Flat Clay made a surprise appearance on August 3, 2007. He was the center of attention as he stood straight in the window of a hotel room, looking down at the audience, the orchestra and……..Clay Aiken.

The Pala Casino Resort and Spa was the backdrop for this interesting meeting of Clays. Just north-east of San Diego, Pala is one of the largest casinos and resort hotels in all of Southern California.

Clay was in the middle of his summer tour, nicknamed the “Soft Rock and A Hard Place” and was at Pala for the second of a four concert series in Southern California.

The setting for the concert at Pala was outside. The 2000 plus audience was in folding chairs and was surrounded on two sides by the large hotel. The rooms looked right out onto the concert area.

At one time in the concert, Clay joked that there were people “stealing” his concert by watching from their rooms. Angela and Quiana were looking up too and noticed Flat Clay. Real Clay was amused and joked about the cardboard cut-out that was keeping watch in a window on one of the top floors. Someone in the audience told Clay that Flat Clay went everywhere with her. Clay asked how he fit in the car and laughed when he found out he was folded in half and shoved in the trunk.

The next song on the playlist was “When I See You Smile” and Clay had fun singing it to Flat Clay…….it was almost a Love serenade. The audience was laughing and so was Clay!!

The Pala concert was wonderful. The setting was beautiful and the performance was incredible. Clay and his back-up singers were outstanding and the orchestra provided a professional backing for Clay. The fans in attendance felt it was one of the best concerts of the summer.

The next day, the tour traveled up to Los Angeles to perform at the famous Greek Theater in the Hollywood Hills. I am a bit prejudice about this concert as my husband and I were in the front row, exactly in the middle. I will always remember this concert fondly.

The weather was warm and Clay and the other performers commented that it was pretty hot. Clay chatted with the audience and seemed to enjoy the gorgeous setting of the theater. My favorite part of the concert was the TV Medley. The entire audience was laughing and enjoying the silly songs.

The audience was loud, supportive and gave more than one standing ovation to the performers. But when Clay sang “Lover All Alone”, you could have heard a pin drop in the audience. The cellist that night was particularly good and the entire song was amazing.

I didn’t see Flat Clay that night. He must have stayed in the trunk!!

We have some great videos of these two concerts. Thank you to the wonderful people who provide the wonderful “clack.”

Pala Banter and WISYS

LA Banter and Perfect Strangers

LA – TV Medley