My Husband and I began our 2 hour+ roadtrip to Evansville on Wednesday night. I was going to make sure we had an early rise and plant ourselves in an ideal spot to meet the Idols (one David Archuleta in particular). We made it to the hotel without incident armed with video, audio, and photo equipment. Plenty of extra batteries.

On Thursday morning we made the 3 mile drive to Roberts Stadium, arriving at 9:00a.m. A family was already there sitting in the parking lot when we arrived. After introductions and learning they were a mom, daughter, and 3 granddaughters from Nashville, TN., we decided to form a group and went to the front of the barricades to begin our wait for the Idols' arrival. This was a good plan since the stadium would not allow the use of the bathroom facilities. Turns could be taken saving places and watching over personal articles during bathroom drives. The day began as an overcast morning but the raindrops soon started to fall. No, this couldn't be happening! Luckily, no serious rain occurred throughout the day and the humidity wasn't too bad.

If anyone is familiar with Robert's Stadium, they are aware it is a small venue. When chosing which concert to attend, the size is what made our decision to head to Evansville. Turned out to be a good decision. Approximately 200 people showed up to meet the buses, allowing plenty of space along the barricades for a single file line.

The buses transporting the Idols arrived at 1:30. After about 15 minutes David Archuleta was the first to come out to loud screams in the crowd. Darn, he started at the opposite end. atience!!! Soon to follow was David Cook, also to loud screams. A little later Kristy appeared and started at our end. Michael, Jason, Chikezie, and Carly soon followed. Brooke arrived a little later but spent quality time with all the supporters. No sign of Syesha or Ramiele. Each idol took their time filtering down the line signing autographs and allowing photos. Not to make it too long talking of each Idol, we have to say everyone of them were very personable and polite. Even though David A. had press, he took the time to speak with everyone. For anyone who is a doubter, he is a very genuinely sincere and caring person. He will definitely make a fine role model. Watching him, it could be seen in his eyes and expressions. He truly cared about the fans who were there to support him. When he was called to press, he became worried about the gifts fans had given him and that they wouldn't be lost. About 2 hours were spent meeting the fans by the Idols who had came out. It didn't appear that anyone was ignored. After many pictures of David, a couple of autographs including signing my Archey's Angels t-shirt, David had completed his way down the line and headed for his press interview. After finishing aquiring the other Idols' signatures and pictures there was enough time for a quick bite to eat and freshen up before the concert. Can't wait!

Hubby's turn to tell of the concert:

You could feel the excitement in the air as we waited for the doors to open! Everyone was waiting in anticipation. The one thing that I found a bit interesting was the number of people who have followed the tour throughout its run. We spoke with a couple of girls who, after the Tulsa concert, will have attended 10 shows. WOW!

The gates opened promptly at 6 p.m. and we were about 10th in line to get through the turnstile. A quick trip to the vendor area to get a souvenir program and David A.'s 8x10 picture and we were on our way to our seats. Luck was with us because the ramp to our section was right by the vendor section. If you have never been to Roberts Stadium there is not a bad seat in the house. I seemed to remember that from a fuzzy Van Halen concert I attended in my college years there. Our seats were perfect.

Time for the concert. In an effort to retrieve video from the concert I had purchased a small and inexpensive digital video camera and 4 gigs of memory. It was cheap enough that if confiscated, no big loss. More on that later. Chikezie opened the show. WOW! This guy has really improved. I won't take a huge amount of time on the other Idols but they all did good in their own right and all show tremendous improvement. So far so good, a group number and then intermission. Please make it go quick! Let's get to the good part! The Guitar Hero playoff was kinda cute and they did do an air Guitar Hero playoff with 2 kids from the audience and gave them prizes. Finally, time to start!

Jason, Brooke, and Syesha perform admirably. As I said before, lots of growth, both vocally and maturity. The crowd had been really receptive to all of the Idols thus far but when the fanfare started and the giant number 2 came up on the screens, the noise level from the crowd went into overdrive. The stage filled with fog and up out of the fog singing "Angels" rises David Archuleta. I did not think that the crowd could get louder but they proved me wrong by doubling their noise. It did not last long and David belted out Angels like the professional he is. You have to love the purity and strength of his voice. Without much further ado he went right into Apologize. Our sons believe that David sings this one better than One Republic. Stand By Me was awesome that is all one can say. He finished the set with When you Say you Love Me explaining the meaning the song has for him before singing it. All in all I was quite pleased with this performance. I have read before that to really hear David sing you must hear it live. I tend to agree wholeheartedly! The atmosphere was electric and his voice pure and strong. I had also read reports of David being ill and having some technical difficulties at some of the past venues. If that be the case, Ladies and Gentlemen: David is better than ever now!

David Cook came out and did a good job with his set, but being pretty much biased, he did not outdo Archey!

The final group number was pleasant. While they were singing I found myself wondering what they would feel like in Tulsa knowing it was the last show and the last song. I imagine it will probably be rough on them all because you could feel and see a certain comraderie amongst them.

Off to the video camera. I recorded the first song of every Idol and all of David A. We arrived back home at about 2 a.m. so I waited until this morning to download the video and watch it. To my instant chagrin I found out once again that you get what you pay for. The video sucked! No since sugar-coating it. The goal was good video and expendability. Not gonna happen. My wife took the camera back today and returned it. If I had known security and monitoring was going to be so lax, I would have gotten a better one. Apologies to the video hounds out there. My wife did take my Sony digital audio recorder and managed to get the full audio of David's performance and we'll upload it later. I did find videos (not mine) of the Evansville performance and I will upload those as well.

Anyway, a great show altogether and I do sincerely hope that all of the Idols have great success. I am still completely awe-struck by what a great performer our David is. The best thing is it can only get better! I have a feeling we personally met with greatness here at the American Idol concert in Evansville.