On November 29, 2012, Clay Aiken sang at the Durham Performing Arts Center in front of family, friends and fans. From all accounts it was an amazing concert.
I asked some of my friends if I could share their comments about the concert here. I am taking bits from their beautiful reports! It must have been a magical night!
mumm fums said:
…Maybe because he was home and it’s his birthday or the air and the moon were just right (beautiful moon over the theater last evening)but he was absolutely amazing! He truly is a gift from God to all of us! His voice was topnotch and, of course, front and center for the entire show…
…The orchestra was also very good. The banter before The First Noel took a whole new meaning when seeing this performance live as the entire brass section stood when they played the marvelous ending to that song. Breathtaking. What a wonderful surprise to see Quiana last night! She did a beautiful job on Where are you Christmas...
FearofH2O wrote:
Clay knocked the socks off of his audience in Durham last night. He rocked, he crooned, he prayed and then sang the most glorious power notes ever to rip the roof off the building. In my ten years of fandom, I have never heard him sing like this. I am so fortunate to be able to go to a few more concerts. There is absolutely no way he can top this performance unless he sings an opera performing all the roles.
…Clay would look in the wings and laugh at some of the comments he made, leading to me to think he had friends on the stage who might not have seen him this tour. I remember in a few tours where I had up front seats, that when the lights dimmed Clay would go from smiling to all about the business, I didn’t see this last night. He is one happy man. Ten years after his first appearance on the National scene, he can still wow his fans and the rest of the audience…
Clayanne said:
I honestly have never heard a concert where his voice was so perfect. I have listened and watched many videos from this tour ,but I had no idea how very good the show was. I loved everything about it. The audience listened with sheer amazement like they were witnessing an artist reach pure perfection. There wasn’t a boring moment, the pace was enjoyable, and I loved the stories. This concert rates up as one of his very best. I feel like I have been given a happy pill. What a night!
I love how he recognized his fans and told how caring we are. I know he appreciates us….
Brightstar said:
What an amazing night! Clay was happy, relaxed, and as vocally perfect as I have ever heard him. Tonight was about The Voice. His voice was mellow, smooth, and rich. It was butter, it was honey. It was a warm hug, it was a soft caress, it was a soaring triumph. It was love, praise, and joy. During the soft, moving moments, the crowd was absolutely silent, entranced. You could have heard a pin drop.
The concert was more than I could have asked for, yet it wasn’t nearly enough. I need to have that voice in my life forever.
A few of my pics turned out okay:
Thank you for all the beautiful words and pictures. I heard the concert online and it gave me chills.
Were you at the concert?
On Friday, it seemed that everywhere you looked there were Birthday Greetings for Clay online. I could never post them all, but here are a few.
From Twitter:
Michael Orland @MichaelOrland
@clayaiken Happy Birthday, Clay!!! Hope you’re having a blast on your tour. And hope to see you VERY soon. Happy, healthy everything!!
American Idol @AmericanIdol
Wishing a very happy birthday to Season 2’s runner-up @clayaiken!
KiSS 92.5 @kiss925toronto
@DaveBlezard: Clay Aiken is also celebrating! He turns 34. It was almost 10 years ago that Clay was runner up on Season 2 of American Idol!
Mann-Weil @mannweil
Happy BDay 2 @clayaiken. What a soulful version of this song of ours http://bit.ly/11aU4F2 ( Sent from the composers of Here You Come Again.)
UNICEF USA @unicefusa
Happy Birthday to UNICEF Ambassador @clayaiken (For real this time 😉 )
USA TODAY Life @USATODAYlife
Happy birthday to @clayaiken (34) and @KaleyCuoco (27)! Other celebrity birthdays: http://usat.ly/UwXGOU
Universal MusicGroup @UMG
Happy Birthday @ClayAiken! http://twitpic.com/bhvxwc
Arsenio Hall @ArsenioOFFICIAL
@clayaiken PARTY!
Greg Hernandez of GregInHollywood wrote a wonderful birthday article about Clay. It is a must read. The following is my favorite part:
I’m so impressed with how articulate and thoughtful he has been whether it’s discussing ex-gay reparative therapy on The Dr. Oz Showor LGBT equality on Face the Nation, Clay has shown that he is a force to be reckoned with.
Please visit GreginHollywood and be sure and leave a positive comment! Click on GREG
One of the very best Birthday greetings were found at Playbill. The really put together an exciting article with lots of videos. Be aware…you will love each video.
THE SCREENING ROOM: Happy Birthday, Clay Aiken (Video)By Playbill Staff
30 Nov 2012Playbill.com takes a look back at Aiken’s career with clips from the second season of “American Idol,” his performances of Broadway classics, television appearances and more.
There are 13 videos!! Click on PLAYBILL for the link.
The following are two videos from last nights concert. Enjoy!
We are almost done for this blog, but I wanted to show you a cute couple of tweets:
@clayaiken PARTY!
Clay responded:
@ArsenioOFFICIAL this is all the party I get. Watching TV on the tour bus on the way to the next city! Ha pic.twitter.com/FgI8TciH
It looks pretty comfy to me!!
Tomorrow, I will open up the Atlantic City Blog before the concert to share some great articles and mentions about the concert and Clay’s appearance at the Boardwalk Winter Sweet Festival.
Please check back for up to date information!
I am so happy to hear of all of these reports and wonderful videos – our Mr. Clay Aiken is a REAl
SINGER, and people are beginning to notice just what kind of a REAL PERSON that he is!!!! He owns
a real voice, mind, heart, and soul!!!! Totally brilliant!!! Are the stars in the sky finally beginning to
line up and light up for Clay!!!?? I hope so!! Best of all – he seems to be enjoying it!
What a wonderful day! Hope Clay had fantastic birthday and those videos were amazing! I love hearing the great comments from the tour. Keep up the good work! 🙂
Thanks Musicfan for your wonderful post, love the photos and videos and all the great comments about Clay which he deserves, just love that guy xox.
Thank you for the great reports on his show in Durham. Sounds like he did a spectacular job there. He seems to be getting great reports from all the venues that he is appearing in. I am a little biased..because, of course, I loved him the most at my concert on Nov.25 in Clearwater, Florida. He was just awesome. Enjoying this whole tour so much..keep up your good articles, I really enjoy them.
This post is just crammed full of wonderful photos, videos and articles. It has taken me over an hour just to see it all. (And I should be decorating the house and tree instead.) I'm so happy for Clay that others in the entertainment world appreciate his talents (and not just his fans).
Musicfan, I hope that you are surviving the rain storms in your part of the country.