Spokane

Kelly, Clay delight Arena crowd
CONCERT REVIEW Kelly Clarkson and Clay Aiken Spokane Arena, Friday evening

Isamu Jordan
Staff writer

During Kelly Clarkson's set at the Spokane Arena on Friday night, 14-year-old Natalie Petersen was on her feet the entire time, singing every lyric to every song.

It was Petersen's second time seeing the "Independent Tour" with "American Idol" stars Clarkson and Clay Aiken, and she was no less impressed.

She also attended the concert in Seattle on Thursday.

"It was amazing, exactly what I was expecting, just like in Seattle. Kelly has great range and stage presence and she's really sweet. I'm a huge fan of both artists but I like Clay more because he has great looks," said Petersen, who was sporting jeans with the names Kelly and Clay written in marker down each leg.

Judging from the response of Clarkson's and Aiken's fans, mainly middle-aged moms and their pre-teen daughters, the show was an undeniable hit.

With the energy of a superconductor, Clarkson took the starlit stage wearing a black tank top, ripped jeans, a spiked belt and bare feet. Sure, she looked plenty punk rock, but her demeanor was playful and friendly. She even posed for pictures and signed autographs while singing songs that had as much range as her vocals.

"Trouble With Love Is" started out bluesy enough, but suddenly ripped into a techno-lite beat reminiscent of Cher's "Believe." "What's Up Lonely" found Clarkson in the comfortable R&B setting that suits her voice as well as power ballads such as "Low."

Clarkson made a quick change into an all-black outfit with sparkling accessories for her performance of the sassy song that made her an "American Idol" favorite, "Stuff Like That There." This was the liveliest song of the night, next to her cover of Patsy Cline's "Why Haven't I Heard From You," which Clarkson growled and hollered through with tenacity and spunk.

Like Clarkson, there is no doubt that Aiken has the pipes, but he still needs to work on expanding his repertoire, not that anyone at the Arena seemed to notice.

From the moment Aiken entered the stage, fans were roaring.

Aiken looked as goofy as ever -- his hair was typically messy and he wore a tacky gray sport coat with mint-green horizontal stripes on the back while he sang his brand of chicken-soup-for-the-soul music.

There is nothing wrong with love songs, but after Clay's performance you can't help but wonder if that's all he's capable of, along with doing cover songs of hits from the 1980s, such as his opening number, Mr. Mister's "Kyrie."

The worst example was when Aiken sucked all the cool out of Prince's "When Doves Cry" by singing it as an acoustic ballad before the band joined in. That was just plain bad.

One area where Aiken has grown since his "American Idol" days is in his showmanship. While Aiken has a corny appeal that only he seems able to pull off (a mix of equal parts Barry Manilow, Radiohead's Thom Yorke, and "Footloose"-era Kevin Bacon) he seemed more comfortable than ever in his own skin.

Even with an apparent broken foot from tripping during his show in Seattle, Aiken limped around the stage, charming the crowd between songs.

Yes, a lot of Aiken songs are filled with cliche lyrics and generic melodies, sounding like Disney soundtracks, but with gifted voices like Clarkson's and Aiken's, you can get away with glorified karaoke.

Just ask Petersen: "Aiken was the best ever, he was hot and awesome."

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