There Was A Man: The Summer Tour: Newark

~Photos from the fantastic photographers of ClayNation~

Clay performed with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark on July 28th. The following are excerpts from fan recaps to give you a feel of what the concert experience was like for the Newark show.

Concert musings:

Posted by 43dudleyvillas at CV/CH:

"Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" was ****ing incredible. Clay's performance of it was completely and totally committed, his vocals were beyond gorgeous -- that honeyed tone of his that I absolutely adore was in full evidence, his control and modulation were really, really good.

Posted by toni7babe at CV/CH:

OMG my fav concert so far!!!!!! He was great...... When he jumped off the stage and sang "The Way You Make Me Feel" at one point I was on aisle he sang right to me **DIES** The stubble was so fricken hot tonight!!

Posted by corabeth at CH:

The end of the Classics where he acts almost like Pinnochio's astonished "I'm a Real Boy" except this was "Wow, I'm cool". He stood there in (mock) amazement that he was now cool, then he pretended to not even be able to stand there but just collapsed back into his stool, Stunned at his coolness. Bwah worthy and great acting. The whole new narrative of this part is excellent.

Posted by NYmom4Clay at CB:

Anyway, it occurred to me last night that I've never seen Clay in finer form. His voice sounds beyond amazing, the free ranging discussion of whatever topic comes to mind is enchanting and entertaining, he holds the audience in thrall just by his presence on the stage. The experience just defies description. But it's one that you want to repeat over and over and over... And then comes what has to be the most perfect ending ever to a concert. Clay's sincerity when he speaks of his appreciation of the local talent, his joy at being able to go out on the road and spend time with his dear friends and all of us, and his gratitude for having it be possible just spills out and into the closing song Because You Loved Me. He might be singing but the experience is a shared one and the bond is one of mutual appreciation and love.

Posted by kmh135 at CH:

Hearing Clay live in a venue with good accoustics always makes me fall in love all over again. And Newark was no exception. I am very very glad I decided to go. I thought his voice was in excellent form, and the venue accoustics were great (at least where I was) overall.

He was very high energy last night as was the crowd, and the energy translated to a fun show. I thought the tv theme songs worked much better thanks to 1 ) a somewhat broader comedic interpretation by Clay 2 ) Clay's bringing an enormous amount of energy and personality to the set and 3 ) a very well trained charged up Clay-fan-heavy audience who helped keep the energy going.

Posted by shadylil at the CH:

Clay sure does love him some TV medley theme songs. He doesn't stop moving. To every note. Either he's singing, mouthing, dancing, conducting, playing air piano, or air-conducting, there's some part of him that's continueously moving. The George Jefferson dance was great. I just wanna take him to a Prom or a bar and dance with him, ya know? Quiana was funny doing Clay's TV intro, and the looks that Clay was giving her were funny.

More from shadylil:

The nuances, the haunting tonal quality, his facial expressions, all combined to give this song the feelings and emotions that it was meant to have. It was exquitsite. MoaM was, in a word, incredible. You know how Clay usually shuts down any extended audience applause? Well, he tried. Three times he tried. The first time, he flailed his arms, trying to get us to sit down. It failed. The second time he did that, not only did he fail, the cheers and screams got even louder. The third time, he started to succeed in shutting us up *g*

Posted by playbiller at the CH:

I was on a far side and could see everyone entering and leaving stage, but the sound guy was on my side which gave me the advantage of seeing Clay constantly signal to the sound guy to up and lower the feedback monitors. I also got to see Clay signal Quiana to sing the lower notes in "I Want to Know What Love Is" so he could riff with Angela. It was funny, he used two fingers around his mike to suddenly point down and Quiana nodded and he nodded back. Then Quiana's voice dropped at least an octave! Maybe they do need a guy in the "family".

Posted by CantGoADayWithoutClay at CH:

I don't remember what song Clay was singing, but I could see the wheels grinding in his head. Doesn’t he always seems to be looking for a new and exciting way to get closer to his audience? Remember, he walked "the pit wall" in Philly.... and then sang from the stage "wings" in Syracuse? Well this time, he ventured a walk while singing, across the very, very tippy tip edge of the stage in FRONT of the speaker boxes and floor lights (I was only half hoping he'd end up in my lap heh) But seriously, he wasn't even looking down! Just walking and singing... one, honkin' big foot smack in front of the other, with literally inches between the edge of the equipment and end of the stage.... all the while singing and looking straight ahead.

At one point, the toes of one shoe were right in the loop of a circle of coaxal cable, and as he lifted his foot (without looking) the woman to my right, and I both gasped aloud, in unison, for fear he was about to catch his foot and fall smack on his face .... or off the stage. Without so much as a downward glance, we could not believe he backed that foot out of that looping mess and OVER the wires. Unfreakin believable! As if he has eyes in his shoes. She and I just looked at each other in amazement.

Posted by care4clay at CB:

I have to say that aside from the beauty of Clay's ballads, my favorite parts of the show were the two medleys, because they brought out Clay's comical energy and set a feel-good mood for the audience. I was laughing so hard at Clay's banter. He is probably one of the funniest people I've ever known or known of. His timing is phenomenal and the way he improvises at times just shows how down to earth he is. It is really such a pleasure to watch. When the TV Theme Song Medley began with the Full House theme song I couldn't help but sing along. I love that Clay wants to involve the whole audience in his concerts. He understands that we are all sharing the experience and we are all united by our love for him.

Performances from Newark

"Lover All Alone"