North Texas has been Taylorized!

Well folks, I have finally seen Taylor Hicks in concert.

I know, I know. It's sad that the Administrator of the largest Taylor Hicks non-official fansite could have gone this long without seeing our gray-haired guy in concert. But it's not my fault. I've been busy these last 15 months. Someone has had to be online to keep all you crazy Soul Patrollers in line.

Besides, Steff has been cracking her whip again, making me work my fingers to the bone for her. She even goes all Matrix on me everytime I ask for a bathroom break.

Although the concert wasn't until 8 PM, I arrived at the House of Blues at 3:30 PM to meet up with Jonelle (judyjs) and some of her friends for dinner. As it turned out, Jonelle had gotten there even earlier (I think someone told me she had arrived about 2 PM). So dinner started out being between Jonelle's friend, Lynn, and myself. (We had someone take a picture of us - shown to the left - but I guess they just didn't focus correctly. Oops.)

I have to say this about the House of Blues restaurant menu before I go on: the menu comes across as being extremely pretentious, almost like the food is too good for us. Unfortunately, the food wasn't nearly as good as the menu tried to make it seem. Except for dessert. That was absolutely amazing. I'll happily have another piece of their Tripler-layer Chocolate Cake anytime, though next time I'm there I think I want to try their Chocolate Mouse Cheesecake. Yum.

During dinner, Jonelle (judyjs) finally came out from the pre-general admission line she was standing in to say hello. (The picture on the right is a picture of us..... don't know why the person taking it took a picture of our knees). Jonelle was extremely exited about the meet and greet she had received, but was even more exited about a gift she was getting to present to Taylor immediately following the meet and greet.

For those of you who have read Taylor's book, Heart Full of Soul, then you know that on page 159, the last paragraph on the page talks about how Taylor hoped that someday Southwest Airlines would print a copy of the voucher he had used to go to Las Vegas (which led to him trying out for American Idol, which led to him winning, etc.). Well, that someday was Friday.

Jonelle had made arrangments for Southwest to print out a copy of the ticket. Southwest then framed it, along with the quote from the book and a handwritten note from the CEO of Southwest. She, along with some people from Southwest, gave Taylor the gift in a private event. According to Jonelle, it took Taylor a couple of minutes to realize what it was. But once he realized it was a copy of his ticket, Jonelle said he was extremely happy and touched. This gift was partly made possible by everyone over at Taylor's Angels, and pictures and possibly a blog entry about it should be posted soon over on their blog.

During dinner I also got a chance to meet Carolyn (Tendinbars Hicks Chick), who came with Jonelle early in order to stand in line all afternoon to ensure a good General Admission spot to stand for the concert. (The picture to the left is a picture of us, though for some reason we were looking the wrong way.)

Listening to the three of them talk was a blast, especially the funny stuff they let slip as they got all worked up about Taylor. I could literally write a book and reveal all kinds of things I learned about the three of them that night, but I will be a gentleman and not embarass them by posting it. Though remind me someday to tell you Jonelle's reason for refusing to have any water after 5:00 PM. It's soo funny you'll pee your pants.

I haven't mentioned it yet, but I need to thank Taylor's Angels for the concert tickets and for making the arrangements with House of Blues for me to have ADA seating because of my back pain. Although Taylor's Angels had bought me two tickets, I thought I was going to have to sit by myself during the concert because none of my friends know what American Idol is, much less who Taylor Hicks is.

Thankfully, though, I did end up finding a seat mate. Susan (TxTayFan) arrived during dinner and, because prior to last night she was the only TOSPer who knew what I looked like, came over to say hello during dinner. (To the left is a picture of us..... unfortunately, the flash on the camera was so bright we had to cover our faces to keep from being blinded.) She had planned to just stand in the General Admission line outside, but it started raining, it was hot, and Susan was just plain tired because she was 10 weeks pregnant (congratulations Susan!). I offered her my extra ADA seat, which she eventually accepted.

By 6:00 PM we had all gone our seperate ways. Jonelle and Carolyn had gone off to their meet and greet, Lynn was standing in the after-dinner line for the venue, and Susan and I retreated to another room where we could sit until the doors opened at 7:00 PM. It was there that Susan and I met Kim (gigitmid) and her cousin Jamie. (The picture to the left is of Kim, Jamie, and I; unfortunately, a couch jumped in the way just as Susan took the picture.)

The four of us chatted about a variety of things for the next hour. Jonelle had come into the room for some of that time to show us the picture that Taylor had autographed for her along with some pictures that had been taken during the Southwest Airlines presentation.

Finally, it was 7:00 PM. Time for us to take our seats and wait for the concert to start. Of course, after having been at the House of Blues for three-and-a-half hours already, what's another one-and-a-half hours?

I did get to meet another TOSPer during this time. Cathy (Southernfriedsoul) and her husband were also sitting in the ADA section. (The picture to the left is of Cathy and I; unfortunately, Cathy's husband forgot to turn the flash on, and there just wasn't enough light elsewhere.)

I also got to briefly say hello to smk1379, but because of where she was sitting I was unable to talk to her for any period of time or even to get a picture of her. Of course, the way the rest of the pictures came out, that's probably a good thing.

Finally it was show time. The lights went down and the crowd went wild. There was movement on stage and the crowd went even more wild. The lights came back up to reveal the band and the crowd got even wilder. The music started and the crowd neared hysteria. Then Taylor came out on stage and my eardrums left my body in protest.

But that was the only part of me that left. I was seeing Taylor in concert for the first time and I wasn't about to miss a minute of it.

I've seen many of the video snippits many of you have taken at other Taylor concerts. And while I may not know the name of the songs or montage melodies he sings, I do know good music when I hear it. And Friday night I was hearing great music.

Scratch that. On Friday night I was seeing a great concert.

Taylor was very much on fire Friday night. You could tell that he was feeling every beat up there on stage and was loving it. The entire song line-up was contained only high-energy songs, each one whipping the crowd into more of a frenzy than the last one. He even turned Just To Feel That Way into a high-energy, crowd-whipping frenzy song. He knew what the crowd wanted to hear and he delivered.

And then, suddenly, he was thanking the crowd and walking off the stage. I couldn't believe it. I looked down at my watch for the first time since the concert started and noticed that he had been on stage for a little over an hour already. But how was that possible? Surely only 15, maybe 20 minutes had passed by. But sure enough, over an hour of toe-tapping, body moving great music had already been doled out.

But, of course, in this day and age no concert crowd allows you to leave just like that. So everyone who had been sitting (the balcony is all seats) got on their feet, yours truly, to clap and shout our demand for more. Sure enough, the band comes back out on stage, starts up the music, and Taylor returns for more.

And then, suddenly, he was thanking the crowd and walking off the stage for the last time. A quick look at my watch revealed that another 20+ minutes of Taylor singing had passed by in a matter of seconds.

As the crowd slowly, and might I add grudgingly, dispersed, all I could think of was why had I not gone to see this guy in concert before now? I heard several people mention in passing how they had never seen Taylor in such a good mood before. They were amazed at how he and the music were one that night. He didn't miss a single beat on stage, and the crowd knew it. Even Jonelle and Susan commented afterwards that this was the best they had ever seen Taylor.

So maybe I won't let myself be down for not seeing Taylor in concert before now. After all, I got to see Taylor give his best performance of the entire tour. Taylor had Taylorized North Texas, and I was there for it.

I'm not as good of a concert story-teller as my co-blogger Mandy, so hopefully I've done a decent job of giving you a recap of the night and sharing with you just how good the concert was.

I want to thank Taylor's Angels (again) for the tickets, Jonelle (judyjs), Lynn, Carolyn (Tendinbars Hicks Chick), Susan (TxTayFan), Kim (gigitmd), Jamie, Cathy (Southernfriedsoul), and smk1379 for helping me to pass the time before the concert. Hopefully some day we will all be able to do this again.

Oh, and sorry about the pictures. Next time I'll try to make sure that the people taking the pictures of me do a better job.


Please leave a comment behind and let me know your thoughts, especially if you were at the concert on Friday night.


Tags: Taylor Hicks, American Idol, Birmingham, Alabama




# posted by Alan @ 3:47 PM                                        Post a Comment