good evening! here's a little bit more on last night's kelly clarkson (join her on myspace) concert over at the gibson amphitheatre - first off i should have paid for the preferred parking which was $20 - i opted for regular parking priced at ten bucks - but let me tell you - that's a long ass walk - and to be totally honest the people hanging out at the universal city walk were a drop sketchy - i was all by myself so i probably took more note than usual of what was going on around me - gosh i made my legs move very fast along the path to the venue...
i sat outside for bit (enjoying my usual concert going whiskey sours) until the opening act was over (some guy was playing - shame on me for not bothering to find out his name) that's when i met my new pals bernice & ella - who were both super cute & way adorable - and newly single (they both just broke up with their boyfriends - they were having a gals night out - i need to find them cute boys to meet up with) we got to talking and then the ladies told me they had extra tickets - so i sat with them - in a much better seat than i purchased! plus i enjoyed having the company - going to concerts alone kinda sucks but i was hard pressed to find somebody to tag along with me - so i'm really happy i got to meet some new peeps and i'm sure we'll be seeing each other again soon!
i was surprised by how crowded the place was - people were totally pumped to see her (she has an incredibly devoted fan base) i did happen to have a few slightly annoying big-time kelly fans sitting behind me who knew the words to each and every song and made no qualms about singing out loud (they even had some strange ritual - all standing in a line holding each other during 'because of you') i was a bit more on the mellow side - especially it being sunday evening and all (it certainly wasn't friday night) ms. clarkson kicked things off by draping herself on stairway in the same wicked red dress that's on the cover of her latest album my december which was visually stunning and i thought what a great way to open the show!
the lights went down and she came busting out in black pants and a satin blue top (later she added a vest) and ripped right into one minute - and then did a great setlist (the full list is posted below) containing material from all her albums (she didn't do much from her first album 'thankful' but i can tell why - i'm sure that's her least favorite one...) i must say that the top three highlights included covers of **patty griffin**'s 'up to the mountain' & **marc broussard**'s 'home' and her own song 'chivas' which she played during her encore - of course she ended things on a very good note with one of her best songs 'since u been gone' - even if your not a huge fan of kelly - i know that you like that song at least (deny it all you want but you secretly love that song!)
right as she was singing the last song - i spotted country diva reba mcentire being escorted out of the building - of course kelly mentioned her during the show - and actually the two ladies recently announced a mini-tour called 2 worlds 2 voices which i bet will totally rock - i thought kelly was awesome last night - i can't listen to her all the time nor will i ever be able to recite her songs word for word - but girlfriend can truly sing - there's no denying that! she really held up live - more than anything i was impressed by her voice - and she has so moved on from being america's first 'idol' - that's totally ancient history and i know we'll be hearing from her for years to come!
i have a ton of respect for the fact that she has proven herself time & time again - she's the real deal and all the naysayers can go screw themselves (in particular one naysayer who shall remain nameless but i'm sure you might know who i'm referring to...someone who seriously hasn't looked in a mirror recently - ugh!) i'm so glad i went out last night - i got to hear some great music - i made new friends - plus i got myself out of the house and off the computer - you can't beat that! tomorrow i've got another concert - the incredibly talented mary j. blige who is playing downtown at nokia theatre LA live - i know it's going to be one of those legendary shows! popbytes over & out for tonight...xxoo!
PS many thanks to planet baub for allowing me to use a few pictures bobby took last night - plus there's a video embedded below of ms. clarkson rocking the song 'home'!
PHOTOS COURTESY OF PLANET BAUB**setlist**
one minute
behind these hazel eyes
don't waste your time
never again
maybe
gone
hole
addicted
because of you
up to the mountain (patty griffin cover)
be still
miss independent
how i feel
can i have a kiss
breakaway
walk away
encore
sober
chivas
home (marc broussard cover)
since u been gone
