Kelly Clarkson/The Fray - Toronto 2012 Molson Amiptheatre Review

Kelly Clarkson headlined a show in Toronto on August 28, 2012 at the Molson Ampitheatre which also featured The Fray and Carolina Liars.  She delivered an exciting, hit-filled set to an enthusiastic, though not sold-out crowd. 

Her show opened with a lead-in from AC DC's "you shook me all aight long," which blended into a video montage - and then Clarkson appeared on stage to sing "my life would suck without you" followed by a powerful rendition of "behind these hazel eyes." 
Clarkson was full of energy and performed her pop-rock hits with a powerful wide-ranging voice.  She engaged the audience, many of whom were teens and tweens enjoying the show with their parents or other family members.  She played a number of cover tunes.  First, it was "we are young," the hit song by Fun.  She walked up into the 3rd and 4th sections of the Ampitheatre and had the whole crowd on its feet singing along.  Later, in a nod to Canadian recording artists, she covered Michael Buble's "let me go home." She then added a cover of the Jason Aldean song "don't you want to stay" with Isaac Slade from The Fray, who came back out.    She turned back to her own numbers and sang "breakaway," "since u been gone" and "because of you" in a string of crowd pleasers.  Clarkson has a unique place in the concert circuit today.  She's a female pop/rock star who puts on a straight ahead pop/rock concert without resorting to sexuality as the focal point of her show. The gimickry was limited but the music was great and that is somewhat refreshing in today's musical landscape.  The only major drawback was that the total length of the show was about an hour and ten minutes.  At one point, Clarkson recounted a story about how she had seen U2 live and they didn't perform "with  or without you."  She felt cheated.  Sure, but Clarkson didn't peform "addicted" or 'hear me" or many other great pieces.  In a set of just over an hour, she played three cover songs.  Sure, they were all great, but she could have played for another hour, even if that would have run past the bed time of many of the audience members.

Clarkson came out with a  tough act to follow.  The Fray put on a terrific show, thought it was also about an

hour and ten minutes long.  They opened with "all at once" and "turn me on" and really had the audience engaged when they moved into "you found me," one of their really big hits.  Lead singer Isaac Slade fronts a 6 piece band, which was set up in beautifully symmetrical stage arrangement, which, at times, featured 3 percussionists.  The lighting blended well with the music and created some warm and vibrant stage effects.  Like Clarkson, Slade made his way up to the top of the Ampitheatre, bringing along his keyboard, and played and song up at the top of the concert all.  He made a couple of complete rounds through the entire Ampitheatre, while signing responsively with the crowd.  No doubt many of the audience members had come to see The Fray and they weren't disappointed with the band's well rehearsed performance.  The Fray are more subtle than Clarkson, and at times emphasize the ambient side of music.  Heavily influenced by U2 and Coldplay, the band, led by Slade, has a rich and intricate sound. 

Slade sat down at the piano and belted out a fun cover of The Temptation's "ain't too proud to beg."  The band's high point of the evening was, of course, their biggest hit, "how to save a life," though I would say the live version was somewhat understated and not quite as exciting as it could have been.  Overall, The Fray delivered a great show and would probably be a terrific band to see as a headliner.  Unfortunately, as with Kelly Clarkson, they only played for just over an hour, which seemed way too short.

I arrived too late for "Carolina Liars" so I can't comment on the opening act but I figure I still managed to see two very good short sets.  When combined together, it would be like seeing one great performer for a full concert, though I think all three performers combined still add up to less than the 3 1/2 hour show that Green Day delivered at the same venue 2 years ago.