Kelly Clarkson belts it out for 8,500 at Intrust Bank Arena
Kelly Clarkson brought her “Meaning of Life” tour — and her big voice — to Wichita’s Intrust Bank Arena on Saturday night.
The tour, Clarkson’s first since her “Piece by Piece’ tour in 2015, drew a crowd of about 8,500 people, and the room was full of groups of girls-night-outers who knew every word to every song.
Clarkson, who has been on the road since January, exuded the wholesome personality that was part of her appeal when she rose to stardom as the first ever winner of “American Idol” in 2002.
Her wholesomeness has transitioned into chattiness over the years, and she filled the space between songs with stream-of-consciousness riffs about her self-control issues in Target, her daughter’s obsession with Chris Martin of Coldplay, her fondness of red wine and the stress of having so may jobs, including her high-profile judge’s job on the hit show “The Voice.”
She appeared on stage suddenly, elevated from below and wearing a full red skirt, and she belted out an a capella version of “A Moment Like This,” her first single after winning “Idol.” Her big, full voice reached all the way to the back of the arena.
She delivered most of her biggest radio hits, including “Behind These Hazel Eyes,” “Breakaway,” “My Life Would Suck Without You” and “Heartbeat Song.”
Clarkson’s band featured a horn section as well as a four background singers, including D.L. King, a contestant from season 14 of “The Voice,” who midway through the show performed a powerful version of “Run Run Run” with Clarkson.
After, Clarkson talked about how much shows like “American Idol” and “The Voice” can change a singer’s life and said she likes being able to watch young hopefuls get the chance she once had on “Idol”
“I love love that ya’ll vote for these artists,” she said. “You have no idea how much you can change someone’s life just by voting.”
One of Clarkson’s openings acts was another former contestant from “The Voice” — Brynn Cartelli, who won Season 14 as a part of Clarkson’s “team.”
The other opening act was Kelsea Ballerini, a rising country star known for songs like “Miss Me More’ and “I Hate Love Songs.”
A highlight of the show was when Clarkson invited both Cartelli and Ballerini on stage to sing an energetic version of her hit “Miss Independent.”
Clarkson’s encore included two show tunes, including “It’s Quiet Uptown” from “Hamilton” and “Never Enough” from “The Greatest Showman” She ended the night with the song “Since U Been Gone.”
Kelly Clarkson setlist, Wichita
“A Moment Like This”
“Meaning of Life”
“Walk Away”
“Love So Soft”
“Whole Lotta Woman’
“Behind These Hazel Eyes”
“Breakaway”
“Piece by Piece”
“Just Missed the Train / Beautiful Disaster / Sober / Good Goes the Bye / Would You Call That Love”
“A Minute and a Glass of Wine”
“Something Just Like This,” The Chainsmokers and Coldplay cover
“Run Run Run”
“My Life Would Suck Without You”
“Heartbeat Song”
“Miss Independent”
“It’s Quiet Uptown” (Lin‐Manuel Miranda cover from “Hamilton”)
“Never Enough” (Loren Allred cover from “The Greatest Showman”)
“Stronger” (What Doesn’t Kill You)“
“Since U Been Gone”
This story was originally published March 2, 2019 at 10:27 PM.
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