Post by suzyshrink on Jul 29, 2010 16:25:03 GMT -5
I wanted to go to the Toledo show after the one in Cleveland was canceled, but it takes place after my granddaughter Jenna goes back to school and it is on a Sunday - a school night. So, we decided to go to the one in Columbus. Both of us were very excited and spent a good deal of time preparing a sign. It had to be “just so,” and it had to be designed to promote the Village Idiots. The completed sign said “Village Idiots” with a big red heart for “love” and large letters that said “Mamasox.“ We also had our VI numbers on there along with some flowers and peace symbols. As Jenna described it, “this is one really cool sign..”
The trip to Columbus was two hours and we arrived in Downtown Columbus and landed right in the middle of a traffic mess. It just so happened that the Clippers were playing in the arena next door, so you can imagine the traffic with two events going on side by side. The Nationwide Arena in Columbus is huge and it was gratifying to see the place fill up and to sit among people who were excited to see the show. Since this show was in Ohio - Crystal’s state, it looked like she had a large number of fans in attendance. In addition, Columbus is not too far away from Crystals family and friends from home, and it appeared that she had a lot of people she is close to at this concert. There were a lot of people there with Crystal Bowersox T-shirts on, but there were not very many signs - in fact, there were very few signs representing any of the idols. This actually helped draw attention to the sign we brought. I began to hope that we would look good, and represent Crystal well, and not end up looking like a weed in the rose garden.
We had really great seats, on the floor, six rows back from the stage. Jenna and I were very happy with these seats, until a really large man sat down in front of us. It never fails, the biggest person at a concert always ends up blocking Jenna’s view. This happened at the Adam Lambert Live Nation concert too. We ended up solving this problem by moving out to the aisle and standing right by our row. However, when the heart throbs came on stage (Tim, Casey, Aaron)- females of all ages jumped out of their seats and ran down the aisle to get as close as they could to the stage. We thought, oh no, here we go again. But the arena’s security was quick to remedy this. The girls were sent back to their seats every time they rushed the stage. However, Jenna and I were allowed to stay in the aisle. Yes! This made our view of the stage awesome! It also made it more comfortable to hold up my sign as it was not blocking anyone’s view that was behind us.
Before I talk about Crystal and my success with the sign, I would like share my opinion about how the other idols stacked up. I have to say that I really enjoyed the entire show and it was amazing how relaxed they all seemed away from the judges table, and singing music that they were most comfortable with. Didi came out first, and she did very well, and gave an enjoyable performance. She is absolutely gorgeous by the way. Andrew had that spark back that he showed early on in the season and the crowd gave him a good reception. Kati was dressed more like a teenager and had some rocker flair to her performance. She sang “Fighter” and I thought it went off really well. Columbus really went for the heart throbs and when Tim and Casey came out the younger girls went crazy. They liked Aaron too and he was well liked by everyone. I have to say that Aaron was really good. He worked the stage with new found composure and sounded tremendous. Siobhan gave a knock out performance - with a dramatic costume and special effects. Big Mike sounded great, but he was too low key in my opinion. His best song was went he cranked it up a bit. Lee was excellent and the crowd went crazy for him. He really loves being on the stage and you could tell he was really soaking up the accolades.
Now about Crystal. If you are a fan of hers from watching her on TV and listening to music downloads - you will fall head over heels, madly in love with her after seeing her live. What a talent - what an amazing entertainer. Her stage presence and her inner and outer beauty literally radiates out from her. Seeing her perform live is absolute bliss and you will never forget the experience. She came out on the stage singing “Come to my Window” and really knocked it out playing the harp. She finished this song and went into a friendly chatter with the audience. She stated that there “were many familiar faces,” and her mood was obviously very happy as she would be spending time with family and close friends from home. She announced that she would be 25 soon, “an old lady” then chuckled at herself. She talked about going home soon and then went into the first lines of “What’s Up?”: “25 years and my life and still
I'm trying to get up that great big hill of hope.” Crystal also sang “Up to the Mountain” and it was different from her singing with her guitar, sitting on a stool. She sang it with only the headset microphone and roamed the stage. I think maybe having friends and family in front of her gave her an extra shot of passion and emotion flowed from her. It was an amazing experience to hear her sing this. She finished with Piece of my Heart” and did it very upbeat - rocking the stage. The audience was jumping up and down, dancing, clapping, singing along and doing fist pumps in the air. She was far the best entertainer on the stage. While the girls screamed and went crazy for Lee, everyone seemed to be moved much more by Crystal’s performance and to enjoy her significantly more. It was after all, Ohio - Crystal’s home town state.
Now, about “the sign.” I had the opportunity to get the sign out early in her performance and moved down the aisle even closer to the stage. Crystal spotted the sign while she was singing and nodded her head and then pointed at the sign. My memory of the exact turn of events is not exact since I was so excited after this happened. So I don’t know if Crystal commented on the sign between the first and second song or between the second and third. But she was chatting with the audience and then gestured to the sign and said “Village Idiots” and then did a good natured chuckle. I am sure that no one knew what in the heck she was talking about, and people all around me were craning their necks to read the sign again. But I was absolutely thrilled and my Granddaughter kept saying “Oh my God” and “Unbelievable.”
It was amazing. Crystal acknowledged the Village Idiots, out loud, on stage, in front of an entire arena of people. “Oh my God, unbelievable!”
The trip to Columbus was two hours and we arrived in Downtown Columbus and landed right in the middle of a traffic mess. It just so happened that the Clippers were playing in the arena next door, so you can imagine the traffic with two events going on side by side. The Nationwide Arena in Columbus is huge and it was gratifying to see the place fill up and to sit among people who were excited to see the show. Since this show was in Ohio - Crystal’s state, it looked like she had a large number of fans in attendance. In addition, Columbus is not too far away from Crystals family and friends from home, and it appeared that she had a lot of people she is close to at this concert. There were a lot of people there with Crystal Bowersox T-shirts on, but there were not very many signs - in fact, there were very few signs representing any of the idols. This actually helped draw attention to the sign we brought. I began to hope that we would look good, and represent Crystal well, and not end up looking like a weed in the rose garden.
We had really great seats, on the floor, six rows back from the stage. Jenna and I were very happy with these seats, until a really large man sat down in front of us. It never fails, the biggest person at a concert always ends up blocking Jenna’s view. This happened at the Adam Lambert Live Nation concert too. We ended up solving this problem by moving out to the aisle and standing right by our row. However, when the heart throbs came on stage (Tim, Casey, Aaron)- females of all ages jumped out of their seats and ran down the aisle to get as close as they could to the stage. We thought, oh no, here we go again. But the arena’s security was quick to remedy this. The girls were sent back to their seats every time they rushed the stage. However, Jenna and I were allowed to stay in the aisle. Yes! This made our view of the stage awesome! It also made it more comfortable to hold up my sign as it was not blocking anyone’s view that was behind us.
Before I talk about Crystal and my success with the sign, I would like share my opinion about how the other idols stacked up. I have to say that I really enjoyed the entire show and it was amazing how relaxed they all seemed away from the judges table, and singing music that they were most comfortable with. Didi came out first, and she did very well, and gave an enjoyable performance. She is absolutely gorgeous by the way. Andrew had that spark back that he showed early on in the season and the crowd gave him a good reception. Kati was dressed more like a teenager and had some rocker flair to her performance. She sang “Fighter” and I thought it went off really well. Columbus really went for the heart throbs and when Tim and Casey came out the younger girls went crazy. They liked Aaron too and he was well liked by everyone. I have to say that Aaron was really good. He worked the stage with new found composure and sounded tremendous. Siobhan gave a knock out performance - with a dramatic costume and special effects. Big Mike sounded great, but he was too low key in my opinion. His best song was went he cranked it up a bit. Lee was excellent and the crowd went crazy for him. He really loves being on the stage and you could tell he was really soaking up the accolades.
Now about Crystal. If you are a fan of hers from watching her on TV and listening to music downloads - you will fall head over heels, madly in love with her after seeing her live. What a talent - what an amazing entertainer. Her stage presence and her inner and outer beauty literally radiates out from her. Seeing her perform live is absolute bliss and you will never forget the experience. She came out on the stage singing “Come to my Window” and really knocked it out playing the harp. She finished this song and went into a friendly chatter with the audience. She stated that there “were many familiar faces,” and her mood was obviously very happy as she would be spending time with family and close friends from home. She announced that she would be 25 soon, “an old lady” then chuckled at herself. She talked about going home soon and then went into the first lines of “What’s Up?”: “25 years and my life and still
I'm trying to get up that great big hill of hope.” Crystal also sang “Up to the Mountain” and it was different from her singing with her guitar, sitting on a stool. She sang it with only the headset microphone and roamed the stage. I think maybe having friends and family in front of her gave her an extra shot of passion and emotion flowed from her. It was an amazing experience to hear her sing this. She finished with Piece of my Heart” and did it very upbeat - rocking the stage. The audience was jumping up and down, dancing, clapping, singing along and doing fist pumps in the air. She was far the best entertainer on the stage. While the girls screamed and went crazy for Lee, everyone seemed to be moved much more by Crystal’s performance and to enjoy her significantly more. It was after all, Ohio - Crystal’s home town state.
Now, about “the sign.” I had the opportunity to get the sign out early in her performance and moved down the aisle even closer to the stage. Crystal spotted the sign while she was singing and nodded her head and then pointed at the sign. My memory of the exact turn of events is not exact since I was so excited after this happened. So I don’t know if Crystal commented on the sign between the first and second song or between the second and third. But she was chatting with the audience and then gestured to the sign and said “Village Idiots” and then did a good natured chuckle. I am sure that no one knew what in the heck she was talking about, and people all around me were craning their necks to read the sign again. But I was absolutely thrilled and my Granddaughter kept saying “Oh my God” and “Unbelievable.”
It was amazing. Crystal acknowledged the Village Idiots, out loud, on stage, in front of an entire arena of people. “Oh my God, unbelievable!”