Wichita Eagle Reviews Tour Opening Concert

The Wichita Eagle has filed their review of Clay's tour opening Wichita, KS concert. The review was based mostly on interviews of fans who were at the show.

Fans swarm to Aiken's holiday show

What could make 42-year-old Jacki Koah fly from Portland, Ore., to Wichita with no family or friends around for miles?

Clay Aiken, of course.

"I wanted to do the first two shows but in the summer I did nine shows," she said with a twinkle in her eye. "I've done four meet-and-greets and he knows me by name. I'm Jacki from Oregon."

The proof of her acquaintance with Aiken is on her left shoulder.

"He signed my shoulder and I had it tattooed," she said. "The man can sing the telephone book to me and I would be happy."

Koah and her daughter attended the packed Aiken concert Monday night at Central Christian Church on Rock Road.

Monday night members of the Wichita Symphony Orchestra played lightly in the background as people found their seats. Suddenly the lights dimmed and the entire auditorium was black, except for lights from the musicians onstage. The orchestra stopped playing and the crowd fell silent. A door could be heard closing as footsteps came closer to the stage. Aiken, dressed in a black suit with a long jacket and sporting his mop-top hair, stepped onstage.

The crowd cheered as he started to sing. His first song was a melody that included the songs "Rejoice", "Away in a Manger" and "Silent Night."

"It's good to be here," Aiken said to the crowd.

"We like to include the community as much as we can because the holidays are about being together," he said of the orchestra,. He only rehearsed with them on Monday afternoon. "We are so appreciative to them for coming this afternoon to look at the sheet music for the first time."

Four holiday stories written by Wichitans were chosen to be read at the concert. The stories were accompanied by the orchestra. They were meant to be inspirational and to get the audience into the Christmas spirit.

"I think you'll be moved by the stories you'll hear tonight," Aiken said. "This entire concert is a Christmas card from you to you."