One More Night With Kelly

You may remember when in September I wrote the blog entry No Kelly Clarkson Tonight lamenting about Kelly canceling her September 7th concert and my not being able to make it to the rescheduled night on September 15th. Well it turns out I got the info all wrong. It wasn't rescheduled on September 15th at all. Rather it was scheduled for December 15th. And as luck would have it, I was available!


Kelly Clarkson in concert in Chicago last August. Photo by Niva Bringas. (08/14/05)

This time I got there plenty early and didn't miss a single note. It was at the Bren Events Center at UCI (University of California at Irvine, for you out-of-staters). Needless to say, it was heavy with college students. The girl-to-guy ratio must have been at least 5-to-1.

It started off with opening act: The Graham Colton Band. They were pretty good. Did a nice cover of REM's "The One I Love." Then, after a 20-minute break while they struck down the opening band's set, the lights went black and the audience went wild. Before any band members came out, they played AC/DC's "All Night Long" through the audio system. And surprisingly everyone was singing along to every word (aren't they too young for that song?).

Then Kelly emerged and the magic began.


The sign outside ... taken with my phone cam. (12/15/05)

She came out rocking and tore through Breakaway's "Walk Away" and "Miss Independent." Backed by a six-piece band, Kelly mourned her way through "I Hate Myself for Losing You", then hit the crowd with a fiery take on "Low." Showing her versatility, she turned to her more soulful side for "The Trouble With Love Is," "Thankful," and returned with the Evanescence-esque "Addicted."

Some other memorable moments were when she sang "What's Up Lonely", "Where Is Your Heart" and a song from her next album, which she said she's working on. While the band took a break, she sang an a capella version of "Beautiful Disaster" which was awesome.


A shot of the actual concert from my camera phone. I added a white arrow to point out Kelly. (12/15/05)

Other highlights included "Behind These Hazel Eyes," which included a costume change, "Because of You," and an incredible cover of "Crimson and Clover." The main set closed with a revved-up version of the smash-hit "Since U Been Gone," which, during the chorus, had everyone in the amphitheatre on their toes jumping up and down. For the encore, she sang the inspiring "Breakaway."

Overall, she rocked. She rolled. She belted with soul. And I get the feeling that Kelly enjoyed herself as much as we did.

Thanks for another great evening Kelly!