Haverhill concert crowd idolizes Elliott Yamin
By Jessica Benson and Crystal Bozek , Staff Writers
Eagle-Tribune
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HAVERHILL - They wore T-shirts declaring "I love Elliott" and held cameras and cellphones at the ready, waiting for their idol to take the stage.
For many, last night's appearance of Elliott Yamin, a fifth-season American Idol contestant, marked the first time they had ever seen a celebrity up close. And they weren't going to miss a single photo op.
"We're very excited," said Meghann Hailson, part of a group of 12-year-old Haverhill girls who had dubbed themselves the "E Club." "He's so cute."
When they first heard their favorite singer was going to be performing at the Haverhill Rocks! event at Winnekeeni Castle, right in their own hometown, Hailson and her friends could hardly believe it.
"I flipped out," Hailson said of her reaction to the news. "I started screaming at the top of my lungs."
"I was like, why Haverhill?" added her friend, Mary Lovely. "It's just a small town no one knows about."
But Yamin told the crowd that it was his pleasure to be there.
"Thank you for allowing us to come here tonight," he said. "You guys are such a warm crowd."
Yamin was performing at one of two simultaneous concerts being held in the city yesterday. In addition to Haverhill Rocks!, a Loudfest heavy metal show was going on at the city's stadium.
But the biggest draw seemed to be Yamin, a favorite on the popular American Idol show who many felt should have won instead of coming in at third place.
The story about how Yamin ended up in Haverhill actually started with a scam. An agent who claimed to have connections to the singer tricked event organizers into thinking they could hire him for the show. But it turned out they wouldn't have been able to afford the pricetag.
When Yamin got wind of it, however, he agreed to cut his regular fee so the show could go on.
"He didn't want to disappoint his fans," said event organizer Joel Rosen.
And he didn't disappoint, fans said. Girls shrieked when he came onstage, and occasionally one would call out, saying "I love you, Elliott."
Afterwards, one fan yelled out: "Great show, we love you," to which he answered: "Thank you so much. I love you, too."
Though most of his biggest followers were teenage girls, there were several older fans enjoying the show, such as 35-year-old Shannon Kelly.
Kelly came up from Boston to see Yamin perform for the first time - it was also her first time visiting the city of Haverhill. She danced through the whole show, waving her hands in the air and singing along to every tune.
"He was incredible," she said. "He was everything I'd hoped for."
Even Mayor James Fiorentini was seen enjoying the show. Though he originally had vetoed the other concert, Loudfest, he admitted yesterday that had been wrong to be worried about the heavy metal show.
"I heard it's going great down there," Fiorentini said as he walked around the historic castle. "These attract a lot of people to the city and bring business to the downtown. We want to advertise our city."
He said these two concerts ended up being a "big test" for the city, since they both sold beer, something not typically done at either venue for an event so big.
"Selling beer, they can raise a lot more money," Fiorentini said of Winnekenni Castle. "It can help in paying for renovations to the castle."
On the other side of town, you wouldn't have been able to tell a heavy-metal festival was going on at Haverhill Stadium until passing directly by it.
Promoter Peter Palermo, of Dream Weaver Entertainment, said it was a low-key event - no parking problems, traffic, big noise complaints or arrests. He lowered the music when a 5:30 p.m. wedding began at the church across the street.
While he was hoping for 3,000 or 4,000 metal fans to show up to the festival, which touted a performance by Anthrax lead singer Joey Belladonna, he only ended up selling about 1,800 tickets.
Mid-way through the rock festival, about 200 or so people lounged on the football field, heads bobbing up and down, listening to a band. A handful of people danced in the mosh pit, while one man played air guitar.
A close-to-empty beer garden was closed off so people could not take their drinks out of the enclosed area. The same went for Haverhill Rocks.
"It's been a pretty good day though," Palermo said mid-way through the concert. "This is our first time. And we've kept it professional. People are having fun. I think this will grow."
Tony Sullivan, of Manchester, N.H., and his girlfriend Amie Haddad, both said they were happy for the "chill" atmosphere. They traveled to the stadium to see Belladonna take the stage.
"We thought it would be packed so we got here early," Sullivan said. "But it's been pretty dead. I don't mind it at all. We can sit down without being stomped on."
http://www.eagletribune.com/punewshh/local_story_231115646
Subject: Eagle-Tribune Haverhill Concert Review 
August 19th 2007, 1:50 pm
