"The Meaning Of Life Tour" headlined by Kelly Clarkson and featuring Maggie Rose and Brynn Cartelli made it's stop for two nights at Mohegan Sun Arena and treated the crowd to one epic night of entertainment. I was in attendance night one for "Inside The Setlist" and will start by saying I was entertained from start to finish.
The night was started by teenage sensation Brynn Cartelli. If you don't know who she is, Brynn won last season's "The Voice" and was coached by Kelly Clarkson. She is also credited as the youngest to win the competition. Having never even previously heard of her and having not watched the show in recent seasons, I was very curious to see this set. I can say now this girl has a powerful range and an audience captivating stage presence. She easily could have performed much longer than her 20 minute set and the crowd would have been happy. Brynn is what music is about. I can see why she won the show and what Kelly saw in her. Brynn belongs on stage and I foresee a headlining show at Mohegan Sun Arena of her own.
Up next was another act and music sensation, Maggie Rose. Maggie and her band have a style that is very refreshing and brings back some old fashioned style with a modern twist combination that was nothing less than brilliant. She crosses music genres between pop, country & rock and makes it work. The energy she brings to the stage just reaches inside of you and brings out a smile inside & out. She is well known for being best dressed on the red carpet and she didn't disappoint tonight in her purple glittering outfit.
Without a doubt, both opening acts are worth mentioning and deserve a lot of credit. Any fans who showed up late truly missed out. If you are seeing this tour at a later date, be sure to make these opening acts. Let me add, Brynn made herself available for fans to meet after her set. The line was of course very long but sadly many, including my daughter, had to give up and missed part of Kelly's performance. Maggie made herself available after the show as well, signing and taking photos with fans.
The night though was all about Kelly Clarkson. Kelly is on tour for the first time since 2015 her "Piece By Piece Tour". The current tour features 28 dates that started in January and comes to end later this month.
Kelly appeared center front and center of the arena from the catwalk in her beautiful black gown and showed right away why she is loved vocally with an acappella version of "A Moment Like This". This was followed by an amazing journey of 19 more epic hits from her career, covers and several outfit changes. During her performance, Kelly featured many surprise guests on stage with her including Kymberli Joye, D.R. King, as well as performing with her opening acts Maggie and Brynn. Her act also featured a segment known as "A Minute And A Glass Of Wine".
Key moments for me:
Kelly is known as being very talkative which was notable tonight and I think is an asset to her performance. She openly talked about sweating, making small jokes and just showed she is who she is and loves every moment of it.
Kelly noticed Ryan, a young fan, singing every word of Piece By Piece. This moment had her moved emotionally and near tears. After the song Kelly had all her attention on this special fan and made it a night he will never forget. His dream, he says, is to be on "The Voice" and she told him she would turn her chair for him.
Kelly can be dressed beautifully on stage at one point or running around barefoot bopping around and spinning to the beat of her performance. She lures you in to every word and you feel the energy being delivered. She can have you near tears & feeling her every word and emotion or have you moving around in your seat with her a moment later. And by the way, the stage had a full serve bar complete with stools to sit at and was serving up drinks all night long to guests on the floor.
To sum this all up, it was a night to remember from start to finish with a lineup that fits well together. Kelly never disappoints live.
The Setlist:
A Moment Like This
Meaning of Life
Walk Away
Love So Soft
Whole Lotta Woman
Behind These Hazel Eyes
Breakaway
Piece by Piece
Medley: Because of You / Just Missed the Train / Beautiful Disaster / Sober / Good Goes the Bye / Would You Call That Love
A Minute and a Glass of Wine
You Say (Lauren Daigle cover) (with Kymberli Joye)
Run Run Run
My Life Would Suck Without You
Heat
Heartbeat Song
Miss Independent
Encore: It's Quiet Uptown (Lin‐Manuel Miranda cover) / Never Enough (Loren Allred cover) / Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) / Since U Been Gone
Photo Courtesy of Khoi Ton, Mohegan Sun.
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