My 48 Hour Glamathon, Part II
It’s taken me longer than anticipated to finish this recap, in large part due to the inevitable crash and onset of ennui that follows the elation of attending a Glam Nation concert (my last of the summer unless something miraculous happens *sob*). I was also distracted by a new obsession (Millennium Trilogy, FTW!), which I hope to blog about this week, before I leave for a trip abroad (hence the travel-oriented current layout). So without further ado…
Common Ground Music Festival, Lansing, Michigan (July 13, 2010)
I slept in a bit on Tuesday, still in the process of recovering from Chesaning. I had draped my soaking wet denim skirt over the side of the bathtub when I got home, and discovered that it was still very damp when I got up. I went to start my car and found that my battery was dead, so that took about an hour (which I didn't have to spare) to remove the old one, go buy a new one, and then install it. Once I finished with that, I seriously had to get down to the business of getting ready, even though I had been hoping to work some more on my Chesaning recap before my next show. I got glammed up, wearing a short denim skirt, the lipstick gun tank top I bought at Chesaning, and my super-shiny spiky bracelent, which looks like a prop from the FYE video. My feet were already sore from the night before and I was torn about what I could wear on them that would be comfortable (besides sneakers, which I don’t even own a decent pair of). I wound up reluctantly choosing the evil platform wedges from Royal Oak. (I figured at least I would not have to wear them for hours of waiting in line before the show, so maybe they would work out better this time…) I left to meet my friend, planning my route so that I could stop on the way to get a shot of the Adam/Common Ground billboard that was tweeted a few days prior (I wanted to get my own shot of it before it was taken down). It was such a fun little pit stop and got me even more stoked for the show, although I probably looked like a loon to the people in the pet store parking lot that I snapped the pictures from.
Adam beckons Lansing residents to the Common Ground Music Festival…Who can resist that smoldering gaze?
I met my friend and we had dinner, catching up a bit on real life and discussing Adam and American Idol. She said that she had gone online the other day to look for clips of him and the first one she found was of him singing "Crazy" in "weird clothes". It took me a second to process and then I gasped, "Oh my gawd, the Art4Life one?" When she nodded and smiled "Yeah!" in recognition, I doubled over laughing. Of all the clips out there, that was the first one to come up in her search! It also cracked me up that she didn't have anything to say about the dancing in that number, but she was quite bothered by the neckline of his outfit.
After dinner, we departed for downtown. Neither of us had been to Common Ground before, so I was grateful to the Lansing State Journal for printing a very handy two-page spread in the Sunday paper with a guide to parking. The process was much easier than I expected. We parked in a ramp (coincidentally, the one right next door to the hotel the tour company was probably staying at) and I tried to weed out the things I no longer needed in my purse. I came across a tube of body glitter and asked my friend if she wanted some, adding that Adam is very sparkly. She gasped, “Is he a vampire?!?” in mock horror (we had been talking about Twilight: Eclipse on the drive over), but declined my offer. We walked the few blocks to the gate entrance. Downwind from the park, we could smell the grease of funnel cakes and both swore we could feel ourselves getting fat from the aroma alone. As we approached the gates, I started telling my friend about Adam’s band, at one point mentioning the AMAs. She asked innocently, “What are the AMAs?” having never before heard about Adam’s performance or the subsequent media ban. It was one of those moments that reminded me just how far Adam is off of some people’s radars, although when it comes to the AMAs maybe that is just as well.
We made our way inside, and were both surprised by all the vendors and booths they have around the outside edge of the grounds - everything from purses to used CDs to windows for sale. For the majority of festival-goers, the event is a bring-your-own-seat affair. However, I had decided to pay a bit extra for reserved seating so that we didn't have to haul chairs around (suspecting that we might wind up hanging out in the standing room area anyway). We made our way to the seats, which were folding chairs set up quite a distance from the stage; we were in one of the last rows of reserved seating. (I bought the tickets late because I knew they wouldn’t sell out and it took me a while to decide how many and what kind to buy.) I could see that a considerable crowd was already accumulating up by the stage and suggested we might want to head up there at some point, since there appeared to still be good spots available. But it was still an hour before Allison was set to start, so we sat down for a few minutes and chatted before heading up. My friend asked me why I was so taken with Adam, and I found that I couldn’t come up with an articulate answer. She already figured that the voice and the prettiness were factors, so I tried to talk about his attitude, except I could not quite explain effectively. This really bothered me. I think she was rather surprised by the extent of my obsession, but we grew up together and she said I was always like that about things when we were younger. I conceded: I have an addictive personality and I tend to immerse myself in my latest fixation.
Common Ground attendees set up for a night of fun (taken around 6:30 - about an hour before Allison’s set)
When we headed up to join the crowd in front of the stage, it was already about ten people deep and very lively. I would say it was composed at least 90-95% of people under 35, which I guess is not too surprising for standing room. I was surprised, however, to see a man in his fifties in the second or third row back and quite a few guys sprinkled in amongst the girls. One down side was that people were standing in the crowd and then trying to get their friends to meet up with them. I decided to be the bitch who was like "Um, no" and stand my ground when people tried to shove their way through (past those who were already there) in order to get to the front. At one point, someone behind me who had tried to push her way up and been blocked tapped my shoulder and said "Ma'am" to get my attention. (Note: This is a horrible thing to call me if you are going to follow up by asking a favor.) When I turned around, she pointed out that there were two kids behind my friend (she’s 5’9” or 5'10") who could not see, and asked that we let the kids go in front of us. I pointed out that the kids were still shorter than the people standing in front of us, so it wasn't going to help much and turned back around (feeling like a heartless bitch, and yet not caring all that much). Then they appealed to my friend, who was not thrilled about it but let the kids through (a boy and a girl of about 9 or 10). The thing was, the kids did not look like they were all that into the whole thing anyway (the boy looked downright miserable and worried about being separated from his parents), and I felt bad that their parents dragged them up there and then didn't even want to stand with them. They were still too short to see very well, as I had predicted.
It was fun to see the concert through my friend's eyes and hear what worked for her and what didn't. She was very excited to hear that Allison would be performing as well, because she had not realized Alli would be there and her husband really enjoyed her on AI. She had brought a camera and a video recorder along for the show, and I warned her that Alli can be tough to capture in stills because her hair is perpetually hanging in her face or being swung around. After the set, my friend said she could see what I meant. She enjoyed the set and said that Allison's performance was very "energetic", but I think she found her mannerisms a little redundant. The crowd response to Allison's set was very strong - there was not much singing along (I imagine most of the songs were unfamiliar to them, although many sang loudly for “Heartbreaker”). There was plenty of clapping, cheering, and hand waving. You could tell she was loving the energy, which was a far cry from the response to her opening set the night before.
Allison in two modes (a: Hair in Eyes, b: Hair Swinging Around), Orianthi in default mode (Shredding with Eyes Closed)
Orianthi came out and did her thing. People in the audience seemed surprised to hear her accent and realize she is Australian. During one of the songs, she came down from the stage and jammed in the space between the stage and the crowd barrier. The crowd appeared to be very familiar with all the singles, both past and current, for both Orianthi and Adam. They cheered loudly and sang along with "According to You" and "Shut Up and Kiss Me". It was interesting to see their reactions to those in comparison to her classic rock covers, which they enjoyed but didn’t seem to recognize (exact opposite from the crowd the night before - Chesaning definitely recognized Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” and seemed to love it). I had brought ear plugs for both myself and my friend, and she was really glad to have them. About halfway through the set, it dawned on me that there was no backdrop behind the band equipment, so we would probably not have images displayed during Adam's set. That was a bummer.
Ori and band rocking out (love the drummer's silver mohawk with sparkly red at the tips!)
During the breaks between performances, Tim Barron (a local radio personality) would come on over the Jumbotrons and read sponsor lists, hold contests, etc. I loved that every time he listed off the acts for the night, the crowd cheered loudly for Allison and Orianthi and then with Adam's name the roar reached an entirely different level. Before Adam's set, Tim made a point to say that Adam had done a meet and greet earlier in the day and had stayed until he got to each and every fan. I wish I could remember the whole speech verbatim, but the gist of it was that Tim wanted to make sure we all realized that Adam was the "real deal" - a very genuine and giving person whose talent was going to take him far, and we were very lucky for the chance to see him at this point in his career. It was basically a big fat love letter to Adam, and I was rather stunned to hear such a declaration in front of the crowd. (I recognized Tim Barron’s voice but could not remember which station he was with, so I googled him the next day. Then I remembered: he was the really obnoxious guy whose morning rants I hated on 101.7! He’s not exactly a shock jock, but he did say annoying and inflammatory stuff, and came off as a big jerk. I don’t love that station anyway, but when he was on I had to change it right away or I’d be seething all the way to work. He got fired a few years ago and I did not realize he was back on the radio again, now doing a classic rock show in the morning on an oldies station. He’s been in radio forever, so the fact that he of all people felt it was important to take the time to express just how awesome Adam is and how successful he is going to be was even more impressive. I would guess he is pretty tough to win over; I could picture him having kind of a “seen it all” attitude.)
When Ori was done, I was looking for Neil to point out to my friend and I almost didn't recognize him. Hair cut! It's quite short now and looks straight at this length. (By now this is all old news. Too bad I am not on Twitter, or I could have broken the story!) I felt ridiculous every time I pointed out to my friend something about the show that exposed my groupiedom, but she could already tell I was obsessive about the whole thing and by then I figured "in for a penny, in for a pound". I had commented earlier that it looked like we would not be getting background images for the show, so she pointed out to me when the set-up crew added the backdrop.
Between Orianthi’s and Adam’s set, there was a bunch more shuffling in crowd. There were people up front waving to their friends (who had been wandering around the festival grounds), trying to signal so they could join them. Obviously those of us who were behind these people were less than thrilled about others pushing their way past us. A girl with black hair and blue streaks in it had been waving to her boyfriend and his friend, but I stood my ground rather than moving out of the way to let them through. The girl on the left of my friend was trying to get people to link arms so that no one could get through, but she didn’t get much help. The girl to my right let the guy and his friend through. I was kind of surprised because the guy looked rather preppy and didn’t seem to fit with the surroundings. At least both of them were short. As excitement grew, people tried to push their way into the fray and overall the crowd started to move closer to the stage, so we were very tightly crammed in. The middle aged guy next to my friend was standing straight with his hands folded against his chest for fear of touching someone inappropriately. He noticed my bracelet (which was very spikey) and we joked that I should be using it to go after those who were shoving their way past us to the front.
My bracelet: Flashy accessory or deadly weapon?
The kids who had gone in front of us kept moving back and forth (in front…behind…in front…behind). At one point, my friend and I asked them which way they were going and said that they needed to decide because we didn’t think there would be any way for them to get back through again. We were not trying to be mean (they were so short that it didn’t really matter if they were in front of us), but we wanted to make sure they understood it was so cramped that going back would mean they would be stuck there. They did move back and I didn’t see them after that. We chatted a bit with a couple of ladies in their late 30s and it turned out they had been to the Hammond concert. It felt great to prove to my friend that I was not the only crazy person who had been to more than one Glam Nation show! The infamous drag queens showed up and were standing about ten feet away from us. They had very tall hair and one of them was holding their high heels up above their head (I imagine the shoes were awfully uncomfortable, and perhaps the person was trying to reduce their height so people behind could see better). I would have loved to get a picture of them, but there was no way to get over to them in the cramped quarters. At one point, they tossed fliers for Spiral Bar (where Adam had gone on Sunday night) into the air. My friend caught one, unsure what it was, and then looked at it and said she’d gone to a show there once. She didn’t know what to do with it so she threw it back up into the air. I wish I had thought faster, because I would have taken it as a souvenir, given how closely entwined coverage of Adam’s adventures in Lansing was with that venue.
Between each set, there were people in front spraying the audience with cold water from a hose. This drove me nuts because, as my friend pointed out, it only felt good for about two minutes and then you just felt sticky and gross. Plus I always wound up with spots on my glasses and had nothing dry to wipe them off. The crowd went nuts when they saw some dressed up people move from backstage into the wardrobe tent; I think they thought it was the band and the show would be starting soon, but it was no one that I recognized. (Maybe friends of someone in the tour company? I never found out for sure.) The waiting continued and I started to worry a bit when I saw bugs flying around by the stage, but then I realized that it was just fireflies. They are generally out for a little while around dusk but then go away. (I didn’t notice much of a problem with bugs for the rest of the show. Common Ground is set in a park that runs right along the river, but the distance from water to stage is definitely greater than at Chesaning. Still, it’s pretty amazing we didn’t have a ton of mosquitoes with all those bodies together in one spot (smorgasbord!) but maybe we were crammed in too tightly for the bugs to get to us.) They started playing "Bulletproof" and people whooped and began dancing, but then it stopped suddenly and everyone went nuts because they figured this was a good sign. I knew that FYE was going to be played before Adam came out and feared they would grow impatient, but everyone got very into FYE, with the crowd moving and singing along.
Almost showtime!
Everyone went wild when Adam came out! There were arms flailing everywhere, hands up for pictures, and loads of noise. It was like a forest of arms to see through, but I was glad because it meant people were soooo into it and excited! I don’t know who started the beach balls, but I have to imagine it was someone with the venue because you couldn’t just sneak in giant beach balls (maybe three feet in diameter). There were about half a dozen of them bouncing in every direction. Between those vaulting into the line of sight, the hands in the air, the laser lights flashing, the singing and screaming, and the crush of bodies crammed together, I was in major sensory overload throughout “Voodoo” and “Down the Rabbit Hole”. It was madness. I think the balls calmed down a bit by the time “Ring of Fire” began, and while the crowd cheered in excitement, the slower pace helped to cool down the frenetic mood just a bit. Then things got intense again as there was a super-energetic response to "Fever", with many singing along and pumping their fists in the air. People went nuts again when "Sleepwalker" began and I think part of that was because they were struck by the staging. With the very effective imagery at the start of that one, I heard quite a bit of oohing and ahhing. I pointed out to my friend that Adam had tears in his eyes at the end of Monte's solo.
Adam invites us Down the Rabbit Hole (One of my better pictures - the blur just adds to the trippy-ness, right?)
Love the color contrast between the stage lighting and Tommy's bass!
The crowd was very excited when he started “Whataya Want From Me”, with what seemed like everyone in the entire crowd singing along. I had brought glow sticks for my friend and I, and I had to show her how to make it work. She was so tickled because apparently she’s never had one before. I decided to just focus and bask in his voice for "Soaked" because people were singing along at Royal Oak and at Chesaning I was trying to record video and couldn't focus entirely on him. It was utterly GORGEOUS; I looked over and my friend was slackjawed. The crowd went nuts between each line at the end, but when he started singing again they would almost immediately silence themselves (which was kind of funny to hear happen with each and every line). The ladies who had been at Hammond and I looked at each other when it was over and said how incredible that was compared to prior concerts we had attended (not that he wasn’t great before, but this time just seemed especially dazzling). There was definitely some singing along from the crowd on "Aftermath", which I thought was cool because I think of it as a lesser known track from the album. He even did some improvising on the end, repeating the last lines and soaring to unexpected heights with the final notes. It seemed spontaneous because he looked at Monte, kind of shrugging and raising his eyebrows like "Hmmm, what'd you think?" just before they left the stage. I was in complete awe because we got to hear a new twist on a song and it looked like even Adam maybe didn’t know it was going to come out that way until it did. Being in the presence of his brilliant mind as he created something new was such a thrill.
There were beautiful lasers with the smoke in the second wardrobe break, although one seemed to be very weak at times (this had me concerned about how effective the upcoming laser effects-heavy songs would be, but I didn’t notice any problems after that). “Sure Fire Winners” was absolutely kick-ass, and I think after three shows it may be my favorite one live, which I never would have expected. He prowled the stage, cutting loose vocally at so many points in the song - everything was electrified. At one point, someone threw a rose onto the stage, which he kissed and threw back into the crowd. The crowd went crazy when he thrusted and gyrated, and I am sure my jaw was on the ground when he literally dove onto his knees for a particularly impassioned rock scream. That was one of those moments that completely blew. my. mind. He practically moaned “Oh yeah” at the end (if there was such a thing as an audio dictionary, you could find this under the definition for UNF - he also made the same sound a couple of times later during WLL - soooooo haaaawwwt!). The crowd was eating it up, and it was another instance where the women from Hammond and I looked at each other like "OMG, can you even BELIEVE we just witnessed that?!?! What has gotten into him tonight?!?” (By the end of the show, we were practically pinching each other at the epicness.) I made a mental note that I would have to look for clips of SFW on YouTube, but the ones I’ve seen found so far just don’t do it justice. For the rest of the night, I found myself thinking how “in The Zone” Adam was and wanted to know the reason for it. In retrospect, I wonder if the creative burst of putting a new twist on “Aftermath” galvanized him, or if it was the size of the crowd. There was also a very cute blonde gay guy right up front that I am pretty much positive served as SOS on an inspiration level. Whatever it was that came over Adam, I thank the universe that I had the opportunity to behold the result. I started to go a little easier on the zoom with my pics during this song, which seemed to help a bit.
Some shots from SFW (wish I'd gotten more definition in his face, but what can you do?)
People loved “Strut” and were really dancing (strutting in place about as much as you can when you’re crammed together like sardines). I still adore that coat and it’s one of the things I truly wish I could’ve gotten a better picture of. I noticed the choreography and the masks of the other dancers more this time around. There was a squee from the crowd on his “how to let it all hang out” cane twirl, but it was a little delayed which kind of cracked me up. It was about this time that my friend decided to go back to the seated area because she was feeling uncomfortable (too cramped for space). I felt horrible and hoped that she didn’t resent me for suggesting we go up into the throng to begin with. She didn't want me to go back with her because she didn't want me to miss out, so I reluctantly stayed put. With “Music Again”, Adam got the crowd started with the clapping overhead and we were all-in for the entire song. Again, people seemed very familiar with it and sang along on some parts (e.g. “Eyes baby eyes”). I think it may have been on this song that Adam and Tommy nearly collided as they crossed the stage and did one of those awkward little dances that happens when you’re both trying to go in the same direction and then both move to go around each other. Once they had gotten past each other, Adam glanced back at Tommy with a goodnatured smirk on his face. I was surprised he didn't take the Strut coat off for the whole song - it had to be hot! There was LOTS of screaming and love for him, with clapping and pointing at him on the chorus. I tried to get a shot of the crowd with their hands up, but it was tough to get a clear picture with all that motion. (By that point, I felt the crowd was into it even more than at Royal Oak, which boggled my mind because of the nature of the two venues, and I wanted some way to document it.) All the dancing and the hormones floating through the air made it incredibly hot and cramped. Some people left just before IIHY, making room up front for the crowd to move up and closer to the stage. The guy who had shoved his way up by his blue-haired girlfriend was literally flailing like a fanboy throughout the entire show, which cracked me the hell up (at least he turned out to be good for entertainment value). They also left the crowd; I’d say by the end I was in around the 8th row.
Adam struts his stuff - look how the light flare creates an aura around him
“If I Had You” came too soon, as always. The second it started, people were screaming and literally jumping up and down with their hands in the air. I was thanking my lucky stars that WJIM (Lansing's Top 40 station) was an early adopter of the song and had been playing the shit out of it in recent weeks. (It was up to #2 on their playlist a few days before the concert.) By that point, Adam was absolutely beaming - you could tell he was just tickled (and maybe caught a little off-guard) by the enthusiasm. With the chorus EVERYONE was jumping up and down and waving their hands in the air; it felt chaotic and a little dangerous (or maybe that was just me - jumping up and down in platform wedges is challenging). I am sure it was a kick for Adam to see a crowd that large just surging with energy. The band members all got great cheers in their turn, with a HUGE roar for Monte; Adam and Tommy did a funny little head bob like they were grooving during his spotlight moment. When Adam returned to the song the fans were right back in it with him and it seemed like he almost had a hard time stopping again to intro the dancers because the song was just flowing between him and the crowd. Terrence did his solo and Adam made a "Schwerk!" facial expression at him when he finished (like "Whoa!" mixed with "Dayum!" - apparently Terrence had done something new/special and Adam was showing he was surprised and appreciative, although I have not paid enough attention to the dance solos to single out what the change was). The dance with Brooke was so cute and playful (she passed through between his legs - which made the ladies squeal - and then tried to grab at him as he scooted out of reach just in time). He seemed more talkative than at other shows, although I cannot recall much of what he said beyond that we were all a particularly "pretty" crowd and he loved us LOL (my eternal thanks to that blonde SOS up front!). Oh, and he was getting a major workout being up there. When he turned the mike toward the crowd, that was the loudest that I have heard an audience singing without his voice to accompany (probably because they have been playing the hell out of the song on the radio so it is drilled into everyone's heads - I made sure to send WJIM a thank you note for this). There was so much love flowing between Adam and the crowd by the end. Life would be a party, it’d be ecstasy - truer words…
More botched photography attempts:
Thwarted! (looks like this was focused, if only that big fat arm wasn't in the way)
Curses! Foiled again! (though I'm glad Tommy is enjoying himself)
Success! (well, relatively speaking) Third time's the charm?
As soon as everyone left the stage, the crowd started chanting Adam’s name and screaming for his return. He came back after a couple of minutes and I was a little bummed that he went right into “Whole Lotta Love” (mainly because my friend was really hoping for “Mad World”). I suspect it was suuuuuper hot up there and maybe he only had one more song left in him, but he knew he wanted to do WLL for us. Or maybe he didn’t want to bring the crowd energy down with the mellower MW. I don’t know. The riffing and the extra vocal flourishes and extended notes had been blowing me away throughout the show, and WLL was no exception. It was INSANE - Adam was obviously feeling a whole lotta love for Lansing. I tried recording the performance but I felt like I couldn’t watch him because I had to keep my eye on the camera screen or I’d chop off his head (although, when I looked back at what I got later, it was actually as good or better than other clips I’ve seen). My hands were shaking like crazy and it was my last chance to watch him, so I decided to just put the camera away and take it all in. There was a tweet about Adam “waving at his cock” but I think this referred to the part when he was singing about every inch of his love: he tapped his hand against his thigh like he was measuring himself…progressively moving it downwards. Adam boasting about the size of the glambulge before your very eyes? Enough to leave one feeling faint, TRUST ME. It was lucky we didn’t all pass out (or spontaneously combust), although I did read a recap from a nurse that was there in the audience who said she saw three people faint through the course of the night. (Part of me is sad that I stopped recording before that part, because I haven’t seen any clips online that captured it. But when I looked at what I did record, I think I made the right choice. While the video turned out fairly well and the audio doesn’t sound all that bad, they somehow wound up way out of synch.)
Throughout the song, everyone had their arms outstretched, all reaching toward the greatness. It reminded me of a church, with the congregation raising their hands up to "Testify!"…or to lay our hands on Adam and be healed. (In one of the clips, there’s even someone doing the “We’re not worthy” hands - I think it might be that blonde SOS guy.) I could not hear the final note because the crowd was going absolutely BSC, but I could tell from watching Adam that he was singing the hell out of it. I am still wondering if there’s a clip with audio from far enough back (away from the mosh pit) that the final note can be heard and appreciated, because I have the feeling it was another revelation. He once again told us how “fuckin’ pretty” we were and that we rocked; it almost sounded like he thanked Grand Ledge (nearby town where I did some intern work in grad school) for something too, but maybe I was having an aural hallucination about that because I don’t hear it on clips. Once he left the stage, the ladies from Hammond and I all looked at each other and shook our heads with wide eyes and huge grins on our faces. We had not seen/heard anything like that before and couldn’t wrap our brains around it. One of the women commented on how “into it” he was and I have to agree - he positively radiated joy and I couldn’t help thinking about his comments on the significance of his new infinity tattoo. I definitely felt like we had all been a part of that phenomenon, and I am so grateful for the experience.
Worshipping at the Church of Glam (note: blonde SOS can be seen up front in the second pic)
One last shot of that backside
When I found my friend, she said it was easy to get out of the crowd and she was glad she went back there (she had wanted to see him up close but after a while she was done). She did enjoy the rest of the music, and she liked being back there because she could hear what people had to say (there had apparently been a group of middle aged women talking about what they wanted to do with him…). Another observation she had was that he was a good dancer. She said she’d been looking at his arms on the Jumbotron and trying to figure out if they were muscular. I said sometimes they look toned though I don’t think he lifts weights or anything, adding that he has been doing aerobics lately (once again realizing I was heading into stalker territory with my oversharing! I later saw the WJDX video and discovered I was wrong, because he did mention lifting free weights now). An older woman who looked kind of like a biker came up to me while we were talking and said she liked my shirt, asking how much it was. When I told her, her eyes got big and she walked away shaking her head. We found the merch table and I made one last purchase (the more colorful tour shirt and disco key ring). On the way out of the gates, I asked a couple of people with security if they knew how many people had been there. They had no clue. As we were walking back to the cars along the outside of the festival grounds (past the area with the buses, which are fenced in) a golf cart went past us and I noticed Terrence and Sasha were on it. I wanted to say “Great show tonight" or something, but the words wouldn't come so I just kind of clapped and cheered as they passed by - I probably sounded drunk LOL. Oh well. I can never think of what I want to say fast enough in those situations.
The estimate of 9400 for the crowd seems high to me, but I am terrible at estimating this kind of thing and did not have a good view of the scope of the crowd. But I would think "Noise" would have their numbers straight, so that's probably right. There were people in quite a few places that you could not see unless you were inside (a clubhouse that looks down on the festival and VIP tents off to the side), so it is really hard to hazard a guess about how many were there. I tried to get a shot of the crowd in the wait between Orianthi and Adam’s sets, but the venue is flat rather than bowl-shaped or tiered, so you can only see for a limited distance. I know that the Common Ground people were expecting Adam to be one of the biggest draws of the week, and I think that definitely held true. This was actually the show that I was the most apprehensive about the reactions of the crowd, yet I obviously had nothing to worry about. It was clear from the moment we arrived that people were dying to see and hear Adam, and that they loved him. And Adam definitely felt that love and reciprocated. It was such a beautiful thing to be a part of. I feel very lucky that I not only got to see him in a relatively intimate venue, but was also a part of one of the biggest crowds he drew this early in his career.
As I was driving home from the concert, I reflected on my friend’s earlier question about what makes Adam so special, and I found the word that I needed: soul. He has such a gentle, brave, and beautiful one, and he lets it shine through in every choice he makes, every moment of his time on and off stage. He is so true to himself, and that is enormously appealing and inspiring to me. Yes, the voice is perfection. Yes, he is stunningly beautiful. But he can be fierce one moment and an utter dork the next, and then giggle at himself for being the paradox that he is. Above all, he is joyous. And without that incredible soul, I don't know that the package it comes in or even the voice would mean all that much to me. He is himself. And that is what I love.
Common Ground Music Festival, Lansing, Michigan (July 13, 2010)
I slept in a bit on Tuesday, still in the process of recovering from Chesaning. I had draped my soaking wet denim skirt over the side of the bathtub when I got home, and discovered that it was still very damp when I got up. I went to start my car and found that my battery was dead, so that took about an hour (which I didn't have to spare) to remove the old one, go buy a new one, and then install it. Once I finished with that, I seriously had to get down to the business of getting ready, even though I had been hoping to work some more on my Chesaning recap before my next show. I got glammed up, wearing a short denim skirt, the lipstick gun tank top I bought at Chesaning, and my super-shiny spiky bracelent, which looks like a prop from the FYE video. My feet were already sore from the night before and I was torn about what I could wear on them that would be comfortable (besides sneakers, which I don’t even own a decent pair of). I wound up reluctantly choosing the evil platform wedges from Royal Oak. (I figured at least I would not have to wear them for hours of waiting in line before the show, so maybe they would work out better this time…) I left to meet my friend, planning my route so that I could stop on the way to get a shot of the Adam/Common Ground billboard that was tweeted a few days prior (I wanted to get my own shot of it before it was taken down). It was such a fun little pit stop and got me even more stoked for the show, although I probably looked like a loon to the people in the pet store parking lot that I snapped the pictures from.
Adam beckons Lansing residents to the Common Ground Music Festival…Who can resist that smoldering gaze?
I met my friend and we had dinner, catching up a bit on real life and discussing Adam and American Idol. She said that she had gone online the other day to look for clips of him and the first one she found was of him singing "Crazy" in "weird clothes". It took me a second to process and then I gasped, "Oh my gawd, the Art4Life one?" When she nodded and smiled "Yeah!" in recognition, I doubled over laughing. Of all the clips out there, that was the first one to come up in her search! It also cracked me up that she didn't have anything to say about the dancing in that number, but she was quite bothered by the neckline of his outfit.
After dinner, we departed for downtown. Neither of us had been to Common Ground before, so I was grateful to the Lansing State Journal for printing a very handy two-page spread in the Sunday paper with a guide to parking. The process was much easier than I expected. We parked in a ramp (coincidentally, the one right next door to the hotel the tour company was probably staying at) and I tried to weed out the things I no longer needed in my purse. I came across a tube of body glitter and asked my friend if she wanted some, adding that Adam is very sparkly. She gasped, “Is he a vampire?!?” in mock horror (we had been talking about Twilight: Eclipse on the drive over), but declined my offer. We walked the few blocks to the gate entrance. Downwind from the park, we could smell the grease of funnel cakes and both swore we could feel ourselves getting fat from the aroma alone. As we approached the gates, I started telling my friend about Adam’s band, at one point mentioning the AMAs. She asked innocently, “What are the AMAs?” having never before heard about Adam’s performance or the subsequent media ban. It was one of those moments that reminded me just how far Adam is off of some people’s radars, although when it comes to the AMAs maybe that is just as well.
We made our way inside, and were both surprised by all the vendors and booths they have around the outside edge of the grounds - everything from purses to used CDs to windows for sale. For the majority of festival-goers, the event is a bring-your-own-seat affair. However, I had decided to pay a bit extra for reserved seating so that we didn't have to haul chairs around (suspecting that we might wind up hanging out in the standing room area anyway). We made our way to the seats, which were folding chairs set up quite a distance from the stage; we were in one of the last rows of reserved seating. (I bought the tickets late because I knew they wouldn’t sell out and it took me a while to decide how many and what kind to buy.) I could see that a considerable crowd was already accumulating up by the stage and suggested we might want to head up there at some point, since there appeared to still be good spots available. But it was still an hour before Allison was set to start, so we sat down for a few minutes and chatted before heading up. My friend asked me why I was so taken with Adam, and I found that I couldn’t come up with an articulate answer. She already figured that the voice and the prettiness were factors, so I tried to talk about his attitude, except I could not quite explain effectively. This really bothered me. I think she was rather surprised by the extent of my obsession, but we grew up together and she said I was always like that about things when we were younger. I conceded: I have an addictive personality and I tend to immerse myself in my latest fixation.
Common Ground attendees set up for a night of fun (taken around 6:30 - about an hour before Allison’s set)
When we headed up to join the crowd in front of the stage, it was already about ten people deep and very lively. I would say it was composed at least 90-95% of people under 35, which I guess is not too surprising for standing room. I was surprised, however, to see a man in his fifties in the second or third row back and quite a few guys sprinkled in amongst the girls. One down side was that people were standing in the crowd and then trying to get their friends to meet up with them. I decided to be the bitch who was like "Um, no" and stand my ground when people tried to shove their way through (past those who were already there) in order to get to the front. At one point, someone behind me who had tried to push her way up and been blocked tapped my shoulder and said "Ma'am" to get my attention. (Note: This is a horrible thing to call me if you are going to follow up by asking a favor.) When I turned around, she pointed out that there were two kids behind my friend (she’s 5’9” or 5'10") who could not see, and asked that we let the kids go in front of us. I pointed out that the kids were still shorter than the people standing in front of us, so it wasn't going to help much and turned back around (feeling like a heartless bitch, and yet not caring all that much). Then they appealed to my friend, who was not thrilled about it but let the kids through (a boy and a girl of about 9 or 10). The thing was, the kids did not look like they were all that into the whole thing anyway (the boy looked downright miserable and worried about being separated from his parents), and I felt bad that their parents dragged them up there and then didn't even want to stand with them. They were still too short to see very well, as I had predicted.
It was fun to see the concert through my friend's eyes and hear what worked for her and what didn't. She was very excited to hear that Allison would be performing as well, because she had not realized Alli would be there and her husband really enjoyed her on AI. She had brought a camera and a video recorder along for the show, and I warned her that Alli can be tough to capture in stills because her hair is perpetually hanging in her face or being swung around. After the set, my friend said she could see what I meant. She enjoyed the set and said that Allison's performance was very "energetic", but I think she found her mannerisms a little redundant. The crowd response to Allison's set was very strong - there was not much singing along (I imagine most of the songs were unfamiliar to them, although many sang loudly for “Heartbreaker”). There was plenty of clapping, cheering, and hand waving. You could tell she was loving the energy, which was a far cry from the response to her opening set the night before.
Allison in two modes (a: Hair in Eyes, b: Hair Swinging Around), Orianthi in default mode (Shredding with Eyes Closed)
Orianthi came out and did her thing. People in the audience seemed surprised to hear her accent and realize she is Australian. During one of the songs, she came down from the stage and jammed in the space between the stage and the crowd barrier. The crowd appeared to be very familiar with all the singles, both past and current, for both Orianthi and Adam. They cheered loudly and sang along with "According to You" and "Shut Up and Kiss Me". It was interesting to see their reactions to those in comparison to her classic rock covers, which they enjoyed but didn’t seem to recognize (exact opposite from the crowd the night before - Chesaning definitely recognized Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” and seemed to love it). I had brought ear plugs for both myself and my friend, and she was really glad to have them. About halfway through the set, it dawned on me that there was no backdrop behind the band equipment, so we would probably not have images displayed during Adam's set. That was a bummer.
Ori and band rocking out (love the drummer's silver mohawk with sparkly red at the tips!)
During the breaks between performances, Tim Barron (a local radio personality) would come on over the Jumbotrons and read sponsor lists, hold contests, etc. I loved that every time he listed off the acts for the night, the crowd cheered loudly for Allison and Orianthi and then with Adam's name the roar reached an entirely different level. Before Adam's set, Tim made a point to say that Adam had done a meet and greet earlier in the day and had stayed until he got to each and every fan. I wish I could remember the whole speech verbatim, but the gist of it was that Tim wanted to make sure we all realized that Adam was the "real deal" - a very genuine and giving person whose talent was going to take him far, and we were very lucky for the chance to see him at this point in his career. It was basically a big fat love letter to Adam, and I was rather stunned to hear such a declaration in front of the crowd. (I recognized Tim Barron’s voice but could not remember which station he was with, so I googled him the next day. Then I remembered: he was the really obnoxious guy whose morning rants I hated on 101.7! He’s not exactly a shock jock, but he did say annoying and inflammatory stuff, and came off as a big jerk. I don’t love that station anyway, but when he was on I had to change it right away or I’d be seething all the way to work. He got fired a few years ago and I did not realize he was back on the radio again, now doing a classic rock show in the morning on an oldies station. He’s been in radio forever, so the fact that he of all people felt it was important to take the time to express just how awesome Adam is and how successful he is going to be was even more impressive. I would guess he is pretty tough to win over; I could picture him having kind of a “seen it all” attitude.)
When Ori was done, I was looking for Neil to point out to my friend and I almost didn't recognize him. Hair cut! It's quite short now and looks straight at this length. (By now this is all old news. Too bad I am not on Twitter, or I could have broken the story!) I felt ridiculous every time I pointed out to my friend something about the show that exposed my groupiedom, but she could already tell I was obsessive about the whole thing and by then I figured "in for a penny, in for a pound". I had commented earlier that it looked like we would not be getting background images for the show, so she pointed out to me when the set-up crew added the backdrop.
Between Orianthi’s and Adam’s set, there was a bunch more shuffling in crowd. There were people up front waving to their friends (who had been wandering around the festival grounds), trying to signal so they could join them. Obviously those of us who were behind these people were less than thrilled about others pushing their way past us. A girl with black hair and blue streaks in it had been waving to her boyfriend and his friend, but I stood my ground rather than moving out of the way to let them through. The girl on the left of my friend was trying to get people to link arms so that no one could get through, but she didn’t get much help. The girl to my right let the guy and his friend through. I was kind of surprised because the guy looked rather preppy and didn’t seem to fit with the surroundings. At least both of them were short. As excitement grew, people tried to push their way into the fray and overall the crowd started to move closer to the stage, so we were very tightly crammed in. The middle aged guy next to my friend was standing straight with his hands folded against his chest for fear of touching someone inappropriately. He noticed my bracelet (which was very spikey) and we joked that I should be using it to go after those who were shoving their way past us to the front.
My bracelet: Flashy accessory or deadly weapon?
The kids who had gone in front of us kept moving back and forth (in front…behind…in front…behind). At one point, my friend and I asked them which way they were going and said that they needed to decide because we didn’t think there would be any way for them to get back through again. We were not trying to be mean (they were so short that it didn’t really matter if they were in front of us), but we wanted to make sure they understood it was so cramped that going back would mean they would be stuck there. They did move back and I didn’t see them after that. We chatted a bit with a couple of ladies in their late 30s and it turned out they had been to the Hammond concert. It felt great to prove to my friend that I was not the only crazy person who had been to more than one Glam Nation show! The infamous drag queens showed up and were standing about ten feet away from us. They had very tall hair and one of them was holding their high heels up above their head (I imagine the shoes were awfully uncomfortable, and perhaps the person was trying to reduce their height so people behind could see better). I would have loved to get a picture of them, but there was no way to get over to them in the cramped quarters. At one point, they tossed fliers for Spiral Bar (where Adam had gone on Sunday night) into the air. My friend caught one, unsure what it was, and then looked at it and said she’d gone to a show there once. She didn’t know what to do with it so she threw it back up into the air. I wish I had thought faster, because I would have taken it as a souvenir, given how closely entwined coverage of Adam’s adventures in Lansing was with that venue.
Between each set, there were people in front spraying the audience with cold water from a hose. This drove me nuts because, as my friend pointed out, it only felt good for about two minutes and then you just felt sticky and gross. Plus I always wound up with spots on my glasses and had nothing dry to wipe them off. The crowd went nuts when they saw some dressed up people move from backstage into the wardrobe tent; I think they thought it was the band and the show would be starting soon, but it was no one that I recognized. (Maybe friends of someone in the tour company? I never found out for sure.) The waiting continued and I started to worry a bit when I saw bugs flying around by the stage, but then I realized that it was just fireflies. They are generally out for a little while around dusk but then go away. (I didn’t notice much of a problem with bugs for the rest of the show. Common Ground is set in a park that runs right along the river, but the distance from water to stage is definitely greater than at Chesaning. Still, it’s pretty amazing we didn’t have a ton of mosquitoes with all those bodies together in one spot (smorgasbord!) but maybe we were crammed in too tightly for the bugs to get to us.) They started playing "Bulletproof" and people whooped and began dancing, but then it stopped suddenly and everyone went nuts because they figured this was a good sign. I knew that FYE was going to be played before Adam came out and feared they would grow impatient, but everyone got very into FYE, with the crowd moving and singing along.
Almost showtime!
Everyone went wild when Adam came out! There were arms flailing everywhere, hands up for pictures, and loads of noise. It was like a forest of arms to see through, but I was glad because it meant people were soooo into it and excited! I don’t know who started the beach balls, but I have to imagine it was someone with the venue because you couldn’t just sneak in giant beach balls (maybe three feet in diameter). There were about half a dozen of them bouncing in every direction. Between those vaulting into the line of sight, the hands in the air, the laser lights flashing, the singing and screaming, and the crush of bodies crammed together, I was in major sensory overload throughout “Voodoo” and “Down the Rabbit Hole”. It was madness. I think the balls calmed down a bit by the time “Ring of Fire” began, and while the crowd cheered in excitement, the slower pace helped to cool down the frenetic mood just a bit. Then things got intense again as there was a super-energetic response to "Fever", with many singing along and pumping their fists in the air. People went nuts again when "Sleepwalker" began and I think part of that was because they were struck by the staging. With the very effective imagery at the start of that one, I heard quite a bit of oohing and ahhing. I pointed out to my friend that Adam had tears in his eyes at the end of Monte's solo.
Adam invites us Down the Rabbit Hole (One of my better pictures - the blur just adds to the trippy-ness, right?)
Love the color contrast between the stage lighting and Tommy's bass!
The crowd was very excited when he started “Whataya Want From Me”, with what seemed like everyone in the entire crowd singing along. I had brought glow sticks for my friend and I, and I had to show her how to make it work. She was so tickled because apparently she’s never had one before. I decided to just focus and bask in his voice for "Soaked" because people were singing along at Royal Oak and at Chesaning I was trying to record video and couldn't focus entirely on him. It was utterly GORGEOUS; I looked over and my friend was slackjawed. The crowd went nuts between each line at the end, but when he started singing again they would almost immediately silence themselves (which was kind of funny to hear happen with each and every line). The ladies who had been at Hammond and I looked at each other when it was over and said how incredible that was compared to prior concerts we had attended (not that he wasn’t great before, but this time just seemed especially dazzling). There was definitely some singing along from the crowd on "Aftermath", which I thought was cool because I think of it as a lesser known track from the album. He even did some improvising on the end, repeating the last lines and soaring to unexpected heights with the final notes. It seemed spontaneous because he looked at Monte, kind of shrugging and raising his eyebrows like "Hmmm, what'd you think?" just before they left the stage. I was in complete awe because we got to hear a new twist on a song and it looked like even Adam maybe didn’t know it was going to come out that way until it did. Being in the presence of his brilliant mind as he created something new was such a thrill.
There were beautiful lasers with the smoke in the second wardrobe break, although one seemed to be very weak at times (this had me concerned about how effective the upcoming laser effects-heavy songs would be, but I didn’t notice any problems after that). “Sure Fire Winners” was absolutely kick-ass, and I think after three shows it may be my favorite one live, which I never would have expected. He prowled the stage, cutting loose vocally at so many points in the song - everything was electrified. At one point, someone threw a rose onto the stage, which he kissed and threw back into the crowd. The crowd went crazy when he thrusted and gyrated, and I am sure my jaw was on the ground when he literally dove onto his knees for a particularly impassioned rock scream. That was one of those moments that completely blew. my. mind. He practically moaned “Oh yeah” at the end (if there was such a thing as an audio dictionary, you could find this under the definition for UNF - he also made the same sound a couple of times later during WLL - soooooo haaaawwwt!). The crowd was eating it up, and it was another instance where the women from Hammond and I looked at each other like "OMG, can you even BELIEVE we just witnessed that?!?! What has gotten into him tonight?!?” (By the end of the show, we were practically pinching each other at the epicness.) I made a mental note that I would have to look for clips of SFW on YouTube, but the ones I’ve seen found so far just don’t do it justice. For the rest of the night, I found myself thinking how “in The Zone” Adam was and wanted to know the reason for it. In retrospect, I wonder if the creative burst of putting a new twist on “Aftermath” galvanized him, or if it was the size of the crowd. There was also a very cute blonde gay guy right up front that I am pretty much positive served as SOS on an inspiration level. Whatever it was that came over Adam, I thank the universe that I had the opportunity to behold the result. I started to go a little easier on the zoom with my pics during this song, which seemed to help a bit.
Some shots from SFW (wish I'd gotten more definition in his face, but what can you do?)
People loved “Strut” and were really dancing (strutting in place about as much as you can when you’re crammed together like sardines). I still adore that coat and it’s one of the things I truly wish I could’ve gotten a better picture of. I noticed the choreography and the masks of the other dancers more this time around. There was a squee from the crowd on his “how to let it all hang out” cane twirl, but it was a little delayed which kind of cracked me up. It was about this time that my friend decided to go back to the seated area because she was feeling uncomfortable (too cramped for space). I felt horrible and hoped that she didn’t resent me for suggesting we go up into the throng to begin with. She didn't want me to go back with her because she didn't want me to miss out, so I reluctantly stayed put. With “Music Again”, Adam got the crowd started with the clapping overhead and we were all-in for the entire song. Again, people seemed very familiar with it and sang along on some parts (e.g. “Eyes baby eyes”). I think it may have been on this song that Adam and Tommy nearly collided as they crossed the stage and did one of those awkward little dances that happens when you’re both trying to go in the same direction and then both move to go around each other. Once they had gotten past each other, Adam glanced back at Tommy with a goodnatured smirk on his face. I was surprised he didn't take the Strut coat off for the whole song - it had to be hot! There was LOTS of screaming and love for him, with clapping and pointing at him on the chorus. I tried to get a shot of the crowd with their hands up, but it was tough to get a clear picture with all that motion. (By that point, I felt the crowd was into it even more than at Royal Oak, which boggled my mind because of the nature of the two venues, and I wanted some way to document it.) All the dancing and the hormones floating through the air made it incredibly hot and cramped. Some people left just before IIHY, making room up front for the crowd to move up and closer to the stage. The guy who had shoved his way up by his blue-haired girlfriend was literally flailing like a fanboy throughout the entire show, which cracked me the hell up (at least he turned out to be good for entertainment value). They also left the crowd; I’d say by the end I was in around the 8th row.
Adam struts his stuff - look how the light flare creates an aura around him
“If I Had You” came too soon, as always. The second it started, people were screaming and literally jumping up and down with their hands in the air. I was thanking my lucky stars that WJIM (Lansing's Top 40 station) was an early adopter of the song and had been playing the shit out of it in recent weeks. (It was up to #2 on their playlist a few days before the concert.) By that point, Adam was absolutely beaming - you could tell he was just tickled (and maybe caught a little off-guard) by the enthusiasm. With the chorus EVERYONE was jumping up and down and waving their hands in the air; it felt chaotic and a little dangerous (or maybe that was just me - jumping up and down in platform wedges is challenging). I am sure it was a kick for Adam to see a crowd that large just surging with energy. The band members all got great cheers in their turn, with a HUGE roar for Monte; Adam and Tommy did a funny little head bob like they were grooving during his spotlight moment. When Adam returned to the song the fans were right back in it with him and it seemed like he almost had a hard time stopping again to intro the dancers because the song was just flowing between him and the crowd. Terrence did his solo and Adam made a "Schwerk!" facial expression at him when he finished (like "Whoa!" mixed with "Dayum!" - apparently Terrence had done something new/special and Adam was showing he was surprised and appreciative, although I have not paid enough attention to the dance solos to single out what the change was). The dance with Brooke was so cute and playful (she passed through between his legs - which made the ladies squeal - and then tried to grab at him as he scooted out of reach just in time). He seemed more talkative than at other shows, although I cannot recall much of what he said beyond that we were all a particularly "pretty" crowd and he loved us LOL (my eternal thanks to that blonde SOS up front!). Oh, and he was getting a major workout being up there. When he turned the mike toward the crowd, that was the loudest that I have heard an audience singing without his voice to accompany (probably because they have been playing the hell out of the song on the radio so it is drilled into everyone's heads - I made sure to send WJIM a thank you note for this). There was so much love flowing between Adam and the crowd by the end. Life would be a party, it’d be ecstasy - truer words…
More botched photography attempts:
Thwarted! (looks like this was focused, if only that big fat arm wasn't in the way)
Curses! Foiled again! (though I'm glad Tommy is enjoying himself)
Success! (well, relatively speaking) Third time's the charm?
As soon as everyone left the stage, the crowd started chanting Adam’s name and screaming for his return. He came back after a couple of minutes and I was a little bummed that he went right into “Whole Lotta Love” (mainly because my friend was really hoping for “Mad World”). I suspect it was suuuuuper hot up there and maybe he only had one more song left in him, but he knew he wanted to do WLL for us. Or maybe he didn’t want to bring the crowd energy down with the mellower MW. I don’t know. The riffing and the extra vocal flourishes and extended notes had been blowing me away throughout the show, and WLL was no exception. It was INSANE - Adam was obviously feeling a whole lotta love for Lansing. I tried recording the performance but I felt like I couldn’t watch him because I had to keep my eye on the camera screen or I’d chop off his head (although, when I looked back at what I got later, it was actually as good or better than other clips I’ve seen). My hands were shaking like crazy and it was my last chance to watch him, so I decided to just put the camera away and take it all in. There was a tweet about Adam “waving at his cock” but I think this referred to the part when he was singing about every inch of his love: he tapped his hand against his thigh like he was measuring himself…progressively moving it downwards. Adam boasting about the size of the glambulge before your very eyes? Enough to leave one feeling faint, TRUST ME. It was lucky we didn’t all pass out (or spontaneously combust), although I did read a recap from a nurse that was there in the audience who said she saw three people faint through the course of the night. (Part of me is sad that I stopped recording before that part, because I haven’t seen any clips online that captured it. But when I looked at what I did record, I think I made the right choice. While the video turned out fairly well and the audio doesn’t sound all that bad, they somehow wound up way out of synch.)
Throughout the song, everyone had their arms outstretched, all reaching toward the greatness. It reminded me of a church, with the congregation raising their hands up to "Testify!"…or to lay our hands on Adam and be healed. (In one of the clips, there’s even someone doing the “We’re not worthy” hands - I think it might be that blonde SOS guy.) I could not hear the final note because the crowd was going absolutely BSC, but I could tell from watching Adam that he was singing the hell out of it. I am still wondering if there’s a clip with audio from far enough back (away from the mosh pit) that the final note can be heard and appreciated, because I have the feeling it was another revelation. He once again told us how “fuckin’ pretty” we were and that we rocked; it almost sounded like he thanked Grand Ledge (nearby town where I did some intern work in grad school) for something too, but maybe I was having an aural hallucination about that because I don’t hear it on clips. Once he left the stage, the ladies from Hammond and I all looked at each other and shook our heads with wide eyes and huge grins on our faces. We had not seen/heard anything like that before and couldn’t wrap our brains around it. One of the women commented on how “into it” he was and I have to agree - he positively radiated joy and I couldn’t help thinking about his comments on the significance of his new infinity tattoo. I definitely felt like we had all been a part of that phenomenon, and I am so grateful for the experience.
Worshipping at the Church of Glam (note: blonde SOS can be seen up front in the second pic)
One last shot of that backside
When I found my friend, she said it was easy to get out of the crowd and she was glad she went back there (she had wanted to see him up close but after a while she was done). She did enjoy the rest of the music, and she liked being back there because she could hear what people had to say (there had apparently been a group of middle aged women talking about what they wanted to do with him…). Another observation she had was that he was a good dancer. She said she’d been looking at his arms on the Jumbotron and trying to figure out if they were muscular. I said sometimes they look toned though I don’t think he lifts weights or anything, adding that he has been doing aerobics lately (once again realizing I was heading into stalker territory with my oversharing! I later saw the WJDX video and discovered I was wrong, because he did mention lifting free weights now). An older woman who looked kind of like a biker came up to me while we were talking and said she liked my shirt, asking how much it was. When I told her, her eyes got big and she walked away shaking her head. We found the merch table and I made one last purchase (the more colorful tour shirt and disco key ring). On the way out of the gates, I asked a couple of people with security if they knew how many people had been there. They had no clue. As we were walking back to the cars along the outside of the festival grounds (past the area with the buses, which are fenced in) a golf cart went past us and I noticed Terrence and Sasha were on it. I wanted to say “Great show tonight" or something, but the words wouldn't come so I just kind of clapped and cheered as they passed by - I probably sounded drunk LOL. Oh well. I can never think of what I want to say fast enough in those situations.
The estimate of 9400 for the crowd seems high to me, but I am terrible at estimating this kind of thing and did not have a good view of the scope of the crowd. But I would think "Noise" would have their numbers straight, so that's probably right. There were people in quite a few places that you could not see unless you were inside (a clubhouse that looks down on the festival and VIP tents off to the side), so it is really hard to hazard a guess about how many were there. I tried to get a shot of the crowd in the wait between Orianthi and Adam’s sets, but the venue is flat rather than bowl-shaped or tiered, so you can only see for a limited distance. I know that the Common Ground people were expecting Adam to be one of the biggest draws of the week, and I think that definitely held true. This was actually the show that I was the most apprehensive about the reactions of the crowd, yet I obviously had nothing to worry about. It was clear from the moment we arrived that people were dying to see and hear Adam, and that they loved him. And Adam definitely felt that love and reciprocated. It was such a beautiful thing to be a part of. I feel very lucky that I not only got to see him in a relatively intimate venue, but was also a part of one of the biggest crowds he drew this early in his career.
As I was driving home from the concert, I reflected on my friend’s earlier question about what makes Adam so special, and I found the word that I needed: soul. He has such a gentle, brave, and beautiful one, and he lets it shine through in every choice he makes, every moment of his time on and off stage. He is so true to himself, and that is enormously appealing and inspiring to me. Yes, the voice is perfection. Yes, he is stunningly beautiful. But he can be fierce one moment and an utter dork the next, and then giggle at himself for being the paradox that he is. Above all, he is joyous. And without that incredible soul, I don't know that the package it comes in or even the voice would mean all that much to me. He is himself. And that is what I love.