In-laws and Idols

The event that inspired our trip to Atlanta last weekend was the American Idol Tour at the Gwinnett Center. The in-laws love the show and I have really gotten hooked on it in the last couple of years. DVR helps because we can fast forward through the huge amount of coke commercials. Can you even imagine how happy the producers were that the tour made a stop in Atlanta, the World of Coke? They couldn't help themselves ... that was one of the first "plugs" that we had to hear about. Anyway, last season, we went over to the in-laws to watch a few of the shows. We also took it to the level of making picks. We each had a list of our fav contestants and who we thought would win. David came up with the idea of a road trip weekend and we added in aquarium fun and outlet shopping. David's step-dad made everyone aware that high on his to-do list for the weekend was getting to the Bass Pro Shops.

The concert was really good. Of course, it was all karaoke style (like the show) and all of the top 10 idols from the last season performed. It made for an interesting concert because of so much variety. The most entertaining part for me was the crowd in attendance. Every single age group was represented - from huge groups of teenage girls to a group of middle aged teachers with matching t-shirts (I got to hear one of them tell all about it in the bathroom line) to lots of elderly folks. One grandpa-type sitting very close to us danced in his seat the entire night. We also got to witness the healing powers of Adam Lambert. The build-up for the runner up was amazing. Every time his picture flashed across the big screen during intermission, the whole place went wild. I'm not an Adam fan, so this was comical. I couldn't imagine what would take place when he actually took the stage. Well, when that moment came, David called my attention to the handicapped section. Over half of the people in wheelchairs were on their feet! Awesome display of fan dedication.

Sadly, I don't have any pictures of the event because they proclaimed that no cameras were allowed - not even point & shoot. I did see hundreds of cameras in use with no apparent consequences, but I diligently followed the rules because I didn't want to risk confiscation of either of my awesome cameras.