AIEW Tour Opening Show Review in CT, Excellent review! [Setlist Included!] Options

[Future Idol]

Review: Kelly Clarkson opens fall tour at Mohegan Sun
By Eric R. Danton

If Kelly Clarkson harbored any lingering hard feelings about the flap this summer over her song "Already Gone," she didn't let it show Friday at Mohegan Sun.

She also didn't perform the song the way it sounds on the album, abandoning the blustery arrangement co-writer Ryan Tedder used in similar form on Beyonce's "Halo" in favor of a simpler acoustic set up.

It worked beautifully, just like the rest of the opening show on Clarkson's fall tour.

With a mix of songs from each of her four albums, and a handful of eclectic covers, the original -- and best -- "American Idol" champion showcased her powerful voice for 90 minutes.
Backed by an 11-piece band, including three horns, and an enthusiastic audience well versed in her songs, Clarkson looked like she was having a great time.She waved at people in the crowd, beamed brightly when the crowd took over on vocals and jumped in circles when she was particularly immersed in a song.

The band took the tiered stage first, then Clarkson suddenly appeared at the back of the top level on "All I Ever Wanted," the title track from her latest album.

She ranged back and forth through her catalog, belting "Miss Independent" as little cyclones of squalling guitar revolved around her, and exhorting the crowd to clap on "I Do Not Hook Up," an upbeat assertion of self.

She started the covers with a mashup-style medley of Alanis Morissette's "That I Would Be Good" and Kings of Leon's "Use Somebody," blending one into the other.

Later, after sending her voice effortlessly soaring over the band on "Breakaway" and digging into the pulsing synthesizers and techno rhythm of "If I Can't Have You," she sang a soul-drenched version of the Black Keys' bluesy, slow-burning "Lies."

Next came a torchy rendition of the Patsy Cline standard "Walking After Midnight," before Clarkson returned to her own material with "Behind These Hazel Eyes," performed on acoustic guitar so she could hear the crowd sing the chorus.

Many of Clarkson's songs are heartbreaking -- "Because of You," for example, or "Never Again" -- but she showed a happier side on the bouncy '60s-style pop "I Want You" and the booming, optimistic "Ready," enlivened by brass on the chorus.

She ended the main set with her biggest hit, "Since U Been Gone," before returning for a three-song encore that started with "Already Gone" and also featured a horn-laced version of the White Stripes' song "Seven Nation Army." She closed with "My Life Would Suck Without You."

Eric Hutchinson opened the show with 45 minutes of lightweight pop songs.

Kelly Clarkson's set list
1. All I Ever Wanted
2. Miss Independent
3. I Do Not Hook Up
4. Impossible
5. That I Would Be Good/Use Somebody
6. Breakaway
7. If I Can't Have You
8. Never Again
9. Lies
10. Walking After Midnight
11. Behind These Hazel Eyes
12. Cry
13. I Want You
14. Ready
15. Because of You
16. Walk Away
17. Since U Been Gone
Encore
18. Already Gone
19. Seven Nation Army
20. My Life Would Suck Without You

Source: http://blogs.courant.com/eric_danton_sound...ohegan-sun.html

EXCELLENT review!