Review and pics by Danielle Boise
The L.A.-based band Carolina Liar opened, alongside The Fray, for the unstoppable Kelly Clarkson at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Alpharetta on August 8–a very hot and sticky night in the Atlanta suburb. Carolina Liar kicked the night off by performing its modern rock sensibilities with a hint of alt-rock pieced together, in such songs like “I’m Not Over You Just Yet,” “California Bound” and “Never Let You Down.”
Before going into “Beautiful World,” lead singer Chad Wolf declared, “This is dedicated to all of you. To all the people that get up every morning and go to a job they hate.” They rounded out the remainder of the set by performing, “Last Night,” “Show Me What I’m Looking For” before ending the night with their hit song, “I’m Not Over” to a crowd of applause and cheers from the amorous fans.
For more information on Carolina Liar or to see where they are performing next, visit www.carolinaliar.com.
Up next was the incomparable The Fray with an awe inspiring light show that truly came to life after the sun started to set and twilight filled the Amphitheatre at Verizon Wireless. They played a much more rocked out set this time around in Atlanta opening for Kelly Clarkson than when The Fray was here at the end of April. The Fray kicked the night off with playing a variety of hits spanning their career, including “You Found Me,” “Syndicate,” “Trust Me” and “Somethings We Don’t Talk About.”
Isaac Slade announced to the crowd “The next song is one of those red wine songs; actually, I probably wrote it while drinking an entire bottle of red wine,” before going into “Ungodly Hour.” When it came time to perform “Happiness,” Slade stated to the crowed, “Stand, I want to dedicate this next song to the atrocities of Aurora with a moment of silence. I’d like to dedicate the next couple of songs to them. This next one is “Happiness.” “Happiness” echoed in the venue with a grand sound that felt almost epic, a cross between the sadness of the vocal lyrics and the harmonies were etched in the air across the Amphitheatre.
Slade came off the stage for “Happiness” and roamed among the fans as he walked around the venue creating a more intimated connection between singer and fans for such powerful song. It was the perfect tribute to the victims and survivors of the massacre that happened in Aurora such a short time ago, with the band’s roots in Denver they felt a deeper connection to the event that shattered across the county inside the 24-hour news headlines.
Up next the band performed “Be Still” followed by “Look After You,” in which Slade said, “this is for my girl. I wrote it a long, long time ago.” There was a little break in their hits, where they performed the chorus to “Georgia On My Mind” with a bluesy sweetness that swept through the Amphitheatre.
“Thank you for coming out tonight, it’s been good.” Slade said with a genuine smile on his face.
The Fray rounded out the rest of their personal set with, “All At Once,” before Slade jumped off the stage and ran through the entire venue, even up into the law seat area to perform their hit song “How To Save A Life” before returning to the stage and finishing the set off with “Over My Head (Cable Car) and ending on “Heartbeat.”
The Fray put on a dynamic show for each and every performance. If you get the chance to see them, then definitely do it. The Fray is currently out on tour with Kelly Clarkson. To find out more information on the band or their next show date, visit www.thefray.com.
Now on to the main act of the night: Miss Independent herself, Kelly Clarkson. Clarkson’s set started with images of her throughout her humble beginning, circa her American Idol days, all the way through the glammed up version of the Kelly Clarkson we see today.
From American Idol winner to multi-platinum recording artist, Kelly Clarkson doesn’t disappoint live as she puts on a specular show from jumping around the stage having a grand time to the several costume changes, all the while Clarkson doesn’t miss a beat.
Clarkson started the night off with her hit, “My Life Would Suck Without You” followed by performing “Behind These Hazel Eyes,” “I Forgive You,” “Dark Side,” “Let Me Down.” The real fun started though when Clarkson slowed down the song a bit with a gorgeous rendition of Fun’s “We Are Young.” Then punched the song into overdrive as she clamored off the stage and ran out into the crowd. Clarkson passed the soundboard to perform surrounded by all the fans because she wanted everyone, close and far, to feel like they were part of the show. She stated, “because without everyone here there would be no show.” Clarkson also performed “Already Gone” while still out amidst the crowd with only a spot light on her, while her band sat on a red stage.
Clarkson had a surprise for the audience, she brought out onto stage, John Glosson of the NBC show “Duets” fame, to perform “Don’t You Want To Stay.” In which Kelly had wanted to perform with him out on the road for this tour. The Atlanta stop happened to be the closet stop that he could make. Even with it being the closest, Glosson still drove hours to perform that one song with such grace and elegance.
Kelly Clarkson does this really cool thing called “The Fan Request,” where a random fan’s song is selected for that night’s performance and Clarkson learns it the day of the show. “We stared doing this last tour (reference to the fan request). I love music more than the average human being, all genres. This woman is my favorite musician of all time. Her voice is like crystal, straight from God. I’m like seven bypassed, but she’s straight from God,” Clarkson declared nervously as she covered Trisha Yearwood’s “Walkaway Joe.”
Yearwood’s voice may be crystal, but Kelly Clarkson shattered that song with a specular display of vocal talent. Afterwards, Clarkson said, “I love Trisha Yearwood, I’m crazy. I’m trying to get her to come out here (on tour) with me.” Clarkson was nervous when learning the song. At sound check she said “Oh shit! Maybe I shouldn’t do this,” in concern to hitting certain notes within the song. Even with her tentativeness towards performing “Walkaway Joe,” Clarkson pulled through and was magnificent.
Clarkson followed the Fan request with “You Love Me,” “Breakaway,” and “Never Again” before doing another costume change where she came back draped in an elegant black ball gown for “Because of You.” Which as soon as the song was over she stripped off the lower half of the gown to reveal a body forming LBD, otherwise known as a little black dress, for “Mr. Know It All” where she strutted across the stage, you could tell Clarkson was having the time off her life.
Clarkson wrapped up the evening with the first number one hit, “Miss Independent” and ending the night on a perfect note with “Stronger” as the entire Amphitheatre was jumping up and down and fist pumping in the air.
Clarkson ended the night by saying “Thank you and have a good night, God Bless you Georgia” before exiting stage left.
For more information on Kelly Clarkson or see where her tour stops next, visit www.kellyclarkson.com.
