Clay Aiken Vocals, Humor Shine in Greenville Show

Clay Aiken's vocals impressive in Greenville Tried & True Concert.
Click to expand photo by Brightstar.

One for the Books!

Greenville Concert Thrills Crowd

Clay Aiken's Tried & True tour concert at Greenville's Peace Center Thursday was another evening of unbelievable vocals and unhinged humor as the singer and his backup musicians put on a show that may just be one for the books.

The evening was adeptly summarized by always and forever in two brief sentences: Clay's voice has never been better, and his banter was priceless. He is simply and wonderfully THE BEST!

Like fans, Amy Clarke, reviewer from The Greenville News online, gave Clay & Co. props in her critique: Aiken Gives Classics Their Due.

There are few souls in this wide world who can pull off Joni Mitchell and the Righteous Brothers back-to-back. Clay Aiken proved he was one of them Thursday night at the Peace Center.

Thanks to Aiken’s respectful and yet personal treatment of long-cherished songs, including the finale featuring The Beatles’ "In My Life," no one left the show without humming a new favorite old song. [snip]

As a nod to the fans who have followed his pop career for years, he also offered a slightly odd medley of some of his better-known songs, including "Measure of a Man" and "Invisible," arranged to sound more like the jazzy classics of the rest of the show.

But it was those classics, like Andy Williams’ "Love Story," Johnny Mathis’ "Misty" and the aforementioned "Both Sides Now" and "Unchained Melody" that allowed Aiken to really shine, showing off his range and impressive vocal power, much to the audience’s delight and amazement.

Clay sings signature version of 'Unchained Melody.'
View video by Scarlett full screen at YouTube.

Fans Rewind Fun-Filled Concert

Fan reports make one want to rewind the clock and join them for a replay of the Peace Center concert. Interspersed between the recaps are videos and photos from the Greenville show.

Brightstar: This was the funniest concert I've attended this tour. Clay was so animated and funny and beautiful. Quiana absolutely outdid herself -- sang fabulously and was sooooo funny.

Someone mentioned tonight how quiet and almost shy she used to be, and now she is a wonderful comedic partner for Clay. At times, she even plays the main comedic role and Clay plays the "straight man."

No matter how many times I hear Clay, I still marvel at the beauty, richness, and power of his voice, and the ease with which he goes from power ballad to tender, gentle melodies, from belting to caressing a song with tender nuance. Such talent and skill is rare indeed.

The interaction with Scarlett was hilarious, and the fact that most of us knew her seemed to blow his mind. We are quite the fandom, aren't we?

Clay 'hires' Scarlett, chats with cellcert recipient.
View video full screen at YouTube.

Longtime members of "the cult" will remember the singer's August 2007 encounter with Scarlett's camera during the Soft Rock Hard Place Fort Myers Concert when the singer took his own clack.

Newcomers can review the special SRHP tour moment that has become part of CA fandom lore in a YouTube video and in this blog.

2old4Clay: If you haven't seen the clack of the audience "outing" Scarlett, it is one of those priceless moments in the fandom. Clay called her out, then said, "Maybe we should just hire her to take all the videos." We responded with a resounding "yes!"

Then he asked, "Do you know her?" Again a "yes!" And again after banter with her, he asked us, "What's her name?" We all answered, "Scarlett!" His response was again priceless, as you will see.

His voice was stellar; he looked as if he was enjoying everything he sang and the banter. He and Quiana nailed each one to the max. I am loving Quiana more and more; it's like watching Laurel and Hardy up there!

The expandable photos below are by Brightstar, 1, 3; KarenEh, 2, 4; and Claythleena, 5.

luckiest1: Seeing "Crying" and "Unchained Melody" from the 5th row was amazing. And then no curtain; he just grabbed the stool and started into "Both Sides Now" (which was gorgeous, beautiful change ups).

Then the phone and camera banter which was freaking hysterical! I hope Scarlett isn't too mad at everyone for outing her to him. LOL, it was quite the thing.

And poor Lisa on the phone didn't know she was being broadcast to the whole theatre.

Clay & Co. perform 'Whose Sorry Now' Celtic style.
View video by Scarlett full screen at YouTube.

"Who's Sorry Now" was performed in four audience-suggested genres -- blues, Sousa march, "funkadelic," and the Celtic shown above. The auto-tune segment featured Clay "singing" Justin Bieber's "Baby."

terter4aiken: What a great show in Greenville! Clay was a riot with his lucky charms and singing Justin Bieber's "Baby"!

There were quite a few people waiting at the bus and we were rewarded very handsomely for our good behavior and patience.

He came out in jeans and the white Rutgers hoodie with his hair all tousled. He gave us all a quick "thanks for coming out guys" and a nice warm handshake.

Sceen cap of Quiana Parler links to the 'Crying' duet with Clay.

There are many excellent videos from the Greenville T&T Concert at YouTube. You can view Scarlett's clips at the Wowzers4Clay Channel.

This weekend's Tried & True tour concerts are slated for Westbury, NY, 8 pm Saturday, NYCB Theatre at Westbury, and Glenside, PA, 7:30 pm Sunday, Keswick Theatre.

Have a wonderful weekend! See you after Westbury!

Caro

Carolinas Greet Clay Aiken for Tried & True Concerts

Clay Aiken performs for a "hometown" crowd in Charlotte.

Family, Friends, Fans

Charlotte Welcomes Clay Home

The welcome mat was out in style Wednesday night as North Carolina embraced Clay Aiken and the Tried & True troupe for a hometown performance in Charlotte's Blumenthal Center. In the audience were fans, family members, and longtime friends of the singer.

A 2003 graduate of UNC-Charlotte, Clay made his home there during his college years; but the city is also where he first auditioned for American Idol. He was initially beaten by his backup singer Quiana Parler and had to try again in Atlanta.

Among those in the audience were his mother, grandmother, and Diane Bubel with whom he co-founded the National Inclusion Project in 2003.

Clack, Cellcerts Concert Shtick

Even though cellcerts and clack have become an intricate part of Clay's concert shtick, ushers did not receive the memo and there was an unbelievable clampdown on photographers and videographers.

Scarlett, who has videoed much of the tour and has become part of the nightly banter, only came away with parts of the Charlotte event.

In her recap, luckiest 1, described the final number which, thanks to Scarlett, fans can replay via video clack.

Crying and Unchained Melody were magnificent tonight. Spot on, gorgeous notes he hit. He joked around a bit when he came back for the encore, even while the band kept playing the intro to "Both Sides Now." Then all went silent during the song, which he seems to feel more and more each time he sings it. He remarked that they are his favorite lyrics.

He talked about clack before "In My Life." He talked a lot about Charlotte and AI and tonight.

Before "In My Life" -- after he had told us how much he loves and appreciates us -- he plugged Greenville quite a few times and said that if you aren't in Greenville tomorrow night, you are out of the will.

Here are Scarlett's videos of "In My Life," beginning with the banter that precedes the song. Check the Wowzers4Clay YouTube Channel for new postings. Download audio/video files here.

Pre 'In My Life' banter during Charlotte T&T Show.
Video by Scarlett can be viewed full screen at YouTube.

Clay sings 'In My Life' to close Charlotte Concert.
View video by Scarlett full screen at YouTube.

Brightstar: Back from the concert. GAH, I just love this tour! He gets more and more beautiful and so do the songs.

It was the first time I heard "Both Sides Now" on tour, and it was incredibly beautiful. Gentle, tender, poignant, lovely. He was funny, gorgeous, and oh so entertaining. I think he's loving this tour, too.

ncgran4clay: The concert last night was awesome. He is just so in his element on that stage. His voice was out of this world good, and his humor kept us in stitches.

I took a good friend who is a casual fan, and she loved the show. Raved in the car all the way home. One thing my friend said I loved was, "He reminds me of Johnny Carson; he can turn anything into humor."

This show is just soooo good. The mix up of songs, everything. The man surely knows how to plan a tour to keep the show fresh and fun.

It was my last show of the tour, but oh what fun it has been!

Below are three screen caps from Scarlett's videos, including Clay's imitation of fans "typing every word I say on the Internet," and a photo of the marquee at the Belk Theatre by chel4clay.

Chel4Clay summed up the whole evening in a post on Facebook: Clay was -- no words to describe -- the best ever live!

Tonight it's on to Greenville, SC, for a 7:30 pm concert in The Peace Center. Other weekend performances include Westbury, NY, 8 pm Saturday, NYCB Theatre at Westbury, and Glenside, PA, 7:30 pm Sunday, Keswick Theatre.

Have an awesome weekend, Clay Nation!

Caro