Auburn Hills Concert Recap
My concert experience wasn’t really that epic, except for how I MET MATT GIRAUD!!!!! Also, my friend became an Anoop stan, and I was scorned by Kris.
This was my first American Idol show, and I was pretty nervous/excited about the whole thing. I went with one of my really good friends, who knows next to nothing about American Idol. She watched the finale with me, and knows about my obsession with Kris and my love for Allison and Adam, but she didn’t know much about any of the contestants at all, so it was really interesting hearing her reactions to everyone (more on that later).
We tried getting into the Palace to wait by the buses by 1:00, but security wouldn't let us in, and told us we couldn't come back until the lot opened at 3:00. When we came back at a little after 3, there were already a line of people waiting outside of the Palace close to the buses. There were no barricades set up however, which I thought was weird.
This radio guy came around and interviewed this adorable Adam fan named Liam. He got him to sing “Slow Ride” into the microphone. It was so cute!
The Idols were doing the pre-show meet and greet inside, and they all walked by this big window and waved at us. Unfortunately, I had no idea what was going on, so I missed Kris and the others waving. Matt, however, came back and waved at us some more and was filming us on his phone. Had us all wave and make a lot of noise. He is so adorable omg.
So, more waiting, more despairing that no one was going to come out. Then the bearded security guy (you know the one) comes out, and they start setting up a barricade around the buses! Everyone is freaking a little bit, and he comes over and tells us we can go over and line up around the barricades, but don’t run! Cue everyone running towards the barricades LOL. That guy was not happy.
We got a really good spot at the front, and then…MATT CAME OUT! He started at our side of the line too. At this point it was about 5:45, and I figured he would be pretty rushed and would only sign autographs, but he took pictures with everyone who asked. You guys, I can’t even begin to tell you what a nice guy Matt is. Not only that, but he was WAY better looking in person. Loved his haircut, and his shirt, and his awesome piano necklace.
A girl from a local radio station came over and got him to talk on the phone to the station
Funny story, there were some girls with Glambert shirts next to me, and when Matt saw them he went, “Oh…the Glamberts” in a really amused tone of voice, like, “Oh, I totally know about you guys”. It was hilarious. (To be fair though, they were very very nice Glamberts, who we had a good conversation with).
Our turn came and when I asked him if he would sign my picture he said, "Sure, Sweetheart!" Guh! He signed my friends picture and then we got a picture with him. Except my friends camera was kind of messed up, so the women taking our picture had to fiddle with it for a while. This meant that I got to stand there for like, a minute, with Matt’s hand around my shoulders. Yeah. He smelled really, really good. Like, I don’t know if it was his cologne or what, but even my friend noticed it. /creepy
(I'm on the right)
You guys, Matt took pictures and signed for EVERYONE IN THE LINE. He got done a little after 6, an HOUR BEFORE SHOW TIME! He didn’t have to come out, but he did. I’ve been a Matt fan since the show ended, but I think I might start stanning him soon. He is such a good guy. He definitely gained a new fan in my friend as well. She couldn’t stop talking about how nice he was the whole rest of the night.
Oh, you guys might appreciate this. As I was standing at the barricades waiting to see if anyone besides Matt was going to come out, the girl next to me turned to look at my picture, pointed to Michael, and went “Who is that?”. Needless to say, I laughed.
THE CONCERT
We had great seats for the concert. Section 102, towards the side, could see everyone really well.
I thought Detroit was a pretty good crowd overall. They were very loud, and gave Matt a really good reception. I was kind of disappointed though, because not too many people stood up in my section. It seemed like the majority of the floor stood up, but my section was kind of lame. I tried to stand up for a lot of the songs in the first half, but I sat down out of courtesy to the people behind me for a lot of the songs as well. I didn’t give a fuck for the second half though. I was going to stand for all of Allison, Adam, and Kris, and no one was going to stop me. When people started sitting during “All These Things That I’ve Done”, I almost turned around and shouted “BITCHES, YOU STAND FOR YOUR AMERICAN IDOL!!!” But I didn’t…because I didn’t want to be thrown out :)
Short version of my impressions of the show: EVERYONE WAS AMAZING! I LOVED EVERY SINGLE PERSON’S SET SOOOOO MUCH. THEY ALL WERE SO GOOD, AND I WOULD GO TO SOLO CONCERTS FOR THE MAJORITY OF THEM.
Long version:
(This really is long. You've been warned. Also, despite my good seats, my camera was crappy. Sorry for the lameness of the pictures. Seriously, I just put them in so it wasn't all text)
MICHAEL
Michael was WAY better than I thought he was going to be. Loved his first song SO much. He had everyone up off their feet and I thought he had great stage presence. I’m really starting to like him a lot. Michael was the first one to give Matt a shout out, and pretty much every other Idol did after him too. It was really nice.
MEGAN!
OMG MEGAN! I LOVED HER! NGL, I didn’t really like Megan during the show, but I LOVED her at the concert. She was probably my biggest surprise of the night. I couldn’t believe how good she sounded, and she was really sassy and funny and just…fun! My friend also freaked out during Megan’s set, because she loves Corinne Bailey Rae and Amy Winehouse, so she sang along to her whole set. Megan also had some crazy hair going on. It was like, a side afro or something. But girl was working it!
SCOTT!
I lied when I said my friend had only watched the finale with me, she actually watched the Group 3 semifinals episode (starring one Scott MacIntyre), and she just loves him. Not his music or anything, she just thinks he’s hilarious. So we screamed really loudly for Scott. I thought Scott was good. Loved “Bend and Break” the best. His jokes were lame, but I laughed anyways. He’s very endearing.
LIL
Not gonna lie, Lil had probably my least favorite set of the night, but she was still very good. My friend loved the Mary J. Blige, and we danced around to “Single Ladies”. I was surprised, Lil’s got some moves.
ANOOP!
OMG ANOOP! Anoop gained 2 new stans after this concert! We absolutely LOVED Anoop. My friend could not stop talking about how much she loved Anoop actually. While waiting at the barricades, she kept saying “I hope Anoop comes out”, and every once in a while would turn to me and sigh his name LOL. Adam's was her favorite set, but she ranked Anoop’s at number 2. She’s crazy about him now! I realized she was gone when she was like, clutching her heart at the end of “Always on My Mind”. And then halfway through “Mad”, she bust out the video camera and was filming all these loving close-ups of his face LOL. We also screamed A LOT at “My Prerogative” and his gyrating. UNF. SERIOUSLY UNF. I HAD NO IDEA ANOOP WAS THIS GOOD. CLEARLY I FAIL AT LIFE FOR TAKING SO LONG TO COME OVER TO THE SIDE OF ANOOP, BUT JFC. LOVED HIS SET SO MUCH. I THINK HIS WAS MY FAVORITE OF THE FIRST HALF.
MATT!
“Hard to Handle” was one of my favorite performances of the entire night. The guy is so confident up there, and his voice is perfection. I ADORED his set. He was really cute with the crowd too. Told us about how he had started off playing in bars not too far from the Palace, and he thanked us for helping his dream come true. He also talked about all his family and friends and music teachers who were there watching him and also mentioned “fellow dueling pianists”, and pointed right at a group of guys sitting in front of us, whom I'm assuming were friends of his, who then stood up and pointed back at him and waved. It was very cute.
I’m obsessed with “Beggin”. GAH IT WAS SO GOOD! It was stuck in my head the whole rest of the night. LOVE.
ALLISON!
I LOVE THIS GIRL! I wasn’t too crazy about “So What”, but “Cry Baby” and “Barracuda” were EPIC. I can’t decide between the two which one I like better. “Cry Baby” was so impressive from a vocal point of view. I just could not believe how good her voice sounded during that song. “Barracuda” is just awesome. Girl has amazing stage presence.
DANNY
I was sitting next to a HUGE Danny fan. She was probably about in her 50s, and told me that she comes to the AI tour every year, but Danny is her favorite contestant of all time. She also told me she loved Kris and wanted a Kranny finale, to which I just smiled and nodded and didn’t say anything LOL.
I have to give it up for Danny, “P.Y.T” was really good. Maybe it’s just because I love the song, but I was jamming along to that performance a lot. It was one of the few songs that got everyone in the arena on their feet and dancing. “Maria Maria” was OK. I have to mention the fact that halfway through the song, the Danny fan next to me sat down, which I thought was weird, but when I looked at her, I realized she was sitting down because she was CRYING. She actually cried for the entire rest of his set. NGL, it was kind of really really sweet. Say what you will about Danny, the guy is well-loved by a lot of people.
HOLY SHIT, ADAM!
I didn’t realize how excited I was to see Adam until Danny’s last song was finishing and my heart started pounding and I was hyperventilating and then his introduction started and I was JUMPING UP AND DOWN LIKE THE CRAZY GLAMBERTS IN FRONT OF ME. He was SO good. SO SO SO SO GOOD. Ya’ll know how good he is. You’ve read about it from a million other tour reviews, but just…DAMN. HE IS ABSOLUTELY MESMERIZING. I COULD NOT TAKE MY EYES OFF OF HIM HIS ENTIRE SET.
People have mentioned this before, but his voice did sound higher than I expected it to, especially during “Starlight” and “Mad World”. It didn’t take away from his performance at all, but I did notice it. Adam’s set was my friend’s favorite. She couldn’t stop talking about his dancing during the Bowie medley. “I can’t get the image of Adam gyrating out of my head”, were I believe her exact words LOL.
It’s kind of funny because Adam is so fierce during his performances, but in between songs when he was talking to the crowd, he was so sweet and nice and adorable and I JUST LOVE HIM A LOT, OK? Someone in the anon post was commenting about how they were sad that they didn’t hear about very many Kris stans who gained new love for Adam. Well, here’s one right here! I've always loved Adam, but my levels of love for him have never been higher than they are right now.
JESUS FUCK, KRIS!
As much as I liked the rest of the Top 10, the real reason I came to the concert was to see Kris. I didn’t even give a shit about American Idol until I discovered Kris. While I was freaking out and jumping up and down and screaming for Adam, with Kris, I kind of didn’t know what to do LOL. I screamed for him really loudly, but for the most part I just kind of, stared. Like, I was sort of…absorbing his performances IDK.
HE WAS…AMAZING. Of course I’m going to say that, but I think he might have been better than I thought he was going to be. HE WAS SO GOOD. When “Heartless” started I was kind of standing there in shock, but then he held the note on “soul” longer than I’ve ever heard him hold it, and his voice sounded so clear, and I just lost it. Screaming, tearing up, the whole 9 yards (OMG I’M A CRAZY PERSON).
Just watching YouTube videos, I thought “Bright Lights” was my favorite, but seeing his set in person, “All These Things That I’ve Done” was my favorite BY FAR. I think I liked it so much because it was the only one where he really got to move around a lot (besides the end of “Hey Jude”), and his guitar playing was ADORABLE! People who think Kris loses all the energy after Adam need to STFD, because ATTTID had just as much energy as the majority of songs Adam did. Kris knows how to captivate an audience, just in a different way than Adam. You can tell through videos, but seeing him live, you really see how much the music overtakes him when he plays. He draws you in so much that you’re left hanging on every single note. Those pauses he does during “Ain’t No Sunshine”? Yeah…totally in the palm of his hand (Also, FUCK YOU, DETROIT NEWS REPORTER. FUCK. YOU. “NO PASSION”, MY ASS).
His guitar solo during “Bright Lights” is UNF. UNF UNF UNF UNF…UNF. Loved “Hey Jude” too. That one I think made me feel the most proud of him, because it was such a "feel good" moment. I MAY HAVE BEEN CRYING IDK.
DSB!
Everyone goes CRAZY during the “Born and raised in South Detroit” line, and Matt gave us a huge smile when we did. No Kradam BJ dance, but they did dance at each other and it was very cute. After the “Hey hey hey goodbye” part, Adam and Danny walked to the back of the stage together and Adam did a little dance at him and then Danny…shimmied at Adam :\ I think I spotted a Kregan moment somewhere in there, and there was also a ton of Megan and Allison interaction. They are adorable together!
AFTER THE SHOW
We got to the barricades late so we were three rows deep, and had to pass our stuff up for people to sign. I was actually really surprised at how well-behaved the barricades were. Everyone was really nice to us, helping our stuff get signed, there was no shoving (except for these little kids who were crawling through our feet in order to get to the front), and I was happy that people weren’t like, chanting Adam’s name at Lil’s face like I’ve heard happened at other places.
Allison, Megan, Lil, Kris, Adam, and Matt all came out to sign after the show, but I had NO IDEA that Kris was even signing autographs until after I got home D:
There were tons of people in front of me and it was really hard to see, but I did see Kris come out. He had his guitar and was wearing his cute little messenger bag, looking absolutely adorable of course, and he waved to us and then kind of, disappeared. I could not see him at all, and I kept asking people around me if he was signing. At first everyone was like, “I don’t know”, but then the guy in front of me told me Kris wasn’t out and that he got back on the buses. Then a little while later, he told me he was out there! So I was waiting for him to come to us, but he never did. I was so confused! Turns out he started at the middle of the barricades and only signed one half of the line, which was of course, not my half. I was really disappointed, because if I had known, I would have ran over there and got his signature. I JUST COULDN’T SEE A GODDAMN THING AND WAS MASSIVELY CONFUSED DURING THAT WHOLE EXPERIENCE. I was pretty upset about it when I found out, but I’m over it. I’m really just happy I got to see him at all. Maybe next time :)
Allison was so cute and really personable. She was pretty chill, but very funny and nice and took pictures with everyone who asked (we weren’t close enough to the barricades, so I didn’t get any pictures with them afterward).
LOL
Allison went, "Hey lashes!" when she saw this girl
At one point, the lady next to me says to her, “I’m going to tell Michael Slezak how awesome you were tonight!” and Allison stands back and goes “You know Michael Slezak?!” And the women was like “No, I mean on Twitter!” To which Allison just laughed.
So, funny story, I witnessed this really cute fan encounter between Megan (who is ridiculously gorgeous and sweet btw) and a fan who had given her the awesome T-shirt she was wearing. Megan seemed to love the shirt and gave the fan a huge hug. All of us were ‘aw’-ing over it, because it was so cute, and I couldn’t stop thinking about how cool it was. Imagine my surprise when I got home and found out that the fan with the cute Megan encounter was tigerfan28! I WAS STANDING RIGHT BEHIND HER AT THE BARRICADES THE ENTIRE TIME! I was freaking out for her over her Megan encounter, and I didn’t even know it was her LOL. I’m so happy for her that she got to have that experience. It was pretty dang epic :)
HER HAIR WAS AMAZING
I only got one good picture of Lil (my camera was dying at this point), but she was also very nice, and really beautiful.
Then Adam came out and everyone went nuts. He was super rushed, and could only sign everything really quickly, but he still managed to smile and thank everybody who was talking to him. He is SO sweet and gorgeous in person.
I also only have one good picture of him, because my camera ran out of battery right at the exact moment he was in front of me D:
Matt also came through the line really fast. So fast that I wasn’t able to get my program out for him to sign (but it was all good because I already had his signature). And yes, while Adam was standing in front of us, Matt came over and slapped his ass :)
Here's a link to my Photobucket in case anyone wants to look at the rest of my pictures.
SO, DESPITE BEING SCORNED BY KRIS, I HAD AN AMAZING TIME. I’M ALREADY THINKING ABOUT MAYBE GOING TO THE GRAND RAPIDS SHOW, BECAUSE I HAD SO MUCH FUN. I HAVE SO MUCH RESPECT FOR ALL OF THESE PEOPLE, AND THINK THEY ARE ALL AMAZINGLY TALENTED. THEY PUT ON A FANTASTIC SHOW AND I WOULD GO SEE THE MAJORITY OF THEM AGAIN ANY DAY.