Concert Success!

A few months ago Brandi heard a radio advertisement for a Mandisa and Colton Dixon concert. It took a lot of effort to secure tickets and we, finally, got 3 of the last 16 tickets available for the concert. We spent the weekend at Joel and Brandi's house and Sunday evening was the concert.

You may recall that the last concert I took Aliza to ended in tears and we left early. This concert was held in a large church instead of a civic center so I had reason to believe that the things that scared Aliza would be toned down in a smaller setting. I was right, but it didn't keep Aliza from being scared and wanted to turn around and go home on the way to the concert. Brandi and I did a lot of talking to keep her in this adventure with us! Aliza had so many butterflies in her stomach that she said they "ate her appetite." The concert started at 6pm and even at intermission at 7:15 I couldn't get her to eat the sandwich I had packed for her.

So her biggest fears are smoke and the first song on Colton Dixon's CD called Noise. Noise starts with car alarms and sirens that Aliza can't stand. Brandi and I told her all of the possible reasons we could think of that Colton Dixon would not choose to do that song....Would you believe that was the FIRST song he did?! I'm glad it was the first song because then it was over and Aliza didn't have to worry about whether it was coming.

We sat on the very back row of chairs against the wall which was great. We stood on the chairs and ended up with a pretty great view of the stage. Aliza ended up having a great time. The lights weren't too distracting. The volume wasn't painfully loud. Colton used smoke 3 or 4 times and it was very short. By the time Aliza realized there was smoke and she should be scared--I could tell her it was over.

At intermission the sponsoring radio station threw out a whole bunch of t-shirts. The family in front of us caught several and gave Aliza one. She was SO excited. It is huge, but that hardly matters.

Mandisa had a fun show too. Of course the favorites are always the songs you know really well. Overcomer was the last song of the night and it was worth the wait! In the end this concert was a wild success! (Now Aliza is very curious about American Idol and can't wait until Colton Dixon's new CD is released this summer.)