"and their land is filled with idols"
it was an out-of-culture experience. we were two of 20,000 people...that's a conservative number. two adults (we sure felt like adults all of a sudden) in a mad sea of tweens and their mothers. we climbed into the stratoshpere and found our purposely-chosen aisle seats. it was already loud, and there were only a mere 1,000 people inside. we came prepared: joe brought Living the Sabbath and i brought Mary Poppins. we read as the masses outside emptied their wallets for t-shirts and 8 by 10 glossy photos and nachos.
then, pop tart man came out. literally. there was a loud emcee, and a guy in a pop tart suit. we're sorry now we didn't get a picture. he was friendly and fun, jumping around and waiving at all the tweens who eat him every morning as part of a complete breakfast. this whole concert series, from californai to florida, was sponsered by him, after all. the emcee charged the congregation to scream as loud as they could, as often as they could, and together they made a difference...it got louder. and he made them practice their screams, just to be sure they were ready.
then, darkness. then, a rumbling so great and terrible it shook the bones. the beat of the drum was mistaken for the beat of the heart. and then, lights shot and shimmered over a dark stage and uncontrollable anticipation was created. and the congregation screamed. well done.
chikezie sings three songs. the congregation screams. rameile and michael johns and carly smithson and kristy lee cook and brooke white. screams, screams, and more screams. the congregation peforms just as well. but these are yet just adolescent noises...the mature noise was waiting with bated breath.
after an intermission of "guitar hero" for everyone, the congregation settled into their seats, the room got heavier, the lights got flickerier, and the rumblings came back more ominous than before. everyone was tickled pink. but first, they had to get through jason castro and syesha.
then it was down to the davids. and the roof almost collapsed. the davids sang their heart out, but so did the congregation. this was their shining moment: they must scream like they've never scrummed before. it doesn't matter if you can't hear david singing anymore, that's not the point! no excuses now. do your duty.
the concert summed itself up in a heart-felt song about believing, and then the encore protocol began. we're sure that the davids sang a few smoky ballads and the congregation made its last effort of cultural obedience. but we don't know for sure, because we were already making the exodus to the car, with the other 1,000 people who thought it might be wise to beat masses. it was a wholly uplifting evening.
you'll see which idols we like best from the pictures. i wanted to get a shot of syesha, but she was so ill-clad that i couldn't, in my conscience, take a picture of her and let my husband look at it (not to mention all of you!). i will say that, aside from ramiele, they all could sing! i mean, we did manage to hear their high notes and belting voices, and some of them (mostly the ones we captured on digifilm) were awesome.
little david
the idol
his guitar
then, pop tart man came out. literally. there was a loud emcee, and a guy in a pop tart suit. we're sorry now we didn't get a picture. he was friendly and fun, jumping around and waiving at all the tweens who eat him every morning as part of a complete breakfast. this whole concert series, from californai to florida, was sponsered by him, after all. the emcee charged the congregation to scream as loud as they could, as often as they could, and together they made a difference...it got louder. and he made them practice their screams, just to be sure they were ready.
then, darkness. then, a rumbling so great and terrible it shook the bones. the beat of the drum was mistaken for the beat of the heart. and then, lights shot and shimmered over a dark stage and uncontrollable anticipation was created. and the congregation screamed. well done.
chikezie sings three songs. the congregation screams. rameile and michael johns and carly smithson and kristy lee cook and brooke white. screams, screams, and more screams. the congregation peforms just as well. but these are yet just adolescent noises...the mature noise was waiting with bated breath.
after an intermission of "guitar hero" for everyone, the congregation settled into their seats, the room got heavier, the lights got flickerier, and the rumblings came back more ominous than before. everyone was tickled pink. but first, they had to get through jason castro and syesha.
then it was down to the davids. and the roof almost collapsed. the davids sang their heart out, but so did the congregation. this was their shining moment: they must scream like they've never scrummed before. it doesn't matter if you can't hear david singing anymore, that's not the point! no excuses now. do your duty.
the concert summed itself up in a heart-felt song about believing, and then the encore protocol began. we're sure that the davids sang a few smoky ballads and the congregation made its last effort of cultural obedience. but we don't know for sure, because we were already making the exodus to the car, with the other 1,000 people who thought it might be wise to beat masses. it was a wholly uplifting evening.
you'll see which idols we like best from the pictures. i wanted to get a shot of syesha, but she was so ill-clad that i couldn't, in my conscience, take a picture of her and let my husband look at it (not to mention all of you!). i will say that, aside from ramiele, they all could sing! i mean, we did manage to hear their high notes and belting voices, and some of them (mostly the ones we captured on digifilm) were awesome.
little david
the idol
his guitarwe do have video too. maybe i should post them on uTube with the 10,000 videos that were taken that night.
posted by jen at
7:03 PM
5 Comments:
ok, so it really surprises me that you guys went to an american idol concert. i don't know why??? oh maybe because you go to mendelssohn's elijah, listen to music with titles that I can't even pronounce, and read classic literature with more words I can't pronounce. ;) are you really that big of a fan???
wow...
great recap.
you guys are funny....
you don't watch "so you think you can dance," do you? that's a good fun entertaining show.
kat -
yah, we thought someone might point that out eventually (sheepish grin). but, yes, we did really like the actual talent of 9 of the 10 finalists and thought it would be fun to hear them in person. and it was. ;) and, we seriously considered returning next week for coldplay. but, as we drove home, we collectively decided that we like the stuffiness of classical concerts better than the cultural "norm". let them eat pop tarts! give us bach and chesterton and itunes. ;)
kevin -
we have felt some degree of pride for not falling headlong into further idolatry. ;) but, what we have seen has been reason enough to laugh...and occasionally there's someone who can actually dance.
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