Clay Walker

I don't remember who asked me for this, but here it is.

Clay played at the Bob Hope Theater in Stockton, CA on Wednesday, September 19th. He Took the stage at 8:00pm and played until about 9:45. All I can say is...wow! This was a totally different man than I had seen on the golf course.lol I had considered him a bit shy before, but not anymore. :D

Shallow stuff: Clay looked great. He had on light blue jeans (pleasantly snug), a black shirt with grey pinstripe and a black hat. His hair is longish...curling at the nape of his neck.

I kinda forgot to take notes at first, but I think he started with:
Dreaming With My Eyes Open
You're Beginning To Get To Me
If I Could Make a Living
Rumor Has It

He then added a capo to the neck of his guitar and played She Likes It In The Morning off his new album, Fall. Now, this title sounds quite naughty...but the song is rather romantic and beautiful. When he finished there was a prolonged applause. Clay did a really cute, boyish shrug and said, "I'm glad y'all liked it." When the cheering finally died down, he started to talk to the crowd only to have some girl in the balcony scream, "I like it in the morning, too!" He started laughing and his cheeks actually turned a bit pink. It was adorable. He got it together to say he's just a country boy. What you see on stage is just him how he is in real life. (then who did I see at Pebble? lol)

He went on to say the next song always made him think of his grandma. The lost her just before Valentine's Day this year (his voice broke a bit here) and she was his favorite person in the world. He remembered going to Grandma's and picking blackberries. They'd eat them and then grin at one another with purple teeth. He said, "this one is for Grandma" and then sang Live Until I Die. He followed that with (my song) 'Fore She Was Mama.

He started talking about his good friend he grew up with and went to Mexico...paused and said, "Modesto, Mexico, not much difference" much to the delight of the audience. (Stockton is about 40 miles north of Modesto) I missed what he said after that because there was quite a bit of laughing and clapping going on. Somehow he segued Cuba. "What happens in Cuba, stays in Cuba." He just went down there and shot the video for Fall. "There's a great make out scene in a waterfall...too bad y'all won't get to see much of that." "Anyway, [he] went to Mexico for sunshine and margaritas." Unfortunately there was a monsoon as son as he got there. He said he "did the responsible thing" and "drank margaritas from a fetal position". Then went into the song Mexico, again from the new album, Fall.

He intro'd the next song by saying it was the first duet he ever recorded. He said, "I get chill bumps every time I do it." He recorded it with Freddy Fender just prior to his death. He then sang Before The Next Teardrop Falls.

Hypnotize The Moon- He said the song was on hold for three artists, but he managed to get into the studio and record it before they could.

At this point in the show he said, "You know what i love about this night? It's not even half over yet!" Big cheer.

He took a break from singing by saying he had to give the guitar player a moment. All the guys, including the fiddle player, came to the edge of the stage and "jammed". Clay hammed it up with them, making a roping motion over his head while gyrating his hips much to the joy of the women down front. He kinda tipped his hat forward on his head, then all the guys went over in front of the keyboard player, then over in front of the drummer. They ended this with focus on the guitar player again and Clay did a little mock bow at him a la "we're not worthy" from the movie Wayne's World.

Then he gave his fiddle player his moment. He said, "there's fiddle and there's violin. Play that song for them...nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh..." (Clay sang the notes to a well known classical piece that escapes me at the moment) The fiddle player was shaking his head and not wanting to play it. Clay said, "They don't care. Play my song!" The guy played it very well and the audience cheered him. Then Clay said, "Now I'll be laying in the back of the bus tonight going nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh." He then asked the guy to play "that Celtic water dance one". He complied and did a kind of duel with the bass player and then the guitarist and Clay just stepped back and laughed at their antics. He said the song was "evolving into it's own self" with a laugh. Then told his guys "I'll get you back. You see there's the sweet Clay and then there's the other Clay..."

Said it took him back to Beaumont, Texas when he used to sing for his supper. "We played for the college frat crowd. This song got them fired up. It was the only gig I ever got fired from. One night the owner told me, Clay, you're doing great. The place is packed every night...but they're tearing it apart." He went into what I think was James Taylor's Steamroller. He did a hip roll to the "mixer" line and got the girls all fired up. lol

For the next song, he took off his guitar. A stage hand rolled two giant beach balls onto the stage which Clay kicked out into the crowd. He sang Then What.

I don't remember the song he did after that other than it had the lines "I start to shiver" and "I feel the heat".

He told us the next song is one of his top three favorites. It's going to be the new single off his album. He sang the title track, Fall. There was a cute moment when he went up for a high note, he put his finger to his ear like Glenn often does.

I was kinda getting into the music so I stopped taking notes. He did:
When She's Good She's Good
(I'm) Not Gonna Sleep
What's It To You
Then took his hat off (tousled curls) and told everyone, "God bless you" and left the stage.

The guys came back out and played some flamenco guitar and went into
Bury The Shovel
Live, Love, Laugh

At some point he pulled all the guitar picks off his mic stand and threw them into the audience. His guitar tech came out and gave him a whole handful. He tossed about 10 of them out one and a time and tried to make the balcony. (almost did...one landed to my left and one to my right :cry: ) Then he just threw the rest of the handful out into the crowd.

He put on a great show. Kudos Clay.

I didn't know Clay used to live in Beaumont! I grew up there! Small world.

Great review! :D

Nancy, that's so cool he lived in your hometown! 8)

Great review. Now I've got to find this guy on iTunes.

I'm glad you had a good time, PLS. :) Must admit I've never heard of this guy.

PLS - Thanks for the review from me, too. As most of you all know, I am not a big fan of country music, so I had never heard of Clay either until Soda and PLS went to Pebble Beach in 2006. When I went to Pebble this past February and Clay was again paired up with Glenn's team, I honestly admit that I wasn't too impressed with him. However, albeit nerdy, he did appear to be a very nice guy, and I felt rather guilty that we had ignored him. We finally initiated a short conversation with him on the last day, which made me feel better. ;) I did watch a few of his videos when I got home, and thought it was interesting to see what I perceived as a dorky golfer being portrayed as a young, hot country star. I'm glad to see that he puts on a good live show. You go, Clay! :D

Keep in mind, dreamer, that he was standing next to Glenn. Any guy suffers by the comparison!

Lol, Soda. He seemes like a nice guy from the interviews we've seen him doing, and Glenn clearly enjoys "hanging with the kid"!

Great review, thanks PLS. 8) It sounds like a really good show.