Recap of the San Jose ConcertFirst of all, I must say that the San Jose folks did their idols proud by their vocal response throughout the show. The show was loud but the audience was just as loud if not more so. Several of the idols commented that we were one of the loudest groups on the tour. Go San Jose!
Like other venues there was a jumbo screen with text messages from the audience. Elliott got his fair share of the messages. I sent "ETrain Station Luvs Elliott" but there were many, many more.HP Pavillion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_Pavilion) is also called the "Shark Tank" because it's the home of the San Jose Sharks NHL Hockey Team. The auditorium seats 16000-20000 in multi-purpose configuration and it was filled to near capacity.
Mandisa opened the show with her signature "I'm Every Woman" song. She was loud and lively and brough cheers from the crowd. Her next number was for the men and dedicated to the band's keyboard player. Rumor: hmmm. She dedicated the next song to "Young People" telling them that "someone upstairs" has a plan for their lives and that they should follow their dreams. As she sang "I'm Your Angel" Ace came out onstage to join her for a duet. It's a powerful song and they did it well.
Ace took his turn and took command of the stage with his signature piece, "Father Figure." As he sang he took his coat off to the screams of the women who like that "X" factor thing . My wife commented that he looked rather "buff" and had improved a lot since we saw him last on AI season five. He closed out his set with a rock-out tune (I think by Maroon 5) called "Harder to Breathe."
Lisa came out singing a perky rendition of "Sign, Sealed, Delivered." The crowd enjoyed her and as a performer she's matured a lot since the show. For her next two songs she accompanied herself on the keyboards. She performed "Your Song" and "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" by Elton John. Paris came out to join Lisa as they sang "Waterfalls" by TLC in a side-by-side choreography.
Paris continued on with an adrenaline-pumping version of "Midnight Train to Georgia" by Gladys Knight. As she sang she came down to high-five with the front-row and encouraged everyone to pull the chord to toot the train whistle. I don't recall the last song but it did seem to involve a lot of booty-waving
Bucky was up next with his ever-popular "Superstitious" by Stevie Wonder. He performed it quite well and did his classic Bucky-slide. His next number was the Dobie Gray classic "Drift Away" which has always been one of my favorite songs.
Kellie came onstage to join Bucky in the Grease duet "You're the One That I Want." She then sang three of her favorites from season five, "You're The Only One," "After Midnight" and "Something to Talk About."
IntermissionChris opened up the second set giving us every inch of his love with Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love." It was a crowd-pleaser and the reaction was thunderous. Next he sang Bon Jovi's "Dead Or Alive" and Styx's "Renegade." Also very popular and also very loud responses.
Elliott (
whom you know is you-know-who's idol) came out to join Chris in singing "Savin' Me" by Nickelback. Everyone loved it as always. "Moody's Mood for Love" brought the blue lights back on as E crooned his signature piece. Finally E rocked the house with "Trouble" to the cheers of the San Jose crowd. He brought the boys out to sing Guns and Roses' "Patience." Wow.
Katherine started her set at the top of the stage on the floor with "Horse and Cherry Tree." I wish I knew what this song was about. Then she admonished the women to tell their men to "Think" and then finished off with "Somewhere Over The Rainbow."
Taylor entered the arena from the rear singing "Jailhouse Rock" and trotted to the stage with a security entourage. Onstage he gyrated through several numbers with a Fender Strat, harmonica and tambourine. These included "What Does It Take," "Livin' For The City," "Do I Make You Proud," and his encore piece "Takin' It To The Streets." Though he mentioned "San Jose" several times, he would have drawn more crowd reaction if he mentioned that San Jose is home to the Doobie Brothers--one of the greatest bands of all time.
The Idols closed out the show with "We Are The Champions" and "Living in America." The crowd goes wild.
After the Show it was time to meet with the Idols. Sadly Chris and Bucky were no-shows but I did get E's autograph and give him the ETrain ball cap.
It was a pleasure to speak with him. He's a truly deserving idol.
Ace was surprisingly nice and seemed very genuine. I spoke to Paris and Lisa but missed Katherine and Taylor.Overall it was everything I thought it would be and more. Getting to meet up with Elliott was certainly the highlight of the evening.
More photos and commentary can be found at
http://www.splashblog.com/etrainstation.
It was all totally excellent.
