| KELLY CLARKSON and ERIC HUTCHINSON live in NZ... |
| Written by Sarah Mudgway |
| Tuesday, 13 April 2010 20:05 |
 Walking up to Vector Arena on Sunday night for the one-off performance of original Idol KELLY CLARKSON, it was instantly noticeable how quiet it was. Car parks were reasonably abundant, the lines to get in were non-existent, and the usual amount of young girls in heels loitering about were at a minimum. Upon entering the arena, we got water - still no lines - and found our seats. Oh yeah, the entire Vector Arena was seated, including those on the floor... No dance floor at a pop concert? Interesting. By the time Kelly Clarkson's friend-in-touring ERIC HUTCHINSON took to the stage, the arena was a little more lively and full - and Eric did his best to capture whatever energy he could grasp, and get everyone up off their seats and standing up. Thrust into the musical spotlight after gossip blogger Perez Hilton praised his album 'Sounds Like This', it transformed the singer from a self-funded artist to #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. Walking on stage, Hutchinson was dressed to impress in an all white get-up, matched by a smile which never left his face. Opening with 'Oh!', followed by 'All Over Now', Hutchinson danced around on-stage while singing flawlessly with his Gavin DeGraw meets Jack Johnson voice - engaging the audience in hand claps, sing-a-longs - and my favourite part of the entire evening, the "one second clap solo" in which he and his band stopped for one second, to allow the audience's claps to be the only thing heard. 'You Don't Have To Believe Me' was joined with a moment of what can only be described as epic dancing, and as Hutchinson performed the remainder of his set with ease and energy, the two thirds full Vector Arena audience embraced the sing-alongs and humour, as he concluded with his hit single 'Rock And Roll', leaving the stage with many new fans and admirers.  It's been a long time coming for Kelly Clarkson fans, with her scheduled performance a few years back being cancelled at the last minute due to illness. Opening her set with 'All I Ever Wanted', Kelly walked out on stage dressed down in casual black pants, a blue t-shirt, black jacket... and no shoes. With a full backing band and two back-up vocalists, at times her voice was lost behind the music. However, when the music softened, the strength and power in her voice became incredibly obvious. 'Miss Independent' was immediately followed by 'I Do Not Hook Up', in which her voice was met by an equally as impressive guitar solo. Apologizing for it taking "so fricken long" for her to make it to New Zealand, she then entertained the audience with tales of her New Zealand adventure thus far, admitting she sucked at golf - is better at drinking - and was still in vacation mode. Launching straight into 'Impossible' - a song directed at critics - her voice was so powerful and strong, it became increasingly obvious why she won the hearts of the American public and won 'American Idol'.  However, it was at this point in her performance where things got, well... weird. Performing a cover of 'Use Somebody' by Kings Of Leon, Kelly then removed her scarf and proceeded to have an awkward conversation which went something along the lines of - "I get no action. Just kidding. I do! Oh, my mom is here... umm just kidding. *laughs* I'm a virgin. *more laughter* Just kidding. This is awkward..." - yeah, no kidding Kelly. That was awkward. She then proceeded to remark, once again, that she was so tired and usually in bed by this point in the evening. I'm sorry - but when you have an audience paying money to watch you perform - the least you could do is suck it up, give it your all, and then go backstage AFTER the show and start complaining about feeling tired. A pop show is meant to be lively, energetic, and inspire your audience to dance around and get up off their feet - even in the toned down moments. Even during her more popular songs 'Breakaway' and 'Because Of You', those sitting around me were doing just that. Sitting. It may have been me having the wrong expectations, but I expected more energy.  A stripped back version of 'Behind These Hazel Eyes' was a refreshing reminder of why Kelly Clarkson shot to fame in the first place - enthusiasm or not, the girl can sing. Blaming any faults on jetlag (despite already telling us she had been in the country vacationing for a few days), she sung 'Walk Away', followed by 'Since U Been Gone'. Heading off stage for a short intermission, the chants for an encore was the loudest the audience had been since Eric Hutchinson departed the stage. Performing 'Save You' off of her latest album 'All I Ever Wanted' - she was accompanied on stage with a violinist which was a refreshing change of pace from the full backing-band. Finishing up her set with 'Already Gone' and ending with 'My Life Would Suck Without You', her voice was near-faultless but I couldn’t shrug the feeling that she could have done better.  |
