The following is a reconstructed account of the Independent Tour concert on April 13th, 2004

I have done extensive reviews of other online accounts and "Cellcerts" as well as reviewed all the footage of the Denver show from All Things Clay Aiken. Though I saw the concert first hand, I was not entirely coherent neither at the show nor when I wrote my original account (which can be found in the basement). No, I was not drunk or under the influence of any illegal drugs (or of any legal drugs being misused!). Rather I was totally head over heals in love with Clay. This concert probally marks the absolute peak of my crush on Clay Aiken, which was only about two weeks old from it's onset somewhere around or on Easter Sunday.

It is total suprising to see just how in accurately I was in recounting the order in which the songs were played. However when reviewing the concert footage on the All Things Clay Aiken site, the Cellcerts and also a site which had photos from each song performed including the Acoustic Set, I was able to then watch each song performed in the correct order and effectively reconstruct the concert and relive the excitement.

This account of the concert is the same as any other account except with all my personal feelings of excitement, ecstacy and even despair. In a way it is the same account as the original when recounting my experience. However, I was sorely inaccurate as to which songs came first. I still swear up and down that Clay sang Open Arms by himself just before the acoustic set which I basically missed. I thought Clay had performed Without You - Kimberly Lock's song after When Doves Cry, which he was just starting into when I was getting back to my seat. According to all the accounts, Clay only did Open Arms with Kelly Clarkson as she wrapped up her show and he did Without you before the Acoustic Set. He did perform When You Say You Love Me and Perfect Day, and seeing the footage brought back the memories and I was able to pinpoint when I my excitement - and my despair - would swell each time Clay ventured over to my side of the stage. I was closer to the stage then I was at Britney Spears' show just about 3 weeks earlier. I can recount when I went into complete overdrive, feeling hot and cold, happy and sad even hope and despair all at once. This show was a good time but it was also a traumatic experience. Perhaps everything happened too fast and at once. It came like a flash-flood. I was like a tinderbox and Clay Aiken was like a spark that set off a firestorm like the Hymen Fire here in Colorado in the Summer of 2002. It was almost violent the way this whole thing unfolded as such a breakneck pace. Here is my account of what I called a Beautiful Disaster:

I never had planned on going to the concert. It was when I had gone the Britney Spears' concert in March that I was given a flyer regarding Kelly Clarkson and Clay Aiken who would be performing in April. I made nothing of it. I thought that I just spent my money to see Britney and that was going to be it, besides Kelly and Clay Aiken were average and not worth going to see live. I ain't hatin', but that was just the reality. I did not relish the idea of seeing two American Idols in concert....and Britney was all the rage at the moment as I was just getting ready to enter the building. People were whooping and hollering, it was like we were riding on a roller-coaster and going up the escalator was like the train going up the incline. I would have been hard-pressed to believe it if someone told me not only would I be going to the concert, but I would be full-on crushin' on Clay.

I will recount how my crush on Clay started on another page. I want to keep the story short here. Lets just say between the Britney concert and the Independent concert, I totally went head over heals for Clay. My crush was about 2 weeks old the time April 13th rolled around. It was on April 10th that I decided that if I can get my shift at work covered, I would go.

Ok it's Monday evening, April 12th and I had found no one to cover when I did a last ditch effort; Erica was someone who opened in the mornings and had school in the afternoon. I left her a message but was pretty much writting off the idea of going to the show. It's almost 9pm when Erica calls the store and asks for me. THE UNBELIEVABLE HAPPENED. She said she would cover!!!! Now wait a minute, she said yes! No that was too easy! What was the catch. Really? she would do it?. It was true, she would do it! A miracle must have happened. Ok, so basically, I would come in at 5am to open the store. I was closing that Monday night and would get out by 11:30. Monday night Karaoke would have to take a backseat, I needed to be up at 4:30!

On the morinig of April 13, I was bouncin' off the walls. The day was long and filled with anticipation but when it finally was over at 3pm, off I went to buy my ticket. I did not do bad at all on getting a good seat. I was actully closer to the stage than I was at Britney's show (nevermind that I bought it 2 months in advance and spent over $80!!!!) even though I was ten rows from the floor (I was just off the floor at Britney's concert).

Ok now that I got my ticket, I cruised home to get ready. I had elected to not shave off my Go-tee. I had asked Tiffany, a co-worker who knew I was crushin' on Clay and was going to the concert if I should keep my Go-tee or shave it off. She suggested I keep it, just shave off all the scruffiness around it. Okay off to the show.

Once I got inside the Pepsi Center, I went browsing all the Clay and Kelly memorabilia, there were lines galore so I had to wait. I had a good half hour. I bought a program and then went and located my seat. As I said already, I was about 50 feet above the stage maybe a little more but I was incredibly close my view was going to be great!