I touched Clay! And he touched my heart

Hello everyone,

How fitting is it that this post - my first after I finally passed the 100-post mark - is the one right after my second-ever Clay concert, and the first time where I actually touched him!!

The concert

Where to start? I was hundreds of miles away from my home (no Canadian stops on this summer tour), out in the U.S. countryside and the day was a brilliant blue and sunny, warm and fragrant. Early in the day, I went for a long walk through the town, down by the lake, through the woods, enjoying the moment and looking forward to the evening, when I would see Clay for only my second time ever. After a shower and a rest, I took off to walk to the outdoor venue, down a lane through the woods. On my way there, I met other Clay fans going to the concert, early as I was. Clay fans are one of the groups of people where I feel right at home, surrounded by decent, trustworthy people, even though I don't know them. I don't mean I would blindly trust people I don't know, but it seems to me that anyone who loves Clay has to be - to my mind - a person who not only appreciates his voice but also his values: respect for all people, inclusion of marginalized people in all aspects of life, love of God and of life itself, love for children and animals, social commitment, the importance of giving back to one's community and trying to make this world a better place.

We arrived at the gates just before opening time, at 6:30 p.m. People were already lined up to get onto the grounds - as usual, mostly women, and although there were people of all ages, they seemed largely to be of the 30s - 50s age range. The gates finally opened, and we streamed onto the grounds, visiting the kiosks, filling out the forms to win a first-row seat (I didn't win), buying food and drink, and Clay tour memorabilia. I didn't even have supper that day, it was so hot and I'm not very hungry when it's hot. Also, I was just so excited to see Clay again that that took precedence over everything, including hunger. :-)

I looked for a few fellow Official Fan Club members who were sitting elsewhere, but every time I checked, they weren't in their seats, so we never met up, unfortunately. I chatted a bit with different fans, who were very nice, all from the U.S. - I don't know if there were other Canadians at the concert. And three excited young girls who were there mostly... for Clay's pianist, Jesse Vargas, rather than Clay himself! I kidded them about that.

The venue was not sold out, which was too bad, but I imagine a Wednesday night concert for a stage out in the countryside, must be harder to fill than an urban venue. In any case, what we lacked in numbers, we made up for in energy and enthusiasm, throughout the evening.

Right on time, the orchestra came onstage and began to tune up, followed by Jesse Vargas, Sean McDaniel (Clay's new drummer) and soon after, by fellow/backup singers Quiana Parler and Angela Fisher. And then... The Voice sounded offstage, we did not know where. Everyone began looking all around, down the aisles, off to the side of the stage, the back of the venue... Was he going to come down an aisle? Mingle with the crowd? Excitement was thick in the air, and finally, Clay came out onstage and the crowd went wild!

Clay did pretty much the same songs that we had heard were sung at the other concerts on this tour: many songs from A Thousand Different Ways, a TV-show music medley, a couple of The Measure of A Man classics, and another medley which was a spoof on contemporary pop music hits. I won't repeat the set list, since you can find it on all the major Clay sites - check out especially Clay's Daily Double for all the most up-to-date information - but I would like to share some of my thoughts and feelings as the 2-hour concert flew by.

The last medley actually pleasantly surprised me. I had been expecting to like it, since I love anything Clay does, he always adds that special Clay-twist - but the songs that I had heard were part of that medley, I don't really care for much. So I figured that it would be ok, but not great. Well, I was proven wrong! It was one of the most fun parts of the show. Clay had everyone up out of our seats, clapping, grooving, laughing and thoroughly enjoying his medley. I could tell it was a bit of a spoof on the hit songs, not exactly a tribute to them, especially since Clay had begun by saying that he feels that most contemporary pop music one hears on the radio is "crap" - and yes, I quote him there!

Some of the best moments were, of course, for those of us who know Clay, his banter with the audience and his fellow singers and musicians. At one point he said that he watches too much TV, and he said it is making him fat. A few people in the crowd wooped and shrieked, and Clay said: "What, you're happy that I'm fat??". The bugs on the stage were something else, for some funny reason, and Clay was having a difficult time with them - he seemed to swallow one, and gagged in his mike and laughed with us about it. He batted and swatted them, and Angela and Quiana began taking hits at Clay's back, to get the bugs off him. Someone brought out a can of bug spray, and Clay just ran with it, spraying everyone, including himself, and the surrounding air. It was hilarious!

Clay also shared a stressful-funny moment that afternoon, when they discovered, at rehearsal time with the orchestra, that they had forgotten their sheet music back in Detroit, Michigan! Along with their comfy padded stools for sitting on stage. They were apparently madly faxing and e-mailing the scanned sheet music from Michigan so that the orchestra could play the concert that very day, and began rehearsing only around 4:30... must have been a madhouse! And as for the stools, Clay, Angela and Quiana had basic wooden stools to perch on onstage, undoubtedly not nearly as comfy as their regular cushioned, back-rimmed stools. So Clay began complaining that his butt hurt and he missed their own stools, which were being delivered to them as he spoke, from Michigan. On the grounds before the concert, a local business had given out blue sacks which could be inflated into seat cushions, so some people from the front-row of the audience handed a couple of the sack-cushions to Clay to sit on. After thanking the concertgoers, he tried inflating them by blowing them up and joking that he hoped no one had put their butt where his mouth was! And then what did he do? He handed the cushions first to Quiana and Angela - such a gentleman, so thoughtful! I love Clay for those small gestures. As it turns out, I ended up chatting last night in the fan club chat room, with the woman who had given Clay her sack-cushion at my concert! Small world...

A surprising thing for me was that Clay was really sweating on stage in the midsummer heat and the bright stage lights - one could see the sweat running down his cheeks, his face was glistening and the hair right around his face was stuck to his skin. Clay is always so clean and dry - I have rarely seen him sweat - so that was actually quite funny and sexy to see him all sweaty! I surprised myself feeling that way, since I usually don't like the sweaty look on guys. But Clay looked hawt (no pun intended)!

The concert went by in what seemed like the blink of an eye... but I am so happy I went. It was great to see Clay live again. The man could truly sing the phone book and get us all excited about it - what a great time the evening was! He is a true entertainer, with the most beautiful voice I can ever remember hearing - I'm not kidding! - and such charm and wit.

Before going to the concert I had already decided that I would do whatever I had to to shake Clay's hand. The first concert, I didn't know that Clay greeted his fans after concerts, so I had just left. I had also heard that it was almost impossible at the particular venue I went to this time, since we could not get close to his bus due to a fence all around, but I figured I would ask around and follow the crowd after the concert, and hope...

The handshake

When I got out of the theatre, I saw people gathering in a certain area near the fence, and quickly joined them. Soon, there was a real crush of people - certainly hundreds of the concertgoers stayed! I just saw on a fan recap that venue security estimated the waiting crowd at over 500, perhaps as high as 800 - they had never seen anything like it, nor had they seen an artist who took the time to greet fans in that way.

We were all very excited and lively, chatting and hoping we would get a greet from Our Man. At first we weren't sure it was going to happen, but Jerome (Clay's personal bodyguard during concerts) peeked over the fence and told us, smiling, that yes, Clay would be out to greet us, but we had to be in a line. It took us quite a while to get organized in single-file, which Clay wanted, to be sure he could greet every person waiting there for him - what a sweetie! All in all, we waited about an hour. But the hour went by fast, as we talked about the concert, Clay, sharing our excitement. I was next to a young girl, B., who hadn't intended to be there in the line, but had gotten swept away from her Mom by the crowd - and she no longer knew where her Mom was. She was a delightful young lady with a radiant smile and we talked about all things Clay, how he would be a natural on Broadway, lots of things. After the greet with Clay, I walked with her until she found her Mom again, at the very other end of the handshaking line. I wanted to make sure she was ok and back with her Mom. I know that's what Clay would have done!

Some funny things happened while waiting. We overheard one of the venue security people saying to another: "I actually voted for Ruben [Studdard - winnner of American Idol the year Clay was on, year 2]" - a few of us told him he had better keep that down, he was among Claymates! We kidded him about that. We began a "wave" at our end of the line, but it kept dying down at the middle point of the line. And the Jesse Vargas fans chatted with Jerome, giving him presents - for him, for Sean, and of course, for Jesse.

Now I admit it - I'm a true, diehard fan, have been since "Take..." in January of 2003. Clay's the best, and so even just the possibility of a brief handshake/hand graze meant so much to me. All these years of admiring the young man, loving his talent, his charm, his sense of humour, his charisma, his sensitivity, his social commitment ... Standing there, I could hardly believe that I was to see Clay pass by right in front of me, touch his hand. I knew it would only be a graze as he went down the huge line.

When I finally felt his skin and saw him up close, it was wonderful, though a big blur too. As he touched my hand, I sort of lightly grabbed his hand and held it, saying: "Thank you, Clay!". Then I let go. I realized he's really here, a real man living his life in this world full of love, challenges, pain and beauty. I was glad to be there, and especially, glad that such a person as Clay is in this world... He is a ray of sunshine in a world which is too often, a source of exclusion, injustice, sadness and pain. I choose to build my life around rays of sunshine, light and love - and Clay is certainly part of that in my life.

For all of you going to a Clay concert soon, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! If you have never been and are wondering whether it is worth it - IT IS! Go, enjoy, live life to the fullest - open your heart to Clay and his voice. And like he says: use your voice for good in this world.

-- ClayKat

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