American Idols Live Tour 2009 Review - Tampa, Florida

It would be a gross understatement to say this concert was actually an Adam Lambert concert with all the other Idols acting as warm-up and opening acts for him. You knew who the fans were when they kept showing up on the video screens the advertisement for the American Idols Live Tour. When they got to Adam Lambert the entire venue started screaming. It was shown at least 8-9 times, including intermission, and they screamed right on cue. Like someone said to me who was sitting in my row, "it's just a picture" (of Adam). My ears are still ringing from some fans sitting next to me who screamed when Adam came on for his set. That I will certainly get to later.

For now I will merely recap my impression of who I thought greatly improved after the show and who gave the better performances. Megan Joy actually worked the staged unlike being glued behind the microphone stand when she was on American Idol. Scott MacIntyre truly impressed me with his two songs. He had a great rapport with the crowd. I liked how Scott talked about the "high five" he got from Ryan Seacrest and the reaction from the media over it. My favorite part of all was his spot on imitation of Simon Cowell. Of course he was at the piano during the set. Being behind the piano and playing it is what Scott does best.

Lil Rounds may have gotten a lot of criticisms from the judges during her Idol journey, but she really got the crowd going. I loved her second song, especially the sing-a-long chorus. I was singing along to it as well. However, when she did her own dance number on Beyonce's "Put a Ring on It" the crowd went crazy. She was definitely on fire. Matt Giraud was the last finalist to perform before the 20-minute intermission. He opened with a song I really like "Hard to Handle" by The Black Crows. Towards the end of the song the piano comes up from a stage opening. Once it was leveled to the rest of the stage Matt starts doing his version of Jerry Lee Lewis at the piano.

After the intermission you could tell the crowd was anxiously anticipating the arrival of Adam Lambert on stage. Before that moment would arrive there were two more Idols to listen to. Allison rocked that stage with her ultimate rock sets just like she did consistently on American Idol. Next, Danny Gokey was on stage and he really was the consummate performer. He had an excellent rapport with the crowd, strong vocals as always, and moved all over the stage by going close to the edge to sing to the crowd one-on-one. However, I felt something was off with his vocals. At first I thought maybe it was the sound system. Whatever it was Danny pulled through and was passionate with all four of the songs he sang. He got rousing applause after each song.

Without further adieu the headliner, according to the majority of his fans in attendance at the St. Pete Times Forum, was Adam Lambert. There were two young girls sitting next to me who were screaming at the top of their lungs when Adam came on throughout his opening song "Whole Lotta Love". Afterwards, he slowed it down with "Starlight" by Muse and my favorite Adam Lambert song, "Mad World". Things kicked in once again with the audience when he and Allison took the stage with Foghat's "Slow Ride". Closing his set was the David Bowie medley. When he finished Adam descended on a platform that took him down from the stage. The crowd was a scream fest for a good solid minute.

Lastly, was Kris Allen with all of his five songs. He got a rousing amount of applause, but no where near as much as Danny and especially Adam. Kris isn't much for his original rapport, like the other Idols. Kris Allen is an amazing vocalist, not much of a performer though. The finale was a good way to bring back all the Idols to the stage one last time. Of course the crowd went crazy when Kris and Adam came up from the bottom of the stage to the top singing with the rest. Near the end I don't know if some of the Idols missed their cue on the closing song. It seemed a bit off key. Even though I did not get a review ticket for the concert I thought it was well worth the money I spent for a ticket. All the Idols each gave a superb performance. This was my first time seeing the American Idols live in concert. I hope you will see them at a city near you.

One last word.......when I got home from the venue I went to Twitter to read the reactions of the Idols from the Tampa show, which was positive. Danny Gokey reported his throat was hurting and it was his worst performance so far on tour. I knew something didn't feel right, but I had no idea it was his voice. Nevertheless, Danny gave a 110% in his show this evening.