I was about 15 rows back, dead center at the Kelly Clarkson concert last Tuesday. Not bad for last-minute tickets. I took a bunch of photos. You can check them out on my MySpace right here. I hope you like!
Kelly’s concert was lots of fun. Pop singer/songwriter Jon McLaughlin was the opening act. You might know his song “Beautiful Disaster” from the radio. Live, he and his band rock more than his soft-rock recordings would indicate. That was cool.
After a short intermission, Kelly took the stage. The stage set was designed to mimic the Gothic staircase on the “My December” album cover. Her first few numbers were new songs. The audience even sung along on a few of these. Standouts were “Sober” (I love that song–disappointed it didn’t do better on the charts) and “Never Again”.
Near the middle of the show, she mixed in some of her more familiar hits, like “Thankful” and “Because of You”. Mid-show, the stage curtain came down, and Kelly did a few numbers with keyboards only, including, a soulful cover of the Patty Griffin song, “Up to the Mountain”.
When the stage curtain came back up, there was a new set, and Kelly performed some spunky versions of her well-known hits including, “Walk Away”. One of her last songs of the night was “Chivas”–one of my favorite performances of the evening.
Her encore, “Since U Been Gone”, incorporated the Kelly Clarkson Pogo Dance (heh) and full audience participation. The two teenage girls in front of me were pogoing right along and singing at the top of their lungs, much to the amusement of their parents. Cute.
The concert was a nice mixture of new and old stuff, and unlike a few reviewers, I didn’t think there was a jarring difference between the first half (somber and dull) and second half (the perky Kelly we all know and love). The set was nicely mixed up and well paced. Definitely a good show. If Kelly is scheduled to perform at a theater near you, I say GO…
