When a performer is touring in support of a new album, buying a ticket always carries the danger of essentially paying to be marketed to. You could have to sit through lots of new material with a sprinkling of enough old, familiar material to keep you invested, if not wholly satisfied.
Kelly Clarkson could’ve gone that route on her Piece by Piece tour, which stopped at the Molson Amphitheatre on Saturday night. However, while she did offer five tracks off the new “Piece by Piece” record, including hit single “Heartbeat Song”, Saturday night’s show focused more on sheer entertainment, serving up a few heavy moments but ultimately never taking itself too seriously.
Always possessing a knack for energetic, powerful openings, Clarkson kicked off her 18-song set with the upbeat “Dance With Me”, which led directly into fan favourite “My Life Would Suck Without You”. She kept the energy high with a litany of hits from her growing songbook, with peppy offerings “Catch My Breath” and “Stronger”, along with more emotional fare like “Because of You” and “Piece by Piece”
The show really hit its fever pitch, however, when Clarkson opted to tap into the works of others. No stranger to borrowing from other artists from her days on American Idol, she ceded to a fan’s request to cover Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space”, received help from her capable back-up singers on the Jessie J/Ariana Grande/Nicki Minaj ensemble “Bang Bang” and even offered some local props with Drake’s “Hold On, We’re Going Home”. The covers helped ensure that Clarkson didn’t overstay her welcome, making her closing tandem of “Miss Independent” and “Since U Been Gone” seem fresh for the still-energized crowd of 10,000.
While Clarkson’s remarkable vocals ensured that each cover was handled with proper care, she wasn’t the only performer on the night who knew how to treat the work of others. In a merging of musical reality show rulers, the red hot a cappella quintet – and winners of NBC’s “The Sing-Off” – Pentatonix opened with plenty of their own fan fare. While a pair of preliminary openers, country singers Abi Ann and Eric Hutchinson, played sparsely attended sets, the vast majority of the crowd was settled in to watch the Texas-based fivesome who have gained national prominence thanks to their role in “Pitch Perfect 2”.
And they didn’t disappoint. Without an instrument in sight, they flawlessly cruised through a slew of recognizable pop hits, including Ariana Grande’s “Problem”, Omi’s “Cheerleader”, a Michael Jackson medley and their signature “La La Latch” mash-up of Sam Smith and Disclosure. In what was probably the highlight of the show, the group known affectionately as PTX joined Clarkson onstage for “Heartbeat Song”, bringing an awful lot of musical talent together.
