Oct. 23: Kelly Clarkson
The first and best Idol visits Milwaukee tonight
She catapulted to success via American Idol, but first-season winner Kelly Clarkson has more staying power than the average flash-in-the-pan TV creation: She even weathered the disastrously bad 2003 Idol cash-in film From Justin To Kelly. Clarkson’s second disc, Breakaway, moved her away from teen pop into an alt-rockish mode that better suited her warbly talents, and since then she's worked the territory between those sounds. Minutemen bassist Mike Watt, of all people, played on six tracks on 2007's My December, and on this year's All I Ever Wanted, Clarkson continues to imbue her music with edginess and sincerity that's unexpected for a Top 40 mainstream pop singer. She performs tonight at Milwaukee Theatre.
