Kelly Clarkson - The 2010 All I Ever Wanted World Tour Thread #2 - Newcastle, Australia April 15! - Page 9

MirageDurb · 05-01-2010, 09:00 AM

Here's a review of the show in Jakarta.

Idol Worship as Clarkson Soars - The Jakarta Globe

Quote:

Idol Worship as Clarkson Soars
Amee R. Enriquez

The recipe for a successful concert may as well be the right combination of the following: a dash of controversy, a sprinkling of public buzz, a stadium almost filled to the brim with fans of all ages and a healthy serving of talent from the featured performing artist.

Jakarta was lucky that the original “American Idol,” Kelly Clarkson, did not cancel her “All I Ever Wanted” concert on Thursday at the Tennis Indoor Senayan stadium despite the controversy over the cigarette ad sponsorship. However, there was something else being distributed to concertgoers — Fiesta imported condoms, with its tagline of “Safety Can be Fun.”

The concert, slated to start at 8 p.m., began with only a 15-minute delay. Thankfully, there were no opening acts either. The fans came to see Clarkson and the artist was what they got — nonstop for close to two hours — from the get-go.

Clarkson warmed up the crowd with “All I Ever Wanted,” from her newest album of the same name, followed by “Miss Independent” and “I Do Not Hook Up.” She also sang “Impossible,” “If I Can’t Have You” and “Don’t Let Me Stop You.”

In between songs, she squarely addressed the cigarette ad controversy, saying that she never considered canceling the concert and was glad to be in Jakarta, where the crowd was one of the loudest and most enthusiastic she had seen.

Other songs that Clarkson sang from her previous albums included “Behind These Hazel Eyes,” “Save You,” “I Want You,” “Don’t Let Me Stop You,” “Because of You,” “Walk Away,” “Since You’ve Been Gone” and “Already Gone.”

In addition, she also covered other artists’ songs, including a mashup of Alanis Morrisette’s “That I Would be Good” and the Kings of Leon’s “Use Somebody”; “Lies,” from The Black Keys, which she described as “one my favorite songs ever”; and Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head.”

The most memorable numbers of the night were somewhere in the middle of Clarkson’s set list. One was when she sang “Breakaway,” with the crowd singing along at the tops of their voices. Another was when she performed a medley of her hit songs, sung with only the acoustic guitar and keyboards alternating to showcase her vocals.

“I always get yelled at for not, you know, singing everybody’s favorite because everybody has their favorite, right? I can’t possibly sing every song I’ve recorded so we’ve tried to put some in the medley for you all. Hopefully we have ones you like. Feel free to sing along,” she said as an introduction. The set included “Just Missed the Train,” “Low,” “Addicted,” and “Gone.”

Clarkson sang three more songs as part of her encore, the final being one of her newest singles, “My Life Would Suck Without You.”

Throughout the concert, the singer comfortably interacted with the audience, as one would imagine her doing in real life when hosting a party. “You all liking the song selection so far?” she asked the crowd at one point.

“I hear you,” she told fans who professed their love for her. “I’ve never been to Jakarta so it would be very cool if you all sing it with me.”

And to a fan who came bearing a banner wishing Clarkson a happy birthday — the singer turned 28 on April 24 — she said with a laugh, “You’re gonna have no voice tomorrow. You’ve been going ‘Woooo!’ You got to save that voice, child. Unless you want to, then continue.”

Watching Clarkson live, you begin to have an understanding of why people find it easy to connect with her. She is as real as it gets and could easily be your best friend or the girl next door.

Everything changes, however, when she starts to sing with that impressive voice. There is nothing ordinary about a singer who can perform live, with the range that Clarkson does, and make it seem effortless. She was nearly pitch perfect throughout, be it singing a ballad, an up-tempo number or even jumping up and down rocking out.

While most performers would understandably choose sparkly outfits so that they shine even to the farthest audience members at the back of the stadium, Clarkson wore a simple black cotton T-shirt and blue jeans accessorized only by a chunky necklace.

Was the concert a success? There were certain indications that it was.

There was the convergence of fans, young and old alike, from a 50ish-looking woman right smack in front of the stage, to the father hoisting his 10-year-old daughter on his shoulder just so that she could get a better glimpse of Clarkson from their vantage point.

There were the endless, ear-splitting screams from a crowd that included office workers still garbed in corporate attire, foreigners, as well as teenage girls enjoying every heartbreaking lyric with boys who were jumping up and down energetically, more seemingly into Clarkson’s music than most.

Then there is the fact that on a Thursday night in April, a girl from Texas who dreamed of becoming a singer and breaking away from her small town, kept her promise to perform for her fans against all odds, giving her audience halfway across the world a night that they would remember for a long time.

MirageDurb · 05-01-2010, 11:50 AM

Holy cow internet was being awful.... Sorry for all those posts. Please delete them. *Shrinks back into corner.*

DanceWithLife · 05-03-2010, 09:30 AM

That's a really great review of the show!

Quote:

There was the convergence of fans, young and old alike, from a 50ish-looking woman right smack in front of the stage, to the father hoisting his 10-year-old daughter on his shoulder just so that she could get a better glimpse of Clarkson from their vantage point.

I love how diverse Kelly's audience is.