By any standard, Kelly Clarkson has had a rough year.
The original “American Idol” winner tussled publicly with RCA over her third album, “My December,” when the label balked at Clarkson writing her own songs.
The subsequent underpromotion played a role in downsizing Clarkson’s current tour from venues like the Pepsi Center – where the Denver show was originally booked – to the 1,870-seat Paramount Theatre.
No one seemed the wiser Monday night as Clarkson commanded the Paramount’s stage, her strong, subtly husky voice slicing through near-deafening screams to deliver chunks of melodic pop-rock.
Sure, the formulaic songs bled into one another as the show wore on. But Clarkson’s affability and her seven-piece band’s note-perfect performance engendered a vibe at once anthemic and intimate.
Flanked by blinding strobes and four-paneled projections, Clarkson used the concert’s first half to lean on driving numbers such as “Behind These Hazel Eyes” and the slow-building “Maybe.” Older tunes “Because of You” and “Addicted” fared better than mediocre new material “Never Again” and “Be Still.”
Patti Griffin’s “Up to the Mountain (MLK Song)” sounded appropriately bluesy in Clarkson’s able pipes, the band cozying up to the stage’s edge to render it in stripped-down mode.
Fans also crowded the front of the theater to get a closer look at their 25-year-old idol, their volume rivaling anything this reporter has heard at a rock show.
Clarkson acknowledged the mercilessly shrill screams after more than a couple songs with a half-amazed, “Wow, y’all are loud.”
She also bested fellow “American Idol” winner Taylor Hicks’ Paramount appearance in April – her show crackling with energy where his fizzled.
To be fair, the singers weave different strands of pop, and Hicks attracts an older, more sedate crowd. But one could easily imagine Clarkson’s fans unabashedly belting out her tunes while driving to work – or taking the bus to school.
Clarkson paid lip service to her younger fans by prefacing the song “Chivas” – a countryesque ode to choosing whisky over men – by saying she didn’t endorse underage drinking. But a convoluted story about a night of drinking and the repeated lines “I’ll take the Chivas instead” muddied the message.
Of course, the night’s highlights were her biggest hits, “Breakaway” and “Since U Been Gone.” Clarkson belted out a couple encore tunes before using the latter’s extended drum lead-in to name off her band members.
When the irresistible chorus finally kicked in, the theater exploded with pogoing and singing. It reminded us why Clarkson should have continued to let other people write most of her songs.
John Wenzel: 303-954-1642 or jwenzel@denverpost.com
