest imagination, a little girl from the Philippines with big ass dreams… dreams that I thought would stay that way. Thank you so much! I hope we could do this again… (although, I don’t think I’ll be into Idol like this again).
Cate.
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Media Dump
Photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2027755&id=1066877469
Whole Lotta Love: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY8to1bmHHE
Starlight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl-ioxBAFUY
Mad World: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI9LVOKEus0
Slow Ride: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uriPDIgryV4
Bowie Medley: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCfLwTHmXvg
Don’t Stop Believin’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAumA9luYR8
Tags: adam lambert, American idol, cheeks
