American Idol, Indianapolis

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American Idol – Indy State Fair – August 17, 2006
Part One
Hi all,

I am still in Indianapolis, hicktown of the Midwest (snark snark), but I snuck down here to the computer in the barn to write up a brief recap.

As you know, my recap is about the whole experience, not just the show. This first part will lead up to the Idols. Skip it if you just want to know about the show. I won’t cry.

The drive from Knoxville to Indy is supposed to take about 6 hours – it took me 7.5. Why? Three separate snarls due to construction and a particularly horrific car accident in the Louisvile area. There was a car smashed to near non-recognition! I don’t know if anybody died, but it looked really messy.

The road construction was a real bitch, but I put on some Taylor – “Hold On To Your Love” specifically. I listened to all the versions I have and listened to them again. I dare you to stay grumpy while that is on. I triple-dog dare you to even try. Suffice it to say, my neighbors in the traffic jam thought I was insane what with my smiling and singing and letting people merge while we sat nearly immobile on the Interstate.

Anyway, I got to Indy and Nirak’s house where I was greeted by Vanna White, circa 1985. Okay, it was Nirak, and she doesn’t like being compared to Vanna. She won’t let me take her picture so you just have to take my word for it. I dumped my stuff and we headed for the fair.

It’s been about two years since I have been to a Fair. This one is HUGE! We made our way through the traffic (UTR on the radio – nice) and passed the Pepsi arena. Nirak says (sarcastically), “You missed Pat Boone. He was singing this afternoon.” Well, that just ticked me off. “You mean if it weren’t for all the damn traffic I could have seen effin’ Pat Boone? For real?” Since I am being serious, Nirak laughs at me. Whatever, when I get home I’ll link you guys up some nice Pat Boone to help you through your day.

We parked and walked inside, had ourselves some Gyros and lemon shake-ups and sat on a bench to “people-watch.” The women behind us are Chris fans, so we start chatting about the Show and the Idols and “share the love” – it’s nice to talk to fans of other Idols and not get in a freakin’ competition/fight. They were very pleasant and snarked along with Nirak and me as we commented on “the beautiful people” who kept walking back and forth. These ladies would fit in very well here, but neither visits message boards. Pity.

So, I’m talking to our new friends and Nirak is turned around looking towards the stadium, checking out the venue (sh’e trying to predict Taylor’s route into the show). A golf cart approaches.

Nirak says, “hey.”
I say, “what?”
She says, “there’s Katharine.”
Because it is a natural reaction to look when someone points, I look (briefly).
I say, “okay.”
She says, “No, really it’s Katharine.”
I say, “Yeah, I know. I just don’t care.”

Wait a beat.

We both die laughing! Because evidently nobody else cares either. There are two cops on the cart with Kat and nobody is even giving her a second glance. They pull the cart around to the horse pavilion and Kat gets out. Yeah, she’s got that walking cast on, but she’s having no trouble getting around. No leaning on someone, no excessive limping – she’s fine. Okay? She’s in there for maybe 20 minutes and comes back out to her cart. She is not mobbed. The cart starts back down the road and a couple of little girls spot her and get excited. They wave and yell “Katharine!” and look around to see who else is excited. It’s just them. Kat gives them a smile and a wave and the cart keeps on going. I’m happy for those girls that they got to see their Idol and she waved at them. It was a sweet moment (even if Kat is a harpy).

Part Deux:

I don’t know what time we parted company with our new friends (my watch is still broken), but after using the world’s worst bathroom (okay, it was in the horse pavilion – so I shouldn’t have expected much) we got in line to enter the stadium. They have signs everywhere about no video cameras and no professional cameras, but no one is checking for that stuff and once inside we see plenty such cameras. Where the freakin’ heck is the footage?? I have yet to see any concert footage. Hello!!

We can’t get into the freaking seating area because three different ushers give us three different directions – so we asked a vendor. That got us there. Now, Nirak had recently “traded up” for our tickets and told me they were right up front…but I had no idea just how close we were going to be. I knew they were FIFTH ROW AISLE, but they were better than I had even imagined.

The stage was set up opposite the bleachers (duh), but the track itself had been covered with folding chairs within feet of the stage – and that’s where we were. Couldn’t have been more than 15/20 feet from the front. Sweet!!

Being that this was an outdoor venue, I was very excited. I know that outside is the place to be for concerts, and being that it was a State Fair I predicted that this would prove to be one of the best shows on the tour. I think it was, so far. The buses were parked right next to the stage. For the first time in Idol history, the people up in the Grandstands were probably in the best seats in the house for the “pregame show” as the Idols entertained themselves and the crowd.

I did not run over to the fence to watch, but I could see glimpses and hear other people “reporting” what was going on. I did see Elliott up on a table (or something) videotaping the crowd. I did see Taylor come up behind him, but I didn’t see him try to pants Elliott. It got a big laugh from the spectators, but Taylor quickly disappeared back between the buses. I saw Ace come out of a large tent. I’m guessing that’s where the meet ‘n’ greet was held. Elliott is a real showboat. Any confidence problems he may have had on the show are definitely not hindering him anymore. He was riding his scooter around and showing off for the crowd. Everyone hooted and hollered. It was hilarious!

I’m not sure who else was hamming it up over there, but I did see Chris go by – over and over and over. Back and forth! What the heck was he doing. And I did glance over just in time when people started yelling particularly loud – and saw Taylor disappear again behind the buses, tucking his shirt tail into his pants. But that’s it. No juicy stories of half-naked boys playing football (word is they kept their shirts on this time anyway – shove your tongues back in your mouths). No bus stalking. No autographs or hugs. And that’s all perfectly fine by me. Because you know what? I was here a week and a half ago:

… and that’s really all I need.

(sorry, I’m feeling nostalgic)

Tres:
It was really hot down on the track – the sun was shining right on us (no clouds) and the humidity was brutal! I was a little worried about trying to take pictures, but once it hit eight o’clock the sun started going down pretty quickly and a few wispy clouds rolled in.

American Idol is NOT punctual. Ever. The show was set to start at 7:30, but…

About a quarter ’til 8, everybody’s watching the Idols and the “pre-show torture” of the video screens starts. The sound system cranks up and they start with the Pop-Tart videos. If any of them featured Taylor, I might actually care to watch them. It was the same montage as last time – the weird skydiving video (“Free Falling”); surfing (“Danny California” – side note: totally rips off another Tom Petty song. Hmm…); and the weirdest one – “It’s a Man’s World” with the clips of Hollywood celebs on red carpets. What does that have to do with Idol anyway? They showed the one with Chris, Bucky, and Ace (where they’re talking about their hair) twice. (?) I do have to say that I like the one where they beg Bucky to do the “Bucky Slide” next to the pool. Bucky’s not my favorite singer, but he’s a good guy and that skit makes me laugh.
Where the heck is Taylor, you turds?

The videos finally stopped and the music got even louder! I swear those speakers should come with heart patient warnings! It certainly gets the crowd ready! The fog machines (or were they outdoor air conditioners?) started pumping overtime. Um, this is really stupid in an outdoor venue…especially when the wind is blowing. The “smoke” all got blown to the far side of the stage – this would prove to work in Nirak’s and my favor throughout the night.

Nirak got on the phone and we were ready to begin! Mandisa was sick (dammit) so Ace started the show. He came out and I was surprised to see that there had been no wardrobe substitutions – he was wearing that jacket over his tee and a toboggan. On the video screens, you could see the sweat just pouring off of him. He was running around and I thought he might keel over. He peeled off that jacket and, of course, the sqeauls of hundreds of prepubescent girls filled the air.

Ace’s voice is better than it was on the show, but the excellent sound system was not forgiving to most of the Idols. Every sour note, every missed lyric, every wonky key rang loud and clear. Luckily, he didn’t hit many bad notes. Ace knows how to work a crowd. People were waving at him and he would wave back and smile really big, but…

Ace, that heartbeat thing? Really, very creepy…especially that close.

Next up was Lisa. Lisa is a very pretty girl and she sings beautifully, but last night she was not in her best voice. “Signed, sealed, delivered” was pretty good and fun – she’s nice and perky and had on some fabulous green wedges (they looked like patent leather). When she sat down at the piano, she started out fairly strong, but by the end I was just wanting her to be done!

Oh, and she had on 7 of 9 makeup around her right eye. Very strange.

Lisa then introduced her “best friend, Paris”. She came out looking all cute in pigtails, but she had on a white tank with black pants and suspenders. It was kinda weird. I remember she had on white strappy heels and I thought she was going to break her neck dancing the way she was, but it was okay. They did “Waterfalls” and danced together. These two are just adorable.

“Midnight Train to Georgia” was next. Paris really nailed this song on the show, but I have been nothing but disappointed with it since. She sure is energetic – running from one end of the stage to the other and interacting with the crowd. The vocals are too low pitched and she tries too hard. It comes out forced and unnatural.

“Crazy in Love” has grown on me – that really is a great dance tune. Her opening dance moves still make me uncomfortable (she’s just a baby!), but for the most part she’s a great dancer. The vocals took a backseat, however, and I could barely hear her. When she got to her “Rhythm Nation” chair dance, she swung her foot up over the back and I thought we were going to lose her. She teetered and almost fell, but was able to catch herself. Phew!

On with the show:

Paris left the stage and the band started into the intro for “Superstition” – man, I love that song! Bucky entered, but you could hardly hear him. He wasn’t projecting very well, and he kept holding the mic way too low (far from his mouth). Maybe he is not up to 100% after the strep? All I know is that he can sing better than that. He went to the top of the stage and did some odd little, sideways hoppity thing (not the Bucky Slide). It was kinda cool. Bucky put his hat on (I think) to sing “Drift Away” – more weak vocals. I’m willing to chalk it up to post-illness because I have heard him sing well on other occasions. Side-note: way too much jewelry there, Buck. Anybody here familiar with Mitch Hedberg? He had a bit about “too many cranium accessories” – accurate description here.

Kellie joined Bucky for “You’re the One That I Want.” There were a few sour notes (that sound system let every single one be heard), but overall it was very good. It’s always such a cute, fun number. Afterwards, Kellie bantered a little. She didn’t talk in B’ham, I assume because she was also not 100% at that time. She mentioned how she and Kat had gone to the livestock area and pet the pigs. It reminded her of home. She thanked the crowd for this opportunity and said she was amazed that less than a year ago she was just a carhop at Sonic. “Nobody cares about you, they just want their food.” Kellie is just adorable. And so funny! I hope to see her on TV soon. She sang her full set, but the smoke machine was really bothering her. She was waving it out of her face and stayed longer on our side of the stage because of it. “I’m the Only One” is one of her best songs, I think. Nirak and I believe she forgot some lyrics to “Something to Talk about” – she kept repeating that phrase…a lot!

Intermission:

I sat and chatted with the Elliott fans seated behind us while Nirak went to check out the sidestage happenings. Someone said Bucky and Kellie were riding the scooters around. The crew starts bringing out more guitars and I am scoping the stage for “that purdy red guitar” as someone once said. I think I see it, so as soon as Nirak comes back I go up over there for a better view. There’s a picture in my photobucket of the guitar set-up. I thought it (the guitar) was in there, but now I’m not sure. I was looking at someone’s pics from another show, and it seems that when Taylor is going to do DLMD, the red guitar is out on the stage and NOT in the rack.

I love the crowd. Lots and lots of Taylor and Chris signs/tee-shirts/buttons. A handful of Kat signs, mostly tees for Elliott, but honestly, this is clearly a Taylor/Chris crowd.

The little boy in our row with his hair spray-painted gray is just too cute. He’s maybe 10 and has a sign that says “I Want To Meet Taylor.” Too cute.

There’s a woman across the aisle in low-rise, ill-fitting sweatpants who keeps bending over and showing her “tramp stamp.” It’s a particularly bad one (as in poor tattoo work) and looks like a ratty thong sticking up over her pants.

Aren’t you guys glad you know that?

You know, I didn’t really intend on becoming “The Tramp Reporter”, but when they are soo in your face like that, it’s hard not to notice. I just knew you guys were wondering what kind of horrors were in Indy. To answer krusty’s question: I think Trampy Grandma is probably just the wanna-be type. She didn’t do much more than grab Taylor’s leg and take pictures of his butt. If she’d taken her shirt off and swung it around her head while yelling “Come and get it, Big Boy!!” she would have been in a league of her own.

I forgot to mention that Kellie’s “hooker make-up” was toned way down tonight. Either the message had gotten to her or she was a little more casual because of the venue. Whatever the reason, she looks better more natural. When she came down front to shake people’s hands, I could see her fairly close and she is very pretty. She doesn’t need all that crap on her face.

And it goes:

Nirak won’t give up the phone – I think she is enjoying herself too much – so I let her keep it. I don’t care one way or the other. You guys really confused us with the horse question – we had no context for it. We didn’t know until we got home that y’all had been discussing Taylor possibly coming in on a horse. Nirak was like, “Why do you want to know if there are horses? Of course there are horses – it’s the Fair!” LOL!

It’s time to start the second half. To be perfectly honest, the American Idol Tour should be called The Taylor, Chris, Elliott & Friends Show – because it is. They are the best part of the show. The other Idols have fun, but are not in the same league. Vocally, I think Mandisa could be, but her banter and stage presence need some work. At any rate, they open the show with their best female and close with their best male – it’s a good format.

So, the lights go down and the music starts. Chris comes out and once again the smoke machines are on overdrive.

The crowd roars for Chris! Definitely a popular guy in Indy. He starts into “Whole Lotta Love” and it sounds pretty good – more singing tonight than screaming. “W-a-ay down inside…” part sounds really good. Just, quit carrying the darned mic stand around! Gah!

Nirak instructed me to be on the lookout for a crotch grab. If he did it, I missed it. I did however get an “almost.”

I liked WLL, but I’m just not feelin’ Chris’ rendition of “Wanted Dead or Alive.” I’ve never liked it. He’s just kinda whiny and forced with it. No thanks from me. Now, “Renegade” I like. He does a great job with it and the crowd is really into it. At one point, he goes down in front of the first row and climbs up on the barrier – women almost pull his shirt off. Not that it would have taken much…I think there are only two buttons done anyway.

Chris starts “Savin’ Me” and Elliott joins him on stage. The crowd goes flipping nuts – Elliott has on a Payton Manning jersey!

There’s so much screaming, you really can’t hear the first part of the duet. That’s fine by me – I hate this song. More specifically, I hate Nickelback, but that has nothing to do with American Idol…moving on! While I am not into it, most of the crowd is. There is a row of teenage girls behind and to the side of us and they are all singing along while they sway.

Chris leaves and Elliott goes into “Never Too Much.” It’s enjoyable for the first 20 minutes, but when is it going to be over??? They should call it “Way Too Much” (snarkity snark).

Elliot sounds fantastic! His voice is smooth and fine and he has greatly improved his stage presence. Hmm…I wonder where he learned that.

He addresses the crowd, more specifically “my ladies” – kinda icky, but whatever (you’re not licking me, buddy!) “Moody’s Mood For Love” – sounds great! I don’t hear any bad notes, which is amazing because every single one of them so far has had some.

“Trouble” – NOT my favorite on the show. It just seemed ridiculous given his vocal style, persona, and presence. Now, however, he has “roughed up” the vocals a bit, carries himself with more confidence, and is proving to be quite the “playa” – this all comes together to make this my favorite song (of his) for the night. Much better than on TV.

Time for “Patience” – the guys all come out and join Elliott. This has been a pleasant surprise for me, from watching the videos and hearing it live, I really like it. Their voices blend extremely well. My only beef? The whistling. Gah, Chris! Bad pitch, out of tune, just…bad!

One more “ick” moment: Before leaving the stage, Elliott wipes his sweat with a towel – then throws it into the crowd! Women actually scramble for it!!!! Ewwww!!!!

And now, what you’ve all been waiting for:

Katharine
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Believe it or not, I didn’t really pay that close attention to Princess. Let’s see:

Straight hair.
Pretty girl.
Shockingly thin in person.
Needs breast support…desperately.
Somehow, she makes BHCT boring.
I still can’t quite figure out how she sings around that foot in her mouth.
Still only doing two songs – because a broken foot means you can’t sing. Whatever.
I have no pictures of Kat – don’t want any.
Pissed off an entire city in two seconds.

She was bantering along about how she had gotten to pet the pigs and I think a chicken (I was only halfway listening to her). She said it was the best day of the tour. Everybody was softening towards her, and then BAM! There goes the foot flying into her mouth so fast it whistled! I vaguely remember her saying something about how it made her (the city girl) feel country “like all of you.” It was so profoundly stupid that it took my brain a couple of seconds to process. My brow furrowed. My brain repeated the “faux pas” in my head. I heard Nirak yell something like “That bitch!” I said, “Did she just … say … what I think she said?” ooooh. Bad move, Kitty Kat.

So, Katharine – Let me get this straight. Okay. So, Indianapolis is “country” like Birmingham is “a small town” … is that correct?

All right. Just checkin’.

SOTR – boring. As usual. Nirak wasn’t paying attention anyway. She was up at the railing grilling the security guards about if Taylor was coming in that way (there were a lot more guards than had been there a few minutes ago). She squealed and came running back over – “He’s coming that way!!” She threw me the phone and jumped up and down a few times.

Funny note: While Kat was running her mouth before SOTR, I guess we were annoying the Kat fans because I heard someone say, “That Soul Patrol is really getting on my nerves!”

I laughed and laughed and laughed!!

* I’ve been thinking about this whole “country debacle” – and I’m wondering if maybe Kat meant the Fair gave her a glimpse of country life like it gives Indy a glimpse of country life. I mean, it’s possible, right? Maybe she just awkwardly worded it? I don’t know! I’m trying to be a nice person here.

The Main Event:

At this point, it’s me on the phone.

Katharine finishes SOTR (not quickly enough for me). Sorry to say, guys, but I do believe that the crowd is clapping for her. She actually makes it off the stage before JHR starts.

Nirak is bouncing back and forth between our seats and the rail, and she screams “He’s in a fucking police car!” Sure enough, from our end of the track, here comes a cop car with lights flashing. I don’t know if the siren was on, there was far too much screaming to tell. Nirak said a trooper opened the door and Taylor jumped out – she got a high-five as he ran by!

“Hollywood Nights” is freakin’ hott! He is way into it! He’s singing the hell out of it – he’s spinning – he’s grabbing the strings and pulling them up as far as possible before letting them snap back (very very quickly) – at one point he KICKS the guitar – then he smacks it (why is that so hott??) again and again – scrunchy faces galore!!!! – growly vocals and smooth vocals. He changes the lyrics back to the original “midwestern boy” for the Indy crowd.

There’s so much going on it’s hard to follow, but the audience is dancing and singing and laughing and having the time of our lives! I got a little ticked when a security guard who was clearing the aisles tried to tell Nirak to get back to her seat – we had aisle seats, turd. We totally missed Taylor spinning around on our side of the stage because of that MoFo.

He’s wearing that gorgeous jacket:

Taylor launches into LFTC and it’s just phenomenal. He sounds soooo good!! It’s amazing to me just how good he sounds. He keeps coming to our end of the stage because of the smoke machines (thank you AI crew and the wind!) Oh, he looks so good! Not just handsome (we all know he’s always handsome), but relaxed, happy, and – dare I say – mischievous.

He does the little airplane move as he goes up the ramp. And of course “Circle-Dancing” up top – which (get ready for it) morphs ever so briefly into The Robot! I kid. you. not!!!! Nirak and I both scream “ROBOT!” and laugh! He does not “find the groove” – but I have that video on my desktop. I can watch him do that any time I want.

DIMYP – Taylor points out the humongous flag pole next to the stage, giant American flag hoisted up there. He wants everybody to look and think about what it means as he dedicates his song to “The Troops” – (I just love this man). This is probably the best I have heard him sing it. I don’t hear any bad notes at all. It sounds like the whole audience is singing along – I know I am. The glory note is strong and clear and beautiful. I really love this song!

He makes his “Star Trek” door exit and the crowd claps and screams and hoots! We want him BACK!!!!

Then what happened?

After Taylor’s “exit”, the people revolted! Screaming, hollering, and carrying on! We Want Him BACK!!!!

And here he comes! He’s kinda creeping up out of the bowels of the stage. He’s got on a brown tee shirt and jeans. We can’t tell what’s on the shirt. It’s a smallish square (probably 5 or 6 inches each side) with a picture of some kind. It looks either like an Escher print with the staircases or it also reminds me of a painting I saw once of the entranceway to an Italian villa. Who the heck knows? My zoom isn’t powerful enough.

It’s too damned blurry anyway.

So, Taylor proceeds to launch into what is perhaps the sexiest TI2TS I have seen yet (okay, maybe that hip shaking in Atlanta was sexier, but I wasn’t there).

He’s doing the slow-mo walking (I know True enjoys that ); the running around; he bangs the tambourine on the mic…

then the band brings it down…

there’s a drum beat going as Taylor picks up the harp amp. He “shhhhs” us. He bends over slightly and is bouncing a little (think “Finding the Groove) as he just looks at us – and he is looking at us. [With the lighting situation and the proximity of the stage to the seats - all of the Idols could see us very well.]

There’s a mischievous grin on his face as he scans the crowd. We’re all just vibrating with excitement/anticipation – what is he doing?!? He raises the amp, but doesn’t put the harmonica in it – he’s fiddling with that in one hand, the amp in the other. Then, he starts to speak into the amp…

I don’t catch the very first part (there is a bit of distortion from the amplifier), but then he starts saying “In the country…the country…in the country…the country…” just over and over and over.

Something about the way he is looking at the crowd and the timbre of his voice and the way he says “coun-tray” and the Jumbotron has that cascading image of him as he is doing all this – oh dear Lord! It is very difficult to take.

Just when I think I can’t take anymore, he finally starts playin’ that harmonica! And he is wailing on it!! It’s so good I feel dizzy! A sound escapes my lips that should not be heard in public. He falls to his knees and just goes to effing town! I swear I blacked out for a moment because if you’d asked me, I would have said he did not play the harp against the amp…but here it is:

It’s blurry, but it’s there. And it’s on my very own camera.

Whew.

Damn.

As Taylor leaves the stage, he waves and yells Soul Patrol!” I just slump to the chair. My legs won’t hold me anymore (BamaAngelfish, didn’t that happen to you at WorkPlay?). That was very … satisfying – I need a cigarette.

All right – how much more is there??

To be perfectly honest, I don’t remember much of “We Are The Champions.” As far as I am concerned, it didn’t happen – only a prolonged break in which I was able to reduce my shaking and catch my breath.

I do have a vague recollection of (I think) Ace(?) coming down the ramp on our side of the stage … followed by … Lisa(?) … hmm. Puzzling.

All I could do was sit there. When I heard “Living in America” start, I jumped back up! (aside – does anybody else hear “Living With A Hernia” whenever this song comes on, or is it just me?)

I didn’t watch the other Idols much at all. I was afraid to miss anything of Taylor – you never know what he’s gonna do next! I think the motto should be “Don’t take your eyes off of Taylor!”

Taylor and Kat are at the top of the stage (of course), but it looks to me like Kat has given up on trying to dance with Taylor (snark!). You know how she has tried to engage him in various kinds of dancing in past shows? Well, she kind of looked his way, and he kept to his side of the stage – and she didn’t even try. It was really funny. Not that you can call her sad little “choo-choo train, chugga-chugga” move dancing, but I digress.

They start rotating down the stage like they do, and as Taylor is coming down the ramp he inserts “don’t forget to buy your CDs…and t-shirts…and posters!” instead of the actual lyrics. It’s almost like a rap and it’s a riot!

The Idols are all singing (I assume), but the only one I can really hear is Taylor. Without Mandisa’s voice, the girls are just NOT represented. And Taylor’s voice is so strong, the other guys just disappear underneath it. He does make an effort, though, to showcase solos – Taylor stands behind whoever is singing and points and dances, really getting into it! He is especially excited about Elliott. You can really see their friendship on stage and off. I think that’s great that they have each other.

Okay, the infamous “Beyonce thing” – the Idols are lined up along the front of the stage. Taylor is turned kind of sideways to the crowd and he starts doing this move with his arms that is very hip-hop, groove, soul whatever. As far as I can tell, he is not doing the booty shaking (as we all know he saved that delicious “motion” for Karma), but the upper body part that goes with it. Maybe there is a better name for it of which I am unaware. I don’t know.

There’s a lot of “pointy posing” going on, and they are goofing around with each other and having a blast! Except for Kat. She seems very disconnected from the group. She is not engaging with any of the other “kids” and just looks awkward and out of place. As they take their final pose, Kat is still all by herself. Hoosier Mommy took a picture that perfectly illustrates this:

Seeing her up there, surrounded by people and yet utterly alone, I feel sorry for her. She is a spoiled child, but is that her fault? I hope she is able to get past the ruin her parents have put upon her. Nobody deserves to be that alone. I still don’t like her much, but I do wish her well.

As we leave the fairgrounds, we can hear people screaming and hooting at the buses. Far as I can tell, they are just waving goodbye to the Idols as they load up to leave – because they DO leave right after the show. Gotta get to Louisville – a whole two hours away.

Ace said in an interview the next day that he and the guys had gone out in Louisville and stayed out until 4am. What do you do in Louisville until 4am?

I’m just picturing the scene in my head: They get to the hotel, dump their crap, and Taylor says “All right! Who’s up for a night on the town?” because you just know he is the instigator (and who the hell can sleep with all that adrenaline running?).

Elliott of course is the first one up, “Shotgun!”
Ace – “Hell, yeah!”
Bucky – “Let’s giter done!”

They maybe clean up a little bit, change clothes , and go!

Sounds like a damn fun time to me and I don’t even know where they are going. I’m just betting that they are a really really fun group to “hang” with. I’d go drinkin’ with them! Wooo!