FIRST POST AFTER CONCERT
I'm just back from the concert. Clay, honey, poor boy, he was hurting!

He ate an almond either yesterday or today and had a severe allergic reaction. This is what the buzz was at our Clay gathering of 80 fans prior to the concert. Several people had gone to the earlier Meet and Greet, and Clay was absent. Jerome, Clay's bodyguard, put in an appearance at the M&G to tell about the almond.

To treat the allergic reaction, Clay was shot full of steroids. He had a terrible limp (due to the shot?), especially toward the end of the show. During the first half of the show, the limp was mild and only occasionally apparent, such as when he had to climb the stage stairs. But it got REALLY bad (poor Clay baby) in the second half. When Ruben introduced the band, for example, Clay just stood motionless, leaning on the stage railing, his right foot raised an inch off the ground, unable to put any weight on it at all.

He hobbled across stage when he had to during the group numbers, not able to dance much at all. But he pulled it together flawlessly for Invisible, complete with shirt tugs.

THIS IS THE NIGHT
Clay was incandescent on This is the Night. The guy just sparkles and twinkles and glows when he performs, basking in the fan adoration and reflecting it back. There was no apparent effect of the allergic reaction, the meds, or the limp on either his performance of this song or his voice. He did that thing where he rips the mic off the stand and then does the deep knee bends, just as usual at the concerts. He was beautiful.

AFTER INTERMISSION
For the fun Clay-Ruben duet of The Girl is Mine, Clay wore a flower lei that someone tossed up on stage, and Ruben toted a big stuffed teddy bear that was also thrown up on the stage. Ruben was really pleased with the bear and said Clay could have the girl as long as he could keep the bear. Clay still looked totally "on" with no sign of illness or limp for this song. He really enjoyed mugging with Rube. During the pre-song banter with the crowd, Clay led the audience in singing Happy Birthday to a "granny" in the audience who had a sign that read, "It's granny's birthday today."

Clay again was stellar on his solo of To Love Somebody during the Bee Gees medley. But I think it was towards the end of this medley that his limp became more pronounced.

I loved Can You Feel the Love Tonight. Vocally and physically, Clay's performance was very understated-just perfect. When he rose up through the stage at the beginning of the song, the applause was deafening. He could not help breaking into a huge grin when he heard the love and noise. (We were dang loud!!) That is one of my enduring images from the concert-Clay unable to contain his smile at our overwhelming cheers. Near the end of the song, he paused before singing the last line and people started applauding and screaming. Then he sang the last line but seemed to end without singing the last word. He walked across the stage and just stood there, waiting and waiting while the incredible applause and sound of screams, yells, and claps thundered through him until he gave the crowd what they wanted-the last note, sung as a gift for us all. What a crowd-pleaser, oh what a tease.

I expected Invisible to be subdued since it comes toward the end of the show and Clay was limping so badly by this time. But he was quite energetic and didn't limp at all. He just summoned his strength and pulled it off. He gave two standard shirt tugs and then a third big clutch composed of several separate circular tugs. It looked like he was violently rubbing his tummy!

JERSEYS
Ruben wore a vintage Mariners cap (ca. 1977) through much of the show and a blue Seahawks jersey, #205, for part of it. This was a genuine Seahawks jersey, not a shirt from the 205 Flava company, whose shirts Ruben wore during many of his American Idol television performances. Clay wore a white Mariners jersey for Invisible. The jersey said Clay and was #51, which is the number of Seattle's big baseball star, Ichiro. Kim Caldwell wore a Sonics jersey for God Bless the USA. It also said Clay on it and hung down almost to her knees.

THE CROWD
The audience loved Clay; he brought the house down whenever he appeared. Ruben also was very well received. All the performers commented on the good crowd. We were excitable and loud and also the biggest crowd for some time for the idols. Key Arena was filled to the rafters with all three levels solid all the way around. (I read later in the newspaper that there were over 17,000 in attendance.) Kim Caldwell, Clay, and Trenyce (it was Clay's idea) had the crowd do "the wave" around the arena twice and Seattleites were thrilled to do it. Seattle invented "the wave" years ago in Husky Stadium and is quite proud of that. The idols got a kick out of the huge wave traveling around the arena and back again. It was impressive!

Clay had the audience eating out of his hand, hanging on his every word and move. At one point, he was on stage with several others during the "dressed in white" concert phase, and he came over to my side of the stage (I was on the left in level 1, about 10 rows up). He was not singing. He motioned subtly with his hand that we should stand up (I can't even remember why or for what performance or which idols were singing), and we just all leaped to our feet obediently, eager to do whatever he wanted us to. It was like he had us hypnotized.

OTHER PERFORMERS
Ruben was outstanding. I hate his recorded version of Superstar (what an annoying instrumental arrangement) and must admit I don't even like the song, no matter who sings it. But on this night in Seattle, Ruben made me like Superstar! His voice was wonderful, with an easy, warm quality that didn't come across as well on TV. On stage he seemed very warm and genuine. I liked this boy! Even though I had read many negative comments about his new rappish song, No Ruben, I found myself liking that one too. And his performance of Flying Without Wings late in the show had everyone in the arena singing along and swaying their arms back and forth in unison.

Kimberley Locke was vocally superb but has a somewhat cold and distant manner with the crowd, especially in contrast to Clay and Ruben. Carmen Rasmusen was cute as a button, with hair swept up in three bouncy ponytails on top of her head. She looked like everyone's favorite little sister and was the best dancer of the female idols. The two solos she had were perfect songs for her. Others who sang well: Rickey Smith and Julia DeMato. Julia's voice, always a favorite of mine, is beautiful, but she still needs to work on stage presence. Rickey was better than I remembered from the TV show, and I liked hearing him sing in his lower register. Others who performed: Kim Caldwell, Charles Grigsby, and Trenyce.

THE PANTIES COLLECTION
There was a station set up on ground level at the left side of the stage that appeared to be for the stage crew and musicians-I'm not quite sure. There were water bottles for thirst quenching, guitar stands for extra instruments, and a trunk that was opened up showing a half dozen puppets of some sort. And then two laundry lines were strung up displaying oodles of red panties and thongs and bras. This must be Clay's collection! Maybe the stage crew collects all the stuff that people toss up on stage for Clay. Very strange.

BEFORE THE CONCERT
Before the show, I gathered with 80 plus Clay fans at Michaelangelo's restaurant near Key Arena. It was delightful to meet other Clay fans from Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, the Yukon, Alberta, and Alaska (!). We had a Clay cake for dessert (no chocolate in honor of Clay). No one wanted to eat the image of Clay at first, but then later it was "I get the lips!" and "I get the eyes!" Clay music played throughout the 2 1/2 hour event. bc4clay (Heather) from the That's the Clay Internet message board did a great job organizing this event.

Best of all, we held a raffle with various Clay items that people brought (many CDs, videos, artwork, and other items). We raised $740 for the Bubel/Aiken Foundation. I had to write the check to cover that amount and then go to the concert with $740 in cash in my purse-eek! Everyone signed a big card for Clay, and then we enclosed the check in the card. bc4clay then managed to get the card to Jerome. (By the way, I saw Jerome-handsome, flirty guy). There were red, star-shaped mylar balloons at every table in the restaurant and we attached a big bunch of these to the card and wrote "Clay Party" and "Get Well Soon" on them, and then we tied these to the card. (Heather later told me that Key Arena staff would not let her bring the balloons inside, so she left them outside tied to a tree.)

A small moment I will always remember is when I was driving to the Key with my two daughters. As we neared the arena, we saw a young woman in red shirt and red shoes on the street. "A Claymate!" I said. Then I saw another one! And another. WE WERE EVERYWHERE. It was just so nice to see other people who love Clay, because I really don't know anyone who likes Clay except for my "board" friends. And even though I knew there were thousands of Clay fans on these Internet boards, seeing his many red-shoed fans in the flesh in my own town brought home to me that I was not alone.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Although I had a great time, it was heartbreaking to see Clay in pain. He was really trying to get through the show, but sometimes a really pained look would come over his face. You just wanted to reach out and hug him. At one point, the blonde female dancer did just that, giving him a big hug as he hobbled out onto the stage. Way to go, girl! He needed that.

It was a strange thought, but as Clay disappeared through the curtains for the last time, after the God Bless the USA finale, I thought, maybe Jerome will just scoop him up and carry him to bed now, so he doesn't have to walk anymore.

ENDURING SEATTLE CONCERT MEMORIES

• first glimpse of a Claymate on Seattle streets
• Clay's glow as he sang This is the Night
• Clay's inability to suppress a grin as he appeared for Can You Feel the Love Tonight
• Clay's performance FOR US despite being in pain and limping
  

last updated 9/08/03