Reliving Jukebox 2005: Indianapolis, Indiana - Indiana State Fair

Pictures By MsMia, Mom4ClayL2, and MommaJudy

No doubt that pretty much all of us can point to one concert we've been to as our favorite. Maybe its the very first time we saw Clay in concert. Maybe when we saw him coming down the aisle singing Kyrie. Or on his solo tour when he sang with precious little Brianna, or when he "kneed" the singer and embarrassed himself and then went on and on about it!! Maybe its a favorite song he sang better than ever -- like When Doves Cry or when he sang "When A Man Loves a Woman". Bring back great memories?

I, too, have a favorite concert, and guess what...the Indiana State Fair concert is it!! Oh my, what memories for me. And from what I've read that other people have said, they loved this concert as well. So let's walk down memory lane and relive some of the best moments of this concert.

Fair History

This year the Indiana State Fair is celebrating its 150th year. I looked on the Indiana State Fair website and found that the fair has a lot of interesting history. Here are a few things you might find interesting:

• Twice the fair has been cancelled, in 1861 due to the Civil War and in 1942-45 due to World War II.
• In 1964, the Beatles sold out two shows and performed to about 30,000 screaming fans. The seats for the concerts were sold out before the printing of the program! And get this, ticket prices were $3, $4, and $5 for those concerts!
• In 1989, the New Kids on the Block set a Grandstand attendance record with 18,509 fans in attendance.

Other nationally known entertainers who have performed at the fair are Captain Kangaroo (I wonder if he brought Mr. Moose and Bunny Rabbit with him!!), Johnny Cash, the Jackson 5, Reba McEntire, Dolly Parton, Garth Brooks, Bruce Springsteen, and Def Leppard. Oh, and the best of all....CLAY AIKEN!!

The Performance

There is nothing like going to a concert for the first time and hearing Clay sing live. No matter how many times you hear online how awesome he is or watch a video of him singing, it isn't until you hear him first hand that you take in the truth in those words. That's how it was for me at my first JBT concert in Indianapolis. Seeing Clay come onto the stage wearing that black leather jacket, with Quiana on one arm and Angela on the other, full of coolness and confidence, just sent chills up and down my spine. Seeing him lick his fingers and them rear back and hit that jukebox to stop it from sticking made me laugh myself silly. Only Clay could set matters right. He was in control! Clay is not only an awesome singer, but an awesome entertainer as well, and he kept me entertained and laughing, swooning, or melting all night long.

The 50's set was my favorite in the concert. I've always been an oldies fan, and Clay sang every one of those songs as good if not better than the original singer, in my opinion. And Elvis! While everyone in the audience was thudding and screaming, quite frankly I was laughing my head off! He was perfect as Elvis. Had the moves and the voice down. I just couldn't get over how much he was like Elvis! Love Me Tender stirred my emotions -- watching him play the piano and hearing that beautiful voice. When he sang "Don't Be Cruel" and "Heartbreak Hotel", once again I couldn't help but just die laughing. He was so perfect, and all the ladies were just dieing. The moves with the mic while singing Heartbreak Hotel were spot on. I could've watched this part of the show 1000 times! And when he jumped on the piano and sang "Great Balls of Fire", well, that did me in -- as it well did a few thousand other ladies in the audience.

I found a few other reviews at The Clayboard from fans who commented on what they enjoyed about Clay's performance:

• "Solitare," UM, and the whole song of ICMYLM were DEAD ON tonight. BOTW was good. "Invisible" tug count tonight was 2. He looked like he was enjoying himself tonight so that was good. He CLAIMED again he can't dance. *sigh* I give up. I just give up on that dude. -LUVclay26
• My favorite part of the night was "Back for More". It is so much better when you see him sing it in person. I can't tell you how much I love that song. He hit the glory notes and sent chills down my spine. -vse323
• Oh, dear, dear friends.....I am just totally amazed....Clay Aiken is indeed a PERFORMER, SHOWMAN, MEANT FOR THE SPOTLIGHT....He really can sing anything...ANYTHING....he is gifted, talented....his voice has such range, such such depth, so many nuances....he can sing folks...sing anything -calcody
• I absolutely loved the Elvis set. It's the best I've ever seen him do. He absolutely rocked. Those hips! LLVL has got me thudding all over the track floor! Zippy888
• The most intense part of the concert for me was I Can’t Make You Love Me…..up until this concert I was not crazy about this song, okay I didn’t like it….but that night….omg….as far away as I was, Clay made the song seem so personal, emotional, intense….sucked me in big time. -AikenInTexas

The Fans

At the Indy concert, the fan love for Clay was so thick that you could cut it with a knife. There's something different about a Clay concert than about other concerts I've been to. When I went to see Paul McCartney, I was really excited. But at every Clay concert I've gone to I have been beyond excited, could hardly sit still in my seat I was so thrilled at knowing he would be walking out on the stage soon. Its more than just going to hear Clay Aiken sing too. Its like family or friends getting together to show our love to the man we've come to support and see perform. Its almost unexplainable.

Its a Clay concert thing...you just stand up for almost the entire concert. You stand there and dance and scream and sing along until you almost have no voice left! It doesn't matter if you are an 18 year old fan or an 81 year old fan, and all ages in between, you just get up and boogy during his concert! The fans don't come there just to listen...they come to be a part of the concert in whatever way they can. The only time you sit is during the slower songs, like Unchained Melody, or when Clay is talking to you.

On The Clayboard, there are many great comments about the fans by the fans. Let's look at a few:

• I noticed one young guy in particular who was really grooving to the music. I thought that was great. I noticed the lady in front of me dabbing her eyes with a tissue quite often. This made me feel better, because I was doing that too. I don't know why I can't listen to Clay sing, or talk or anything without getting tears in my eyes. Why does he have such an effect on me? -starttheclaymotion
• I sat beside the most wonderful man whose wife was sitting up front in a wheel chair(broken leg) and who was just there to bring her in and get her settled and someone walked up to him and gave him 2 tickets, dead center stage, 12 rows back...he ran to his car and got his video camera and taped every min. of the concert. -calcody
• Forgot to mention...Saw LOTS of guys in audience, more than I ever have...ALL ages..Really rocking out!! I think Clay was really having a hard time finding a reluctant male participant to be a PIP! -MsLurksalot
• He performs with such a joyful, contagious passion that of course we are all still wanting more. He seems so comfortable and playful with the audience with lots of comments about posters including teasing a front row fan who appeared to be working on her poster right then and there, saying that would never cut it in his classroom -clangel13

• It was such an enjoyable night-the way Clay put so much effort in his dancing and his energy level was way up. He interacted with the audience quite a bit, very chatty and quick witted. He was in teacher mode when he reprimanded someone from front row about making his sign/homework at the show, something about "It's not easy being green". -admire99
  
  In summary, you can see from these fan comments that Clay's fans are male and female and love to "groove to the music". Clay fans are obviously touched by Clay's beautiful voice, even brought to tears sometimes. They love to chat with Clay during the concert -- his humor makes for lots of fun and laughter among the fans. Its a special relationship between Clay and his fans. Is it any wonder that Clay's fans love to go to as many concerts as they can from just one tour!!
  
  Classic Clay Moments
  
  The last two fan comments above are a great lead-in to one of the classic Clay moments at the Indiana Fair concert. And I must admit that I am totally biased when it comes to this Clay moment...because I was a part of it!! Please allow me to pull the following from my Indiana State Fair Meet and Greet summary:
  
  

  I was so lucky to have Clay interact with me at 3 of the 4 concerts. The first time he did it in Indiana was a HUGE shock to me. I had just come from the meet and greet where we had snarked about the book I made for him about green being his favorite color. So I decided to quickly make a sign on a piece of paper that said, “It’s not easy being green” and hold it up. I started working on it and then the show started so I stopped to enjoy the show. Then while he was talking to the audience, before he sang “Unchained Melody”, I started working on it again. Well, he looked down and saw me, and here is how that little session went:
  
  Hello Indiana!!...(chit chat with the audience about warm weather, people from Iceland, music from concert…)….The next song that we are gonna do…you’re still working on your sign right now, huh…(laughter in the audience)…you go ahead and finish it and when its done you can hold it up and I’ll comment on it then. These other people, apparently they worked on it at home…they prepared. Now you know, I was a teacher, that wouldn’t cut it in my classroom. (says something I can’t understand through all the laughter and then WINKS AT ME!!)….right here when I’m trying to do a show. I’m going to let you slide this one time. When you get it done you let me know….(looks at other signs and talks about them)…….is it done now, “it’s not easy being green”. I have no idea what that means. You did all that work, I still don’t know what it means….
  
  Oh my goodness. I was dieing!!!! And this started a whole long thing about all the signs in the audience!! The funniest was about someone who said he spit on them in Ohio and deserved a hug. He said, “Most people would just be glad that I spit on them!” ROFL!!! Oh, and he most certainly DID know what I meant by “It’s not easy being green”!!!!! He just wouldn’t say. Who would’ve thought that would happen to me!!!!

  The picture above is actually of Clay talking to me. This is the stuff that memories are made of!!
  
  MEET AND GREETS
  
  As you can see from my comments above, I was lucky enough to have a meet and greet that evening. It was the first time I met Clay and I was nervous. However, I kept telling myself, "This is just a guy from Raleigh, NC...just a normal regular guy. Just talk to him like he's a friend." That's the approach I took and it worked out beautifully.
  
  Here's a part of my meet and greet:
  
  Finally it was my turn, and this is kind of how it went. I can’t remember exactly word for word the order everything went in, but this is very close to how it went. (C=Clay, J=Jan, M=Mary, MM=Mini Me [what we called Clay's bodyguard])
  
  J-Hi Clay, how are ya? (I wanted to say this to him FIRST before he had a chance to – he always says “how are ya” when he greets people.)
  M-Oh, you’re the one that gets 2 autographs.
  J-Yes, I do.
  C-How do YOU rate? (very snarky tone)
  J-Well, I won 2 meet and greets, one for Stub Hub and one for the fan club (I point to my two name passes and Clay looks at them – Can’t remember exactly what he said to that. (By the way, I did make a point of looking into his eyes as all this was going on. And, oh my goodness, the pools of glorious bright and shining green are unbelievable! Big round green pools!! His eyes just melted my heart.)
  C-You’re not from Indiana, are you.
  J-No, I’m not. Did my accent give me away?
  C-Yes it did.
  J- My name is Jan and I’m from Sugar Land, Texas. (I hand Mary my LTS book for him to sign)
  J-I wanted you to sign it here on the “fan” chapter.
  M-Oh, we have been signing them here in the front of the book.
  C-Yeah, I don’t want to get all messed up by signing it in a different place (snarky tone) (I didn’t understand why it mattered, but, hey, I wasn’t gonna argue about that, I mean CLAY WAS SIGNING MY BOOK and he could sign it upside down if that’s what he wanted!!!)
  J-Oh, okay, I mean, I wouldn’t want that to cause you to get all messed up and mess up the show tonight!!! (snarky voice) (I think he asked me my name again here, but I’m not sure)
  Then I pulled out of my bag a little booklet I had made for Clay. It was called “Clay’s Favorite Color Green, or Why I Won’t Fess Up and Admit This To My Fans”. It was a snarky little book written on an elementary school level (since he is a teacher) complete with pictures of him wearing green cuz he wears lots and lots of green, pictures of green lighting, even pictures of him in green when he was overseas, etc. I must admit that I think it turned out quite funny and snarky and very colorful with LOTS of green in it!! (Note most of this conversation was quite snarky – I LOVE SNARKY CLAY!)
  J-Oh, and here’s a little book that I made for you, Clay (hands it to Clay and he takes it). It’s all about your favorite color green.
  C-Oh it is, is it?
  J-Yep! (All proud)
  C-(Starts looking at book) – You know, people have been wrong before!!
  J-I know, but I don’t think that I am!!! Just look at the book. Look at all the green you wear.
  C to M- I do wear a lot of green, don’t I.
  J-(Turns page) And look, even the lighting on the stage is green.
  C-Hey, I don’t have anything to do with that!
  Clay is kinda looking through the book, and somewhere in our conversation, I say,
  J-And then you had to go and make that comment about “orange being your favorite color the other night” and I had to add another page to update the book!!! Clay laughs with one of those wonderful deep throaty laughs like he does (not a giggle) and I love that I got him to laugh like that (!) and then he says to me:
  C-You’re funny!!
  And I just about die right there on the spot!!! I mean, Mr. Snark himself says that I’m funny!!! ….Meanwhile MM is grabbing me by the sleeve and keeps saying, “We need to take the picture, we need to take the picture”, but Clay is enjoying the book and I’m not gonna just walk away from him looking at the book!!! MM finally wins and we stand up to take the picture….I remember that when Clay was getting up from his chair, I just kept thinking, “Oh my, we are about to be side by side, arm around each other!!” Clay is on my right and he puts his arm around my waist and I put my arm around his waist (melt). Now ladies, this is one of the best feelings in the world. I mean, I am standing so nice and close to Clay!!!
  So now I’m walking away all smiles with my camera and my book, and all of a sudden I hear…
  C-Hey Jan!
  Clay is calling me back!!!! Oh my goodness!!!! I go running back (MM is probably having a conniption fit about now because we are running behind schedule!! hehe)
  C-So, do you have any proof that green is my favorite color? (Clay is still looking at the book)
  J-Well, I’m pretty sure that I remember you saying it was back when you were on AI
  J-(Turns page) And even your eyes are green! (I have the picture on this page of the 5 rows of Clay’s green eyes plus two other pictures that really show off those green eyes.)
  C-Yeah, my eyes are green, aren’t they.
  J-Oh, yeah, they sure are (in a sort of dreamy voice!! hehe)
  J-And look, Clay. You are even wearing green on your jukebox tour (turns page), and you even wore green when you went overseas.
  Clay looks at a picture of him wearing the shiny green shirt with the Queen of Malaysia.
  J-And look at this page, Clay, you even “hide behind green” (he is behind a bush peeking out), and you sleep on green (he is sleeping on a green couch), and you even have your own green sign with your name on it (it’s a highway sign that says “Aiken, Exit 22”). (NOTE: this may have been when he said “You’re funny” instead of earlier, but I can’t remember for sure).
  (And then Clay looks at the next page which is a picture collage of him wearing green and then the last page which is an orange page due to the comment about orange being his favorite color a couple of concerts earlier.)
  And I said goodbye and that was it!!!
  
  I'll never forget that Meet and Greet. It couldn't have been more perfect!!

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