AMERICAN IDOL CONCERT @ TULSA, Oklahoma

To whom it may interest:

We walked from hotel to BOK Center, arrived around 6:20pm and went straight to our seats. We were on the floor area - 2nd section around 17 rows back, so not ideal for photos, but the husband did get a few shots. He intends putting them in a slideshow, which I'll pass on when we get home, as we forgot the cable for uploding. DUH!

When we got back to the hotel, at around 10.25pm, we could hear the music (loud even at 15 floors up) from a music festival down the street which is slated to go on until 2am - so I may as well navigate the awkward laptop keyboard and report back on the show.

By 7pm the BOK arena was filled almost to capacity, apart from a few small gaps at the farthest reaches of the auditorium. Age groups spanned from 18 months (twins seated near us with parents holding them) to around 80 years old (not us!))

I reckon that Tulsa did good. We gave every act a rousing welcome, many screams and a good level of applause and cheers, all richly deserved. The floor section remained standing for a large part of the show.

We had seen no evidence of the WBC protests on our way in, by the way. Either they had simply been blowing smoke or they'd been warned off. Thank goodness!

I think this was probably the first venue of the tour where Kris's fans either equalled or outnumbered Adam's. There was a higher level of screams when Adam's photo appeared on the monitors, before the show began, but at the end of their respecive sets, I'd say they were received equally rapturously, or if pushed, I'd have to say that Kris did a wee bit better, reception-wise.

I won't go through the acts one by one - my typing on the laptop is dicey at best! Just a few general comments then.

The husband thought Lil and Allison were outstanding, as well as Adam and Kris. It's almost a given at this stage that Adam is going to be a big star, and our expectations were high. He didn't let us down. Only complaint - his set seemed a bit rushed- and certainly went by too quickly.

Scott sounded much stronger in the arena than on TV. I enjoyed Michael and Danny too. These two have received a lot of flack from on-line commenters, I feel it was undeserved. I suspect these two are probably two of the nicest guys of the 10 (along with Adam and Kris, of course).

Adam sported a new haircut tonight - the emo style we know, plus a kind of cockscomb (wink), the husband called it a cowlick, at the back. He stroked the mic stand rather than humping it, as has been reported from earlier concerts. Pehaps he suspects that Oklahoma's sensitivities are somewhat moe delicate than those of audiences elsewhere. Hmmmm!

I do wish that I'd been familiar with more of the songs the Idols sang tonight. This is showing my age, I guess. I knew only Anoop's (very well sung) "Always on my mind"; Matt's "Georgia on my mind"; most of the songs in the closing medley of part one of the show (I'd have liked more of that!) I did know all of Adam's songs, from following him via YouTube; and "Hey Jude" and "Ain't No Sushine" from Kris's set. The newer numbers seemed pretty tuneless to me, and hard to hear the lyrics due to an echo-y element in the arena (at least from where we were seated).

I'd pay to see any one of these singers solo, performing in a smaller venue, but probably only Adam again, in an arena setting. I'd really love to see Adam on Broadway too, one day. That's probably the only thing which might persuade me to go to New York!

I did enjoy the visuals and effects behind the singers. Especially during Adam's set - very astronomical/astrological depictions of the Milky Way and Mars to compliment: Muse's Starlight" and Bowie's "Life on Mars" :-)

I apologise for the quality of this writing and typing. The husband considers it the equivalent of "Gone With the Mind". I confess that I have had assistance from at least 2 x Scotch and Dry Ginger.