American Idol's Taylor Hicks ROCKS Chicago House of Blues

From the moment the gray haired singer stepped foot on American Idol, I was taken with him. His passion for music mirrored mine and he was not the stereotypical "hunk" the judges were looking for to win the competition. From the moment he opened his mouth to him blowing his harp, I was totally taken in. I only watched Idol to see the auditions, then I always stopped watching. But there was something about Taylor Hicks...so I kept watching and vowed to keep watching until he was voted off. Well, you know the results. He won! From then on, I've been an "obsessive" Soul Patroller!

So, I could not ask for a better 30th birthday gift than Taylor Hicks playing three hours away from me in Chicago, Illinois. I bought my tickets immediately and began the long wait until the concert. The day had arrived, March 29th...we took the Amtrak into Chicago and cabbed it over to the House of Blues hotel where we had a reservation for the night. As we pulled into the parking lot, I saw his bus and literally squealed with delight that I was just feet away from the man I practically idolize.

After checking into one of the coolest hotels I've ever been in, we decided to go "hunting". The only thing the hunt turned up was his backup singer who we shared an elevator with. She acted like she didn't want to be noticed, so I just left her alone...however that was SO hard for me! I wanted to ask her what it was like performing with someone as amazing as Taylor Hicks???

So enough about that! After that, we ate at the House of Blues restaurant to get their "Pass the Line" priveledges. The food was VERY good! I highly recommend it! You do NOT need a reservation in their restaurant to get the pass the line. You can go in and eat at their "Back Porch Diner". We ate and then at 4:30, we decided to go stand in line. The doors were to open at 6:00 and the concert was at 7:00. We figured the line would be fairly long, because we had seen people lined up at 1:00pm to get their spot. To my surprise, the line was only about 40 feet long! We hopped in line and quickly started making friends with other Soul Patrollers! Taylor's fans are the BEST! They go from CRAZY extreme in LOVE with the man to people who are just excited about the music.

At 6:00, the doors opened and it was a MAD dash into the auditorium where he'd perform. To my surprise, the auditorium was on the second floor. We ran up the steps and saw that there were only about 3 rows of people in front of the stage. I screamed and ran as fast as my low heels would take me! FYI, don't wear heels to a standing room only concert. NO one will see your feet! I ended up taking them off halfway into the opening act. The place was PACKED to the limit. I felt like sardines. I had intentionally gone to the left side of the stage(Taylor's right), because at the American Idol concert, I was on his left and he kept going to his right. I was bummed! I wasn't going to miss this chance! I had a perfect view to the mic and during Michael Warren, the opening act, I was making constant eye contact with him. It was the perfect spot.

Michael Warren was amazing. He reminded me of Hootie with that sweet voice he had...it was just him on guitar and his pal on the bongos. It was a wonderful set, but we were all restless and ready for Taylor to take the stage for all of us! Michael ended his set after about 7 songs and I took a deep breath as they reset the stage.

Just then....some grandma felt the need to pull her AMAZON granddaughter to stand RIGHT in front of me. I couldn't see anymore. That is just my luck. Now I'm tall in female standards...5'8", so a woman taller than me isn't usually a problem. This girl was a problem. I was SO mad! I had stood in line for hours to get that spot and she gets pulled in there. I tapped her shoulder and politely asked, "I've waited all day to see Taylor, when he comes on stage would you please mind stepping to the right a little?" She said ok and didn't move. Grr.. The proceeded to talk about me, but whatever.

That's when the moment of glory came. The house lights dimmed and the band hit the stage. The house started to scream. I looked everywhere for Taylor, but the band had to tease us for a minute or two. Then, the announcer comes on the mic and says, "Ladies and gentlemen, TAYLOR HICKS!" I came undone. I flashed back to my junior high days when I was obsessed with New Kids on the Block. I began to jump and scream like a teenager when Taylor bounded onto the stage. I literally thought I was going to pass out. I was shaking with all the adrenaline that was pumping through my veins. My best friend laughed SO hard at me as I screamed and shook. Everyone around me moved away for fear I'd knock them out. The craziest thing about the House of Blues....remember how I said it was on the 2nd floor??? Well, the floor bounced. I am not kidding, it BOUNCED. I felt like I was on a trampoline and I thought that we were going to crash through! Well, at least I was going to die happy!

Taylor was dressed in a gray blazer and a brownish button down shirt. His jeans were dark and fashionable and he donned New Balance shoes. His silver locks were amazing in all that light. Never would I have thought I'd be going nuts over a gray haired man, but boy, was I wrong! He has lost weight and looked AMAZING! SO handsome that I was reminded of Elvis!

If you ask me what songs he sang in what order, I couldn't even tell you. I know he sang everything off of his new album and threw in a few songs just for fun like "Let's Get It On"...I nearly fainted. He was all over the stage, playing the guitar, the tamborine, the harmonica, the organ, and even a cow bell. I never knew a cow bell could be so hot!!! When he did his freestyle stuff, that's when I was the most taken with his talent. At one point, he was singing some soul, and I stopped and realized I was standing with shoulders slumped in submission, jaw hanging wide open, and probably a little drool on the corners of my mouth. I was saying "Oh my God" over and over. I looked at my best friend and said, "He is totally having sex with me right now." In essense, though, the man was making love to the music. The way he wraps himself around every word, every sound, every bit of that song....you just stand in awe at his talent.

He closed with "The Runaround", one of my personal favorites. I sang every word and danced along. People had moved out of the way because I was taking them out with my purse! I didn't care. I was jumping around and screaming and dancing....it was such a wonderful night!

His encore was "Sweet Home Chicago". He brought out blues performer "Kev-Mo" who is amazing on guitar. The audience was SO into it. I turned around to see three girls(not fans) who had been standing behind us who brought their mother in law(the fan) dancing around and saying how much they loved him now! I always tell people, "Taylor is 100% better live than he is on TV and on his albums." That says a lot about an artist. It is usually the opposite way around.

I was sad when it was over, but Taylor had played for 85 minutes and it only felt like five! We left the venue on a high and decided to wait for Taylor outside the hotel. I grabbed my 3 year old son, who is probably just as big of a Taylor fan as I am, and we went down to the front of the hotel. There were probably 100 people waiting out there, but as the time went by, the crowd thinned down to just us sitting out front an hour and a half later. We weren't giving up.

That's when it happened. Here he came. He was wearing a beanie(or tobaggan depending on which part of the country you're from) and he made a beeline straight for us! I picked up my son and said, "Gavin, who is that?" His little jaw dropped open and my THREE YEAR OLD was star struck! I said, "That's Taylor!" He walked up to my son, grabbed him by the shoulders and gave him a little shake. He said, "Hey there little buddy, how are you?" He whipped out a sharpie and asked, "Can I sign your jacket?" I immediately said "Yes!" silently thanking God that I had packed a ratty coat that I didn't mind the signature on. Taylor seemed so shy, but he was darling to my son. I asked him if he'd take a picture with us, but he said he didn't have time for that, but he'd sign autographs. He signed my cd and the cd jacket, then moved into the hotel.

I couldn't ask for a better birthday. I know it will go down in history! I cannot wait for Joliet and Kansas City. His energy is addictive. I always say, "Taylor is my herion...after one hit, you're addicted."