Kelly Clarkson/The Fray Concert

I went to Nashville last weekend for a Kelly Clarkson and The Fray concert at the Bridgestone! I’d been looking forward to it since Debra and I bought the tickets last spring, and I was NOT disappointed. We saw Taylor Swift there last year, and our spot directly to the left of the stage was a little too close. So for this show, we picked a more central location close to the floor. When we were ushered to our seats, I couldn’t believe how great they were! After scrimping on nosebleed seats for most of my life, I can confidently say that the extra money for good seats is totally worth it.

Carolina Liar opened. I love “Show Me What I’m Looking For,” but was sadly underwhelmed by the rest. Their lead singer was very demanding of the audience (and looked like the lost Nelson brother – that was unexpected).

This Colton guy from American Idol was taking pictures and signing autographs between sets. I haven’t watched Idol in years, so I had no idea who he was, but Debra recognized him. People were going crazy!

I’ve always liked The Fray and considered them excellent songwriters, but they were so overplayed for a while that I couldn’t get too excited about them. So now, after the initial hype, was the perfect time for me to see them live and fall in love. Sometimes you don’t realize how many good songs a group has until you hear them all at once. They’re all great musicians and have amazing stage presence – you can tell the songs are coming from their hearts. It was probably the most emotionally powerful concert I’ve ever been to.

Midway through the show, Isaac Slade (I had to look up his name) came to a keyboard on a riser in the middle of the floor and played “Be Still.” (I’d heard that The Fray are Christians, but that song basically confirmed it.) At the very end of the show, during “Over My Head,” he jumped off the stage and ran through the audience and up into the stands at the back of the arena right near us! It was awesome.

I downloaded two whole Fray albums from iTunes as soon as I got home. :)

Kelly Clarkson is one of my all-time favorite singers. Because so many of her songs are on my exercise playlist, I probably listen to her more than any other artist. Most of the major events and themes of the past ten years of my life can be summed up by a Kelly song. As I’ve said here before, Stronger definitely isn’t my favorite of her albums, but several of the tracks have really grown on me. In any case, she has enough hits to put on a four-hour show, but this one hit the high points! Man, that girl can sing.

Kelly also came out into the audience for a short set!

Singing with Giant Holographic Jason Aldean. Everyone flipped out upon hearing his voice and thought he was there because THIS IS NASHVILLE! But nope. Just a giant hologram. I even hoped Reba might make a cameo. (Kelly is dating Reba’s stepson, which I think is awesome.)

Tired post-concert pic! I was happy to share this experience with Debra. I was also happy to run into Stephanie, my former sister-in-law and still friend (we forgot to take a picture). She was just two sections over, and her friend actually got to meet Kelly! I didn’t realize she was going too until she left a comment on my Facebook status about it. We also passed each other on the highway going home the next day. :)

Our next possible hermanas concert outing is Carrie Underwood here in Memphis in December! We’ll see!