(I apologize in advance for any misspellings or errors in grammar. This had to written quickly because I have other business to do. I don't earn a living by writing concert reviews.)


Doug from Upland’s IDOLS in Anaheim Review and Adventure

NOTE to Chris Daughtry fans: if you don’t want to read this entire review, it won’t hurt my feelings. The parts about Daughtry will be highlighted in red.

This must begin with some advice to those of you who do not yet have tickets for an upcoming IDOLS show. Don’t give $360 to a ticket broker way ahead of time for seats in row 22, when you can wait a day before the show and get a pair on eBay for $99 that are eight rows behind those seats. Gee, that was an expensive lesson. A girl was trying to sell a single ticket in the fourth row outside the Arrowhead Pond for face value.

We flew our daughter down from Washington for a short visit to join mom at the Idols concert. She got my seat, so I was scrambling at the last minute to get a seat on eBay. Two attempts at a single ticket didn’t work out, so I decided to buy the two seats for $99. I then sold off one of them on eBay and got half my money back.

The drive from Upland to Anaheim was pleasant and only took about 35 minutes. Fortunately, the show was on Sunday. Had it been on a weekday, the drive would have been about an hour and 35 minutes. There are about 10 million too many people in California, and it is getting worse. Because I won’t be able to convince them to go back home, I will probably be in Washington within two years.

Should I describe dinner at the Big Fish House? No, you don’t need to be bored with that. But I recommend it, and it is about two minutes from the Pond.

How about parking? That was twenty bucks. We saw a guy arrive on his bicycle and save the twenty bucks. Had he managed to get a date for the show, he would have had to pop for the big bucks. I wish 10 million Californians rode their bicycles, and then we would be able to actually drive our vehicles on the stinking freeways again as we used to be able to do.

We arrived about an hour and 15 minutes before the scheduled 7pm show time. Concerts, of course, never start on time. If you ever have to appear in court as a deadbeat tenant, don’t be late for that. The judge will be tougher on you than Simon was on that poor guy/girl/whatever who auditioned last season and was humiliated on television for the whole world to see.

We had electronic tickets, however, I had to stop at Will Call for our after Idols party passes that were supposed to have been left there for us. Well, they were not there. Fortunately, I was able to talk to a contact at the venue, who got to the bottom of that problem. There had apparently been some miscommunication, and passes had been left for me the previous night at the Los Angeles show. My contact took care of it and gave me our passes.

There were many families in the crowd and loads of young girls. Whom do you think they were there to see? Many guys, who would probably have rather been watching a pre-season football game were dutifully there with their wives. Whom do you think they were there to see? Yes, all these married women of all ages were there to see this bald guy from North Carolina whom they love. Their husbands hear about it all the time.

From the floor, the nosebleed seats didn’t seem so bad. But that initial assessment was incorrect. Just for fun, I used some of the geometry skills I learned many years ago in eighth grade to determine the section that had the seats furthest away. Upon arriving at the last level, a guard named Hank wanted to see my ticket. I showed him the ticket for the floor seat, and he told me I was in the wrong section. No, Hank, I just wanted to see what it was like up here. Hank explained that at least these seats were above the smog level. He also commented that a Women of Faith group was coming to the pond for a conference and at least the seats up here would be …… I interrupted him and said, “Closer to heaven?� Yep, that was the punch line.

Upon finally arriving way at the top, I was getting exhausted. Although I exercise regularly, this was a challenge. Wow! Seat 405U-1 was indeed above the smog level. Pass the oxygen. From that seat, if this were a Mighty Ducks game, you would not even be able to see the blood gushing from some poor guy who took a puck to the teeth. For hockey fans, that is a big part of the fun.

I spoke to a few moms and girls way up there at the top. Who were they there to see? Chris Daughtry. They could not wait for his album.

While heading back down to the floor, my upper legs were getting sore. I guess I should have stretched out before making that journey, but I hadn’t realized it would be so far.

The crowd kept entering the Pond right up to concert time. Most of them arrived within about 15- 30 minutes before show time. They heard probably 15 Pop Tarts commercials and missed the previous 50 that I heard. Some little kids loved the goofy Pop Tart guy in the silly outfit. How would you like that job on your resume? You were a Pop Tart. $7.25 an hour and all the sugar-filled, calorically-enhanced, diabetes-inducing snack food you can eat. Yummy. There is a reason they don’t sell Pop Tarts at the health foods store.

The show was almost ready to begin. One dad had many bottles of water he was struggling to hold as he was bringing them back for delivery to his family. For what he paid for bottled water at the Pond, he could have bought the family a good dinner at the Big Fish House.

Okay, the lights were coming down. Great. I am now trying to take notes in the dark. That doesn’t work very well, so I had to improvise. Using my popped open cell phone, I was able to create enough light to write a sentence at a time.

Thank goodness I stopped at Walgreen’s on the way and bought earplugs. With the noise level that was about to be experienced in that building, they were to become indispensable.

Mandisa was first up. She put a lot of heart and enthusiasm into her performance and was pretty impressive. The ACLU might not have liked it, but she made reference to and thanked God. She dedicated “If I Was Your Woman� to all the strong, confident guys with jobs working hard to take care of their families. Great message, Mandisa.

Mandisa’s duet with Ace was entertaining. He wore a sportcoat with an Angels jersey underneath. He was definitely a crowd pleaser, who performed well, probably better in person than on American Idol. He also connected very well with the fans.

Lisa was very excited about being back home. People have raved about her in other reviews. I thought she was pretty good, but I wouldn’t rave about her. It seemed that she tried to change too much in Elton John’s “Your Song,� which is my second favorite song. First is Toby Keith’s “Angry American� in which he puts a boot in our enemies’ you know where. Actually, Elton’s love songs are having a little less appeal to me since he married his boyfriend. Somehow, they don’t seem quite the same and are less believable.

Paris, Bucky, and Kellie were okay. They are nice kids, and I wish them well, but they don’t seem to have the same star power potential as a few of the others, including you know who. Bucky’s best was “Superstition.� Kellie had on too much makeup. The simple, sweet country look is what works for her. She could do well with country songs and possibly could do some acting.

After the break, I was prepared for an increase in the noise level. It happened when Christopher Adam Daughtry appeared on stage in black with his hanging chain. His set was filled with the energy you have all come to expect of him. From his first tryout in Denver, when he seemed a little tentative, he has come a long way. When he is on stage, Chris is in total control and mesmerizes the audience. There is a great deal of screaming from the young girls. My daughter tattled on my wife and told me that she was also screaming. So, that’s why she was hoarse on the way home.

Although Chris didn’t’ seem to be at his best, wife and daughter thought he was amazing. It seemed to me that he was holding back just a little, probably to save his voice for a recording session after the show. This is a long tour, and he puts a lot of strain on his vocal chords. At eighty percent, he is still the best.

The duet between Chris and Elliot was well done. Elliott tends to do the more toned down and jazzy numbers, but he does have a pretty good ability to belt it out when he needs to. Elliot was also wearing an Angels jersey.

Katharine has great stage presence, a wonderful smile, and a superb voice, although she certainly did not capture the crowd as did Chris. Kat has a good chance at stardom, but I don’t think she could sell out an arena yet. Let’s see how good her first album is and how good the songs are that are written for her. If she had an original song like Bette Midler’s “Wind Beneath My Wings,� Kat would strike gold.

Taylor was probably close to Chris in noise level from the crowd. His best was “Hollywood Nights.� The “Proud� song that was written for him had some good parts, but overall, the writers failed him. It gets boring, and that’s not Taylor’s fault. As far as performance, Taylor was a master. Although some think his dancing looks foolish, the crowd loves it, and he puts everything he has into the show.

After Taylor’s finale, the whole group came back to do “Living in America� and “We are the Champions.� Both were very entertaining.

The party afterwards cannot, in any sense of the word, be described as a party. I was in a fraternity in college. I know parties. Although the performers are encouraged to attend, they are not obligated. Only three were there – Ace, Kat, and Taylor. It is essentially a mingling of fans trying to get access.

My wife was disappointed that Chris had to go record after the show. She really wanted him to sign the picture of the three of us from McLeansville. I hoped that he would sign copies of ADOPTION TODAY and FULL THROTTLE, which contained the stories I wrote about him.

Kat was gracious and smiling and engaging. She actually took the blame for Chris accidentally smacking her a few days ago. Taylor signed autographs and was nice enough to say hi to a friend of mine on my cell phone, but his heart just didn’t seem to be in it. He was probably tired or has other things going on that prevented him from showing enthusiasm.

Ace was absolutely wonderful and knows how to connect with people both on stage and up close. He stayed the longest and accommodated everyone. My daughter even came back for a second photo because she had her eyes shut in the first one. He remembered that she had flown down from Washington for the show. Ace had a constant smile that was a real smile, not a forced one. He hugged everyone and got down on his knee for photos with smaller fans. As a few of the judges opined, Ace has the X factor. Whether it will be singing or acting, he does have a very bright future in the business.

It was an enjoyable experience, and as a package, the Idols put on a good show. The promoters are really raking in big bucks, particularly for shows that don't have performers with hit albums. They are masters at packaging this stuff. As has been experienced around the country, everyone knows what you know. Chris Daughtry is the real star of the show. He is destined to become the biggest commercial success the show has yet produced.

Thanks for the great review, Doug! I'm sorry that you guys didn't get a chance to see Chris- but I have a feeling that you'll run into him again sometime. Is it frowned upon to bring things to autograph with you when you're doing an interview? We all can't wait to read the next article you write about Chris.

Thanks Doug. Yes, I cheated and skipped to the red parts, but as always your writing is a joy to read. Too bad Chris had to run after the show; it would have been wonderful to have him sign your articles and for him to meet the man behind the writing...maybe at a Daughtry show in the future. Thank you again for letting us all feel as though we were right there at the concert.

I wasn't there to interview him. I took my wife and daughter to enjoy the show and meet the Idols for pictures and autographs afterwards. As long as I was there, I thought I might as well take notes and write a story.



Thanks for the kind words. In the future, you are much more likely to find me at a political rally than a Daughtry show. But we will certainly go to his concert when he comes back to Southern California. I may write a few more stories, but I really have to get back to my other business interests. We met Chris when my wife and I went to McLeansville for the homecoming concert. We were in the front row at the press conference.

Thank you so much for sharing your story! I enjoy your writing style so much....it cracks me up! I felt like I was right there with you too. So sorry that you didn't get any Chris autographs.....I have to agree with you about Ace...when I met him in Chicago he was the only Idol that had a perpetual smile on his face and really took his time with his fans listening to their stories, taking photos, signing autographs....so genuine! He will go far in the business because of his ability to connect with his fans! Thanks again for taking the time out of your day to write this for all of us!

Thank you so much for your wonderful story. I am sorry you didnt get the chance to get your photo signed...but as others have said I am sure there will be another opportunity.
I love the way you end your story Amen to that

I read the whole thing. You're a great writer, and that was a great review. Thanks for sharing it here.

Thanks Doug! Awesome review!

Thanks Doug. I enjoyed your review and your insights into all the singers including our favorite rocker.

aww i didnt see taylor signing autographs...man! well at least u had a goos time!

Thanks, Doug---great review! Sorry he wasn't around afterwards; I was disappointed by not getting to meet him out at the buses on Sat. in LA, but the show more than made up for that for me!

thanks doug for another great story! your descriptions and choice of words always crack me up! im so sorry you didn't get to see Chris (poor thing must be so busy with recording his album) but im glad you liked the concert. i loved how you were honest in your review specially with Chris. i hope we still see more Chris articles from you in the future!

That was an entertaining review, Doug. We love to hear all the concert experiences!!!!

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is that your daughter? she's a beauty! thanks for sharing the pics!

Yep, that's the apple of daddy's eye.

Those are AMAZING pics!!! And the girl in the pics (your daughter?)....she is sooo pretty!

She is very beautiful. Now, I have no idea if she's married or anything like that...and I'm sure daddy doesn't want to hear this about his little girl...but her and Ace would make some beautiful curly-haired babies!

I won't comment on her status. Yep, they would make a cute couple.



Although she said they were okay to post, I thought about it and had them removed. I'll post some of the Idols, either cropped or other photos.

i agree! hahahaha...

Probably a good idea to protect her privacy. I understand completely.

Cool picz, and that review was awesome too!i read the whole thingg!!

Awesome review, Doug. Thanks!

Awesome review, Doug! Glad that you all had fun; sorry you didn't get to meet the man!

That's okay. We met in McLeansville.




Ace put on a good performance. After the show, he could not have been more gracious. His future is very bright.

wow! great review, enjoyed it very much. thanx

Doug Thanks again for another great read! Hopefully you will get another chance to meet Chris in the future!