Her November

Kelly Clarkson's the "fallen Idol" now; "idle when ready," so they say. So claim the copious concert reviews following Clarkson along the tour trail, at last under way after a summer stall-out caused by low, low ticket sales and the giddy gossip-mongering following her fall out with Old Man Music, Clive Davis. Nobody's terribly impressed with the Burleson lass. Wrote my old pal Jim DeRogatis in the Chicago Sun-Times on November 2, her new stuff's "solipsistic, bombastic, joyless and utterly unconvincing, cribbing more from Pat Benatar and Loverboy than the Boss." Wuh. And. Oh. At least you didn't pay more for those tickets to her Friday show at Nokia Theatre at Grand Prairie than $39.50; no matter the dissing, that's a right bargain.

My December, the album she's on the road trying to sell (out of her trunk, more than likely), is a far cry from the Nebraska she promised and the Breakaway she delivered three years back. Sorry, but, yeah, "Since U Been Gone" remains the millennium's best pure pilfered pop song—and don’t believe me, ask Ted Leo, who mashed-up it up real good with Yeah Yeah Yeah's "Maps" to prove its beautifully stolen cred. Davis wanted more of that, good for him; Clarkson wanted less and delivered, bad for her. But this is her homecoming show, so no doubt she'll deliver—beware those pipes, you in the back row. The Nokia ain't big enough for the two of you. Call 214-373-8000 or visit ticketmaster.com.
Fri., Nov. 23, 2007