Sandra Sperounes, The Edmonton Journal
Published: Sunday, September 28
CONCERT REVIEW

Reba McEntire

& Kelly Clarkson


When: Saturday night

Where: Rexall Place

What an unexpected treat.

Take two voices from two different

musical worlds -- American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson and country legend Reba McEntire -- and you've got yourself a winning combination of vocal prowess, down-home charm and girl power.

While 27 years -- and their choice of musical genres -- separate the two artists, the two have more in common than we know.

They're both managed by McEntire's husband. They're both successful TV stars.

They're both more comfortable in jeans than floor-length designer dresses.

More importantly, they're both powerful singers with a string of timeless hits. And, as they demonstrated during Saturday's sold-out show at Rexall Place, their voices complemented each other nicely -- whether they were singing McEntire's country classics (The Fear of Being Alone, The Greatest Man I Never Knew) or Clarkson's rockier tunes (Walk Away, Miss Independent).

There are major differences, of course, between the two artists -- otherwise their 2 Worlds 2 Voices tour wouldn't work.

McEntire's pipes are warm, twangy and often giddy -- even when she's dissing a lover who hasn't deigned to pick up the phone and call her (Why Haven't I Heard From You ) -- while Clarkson's vocals are more acrobatic and full of angst.

She's the one you don't want to break up with -- she'll destroy your home and stalk your next girlfriend. McEntire, on the other hand, will just laugh in your face and move on to someone even better and richer than you.

With three more decades under her belt, the red-headed vixen is also a better performer -- more expressive and willing to engage the crowd -- while Clarkson is still learning the ropes of stagecraft.

She needs at least five or six songs to feel entirely comfortable in front of 13,000 fans -- but when she is, she's more than capable of going off script and allowing for a few spontaneous, and thereby memorable, moments to creep into the proceedings.

When Clarkson started reminiscing about her first brush with McEntire's music -- "I was in junior high" -- she was interrupted by her idol's subtle retort. "I was in senior high," quipped McEntire, sending Clarkson into a genuine fit of giggles -- as if it was the first time she had heard the joke. Appropriately enough, the two then launched into Cathy's Clown, showing off their glorious harmonies.

As flexible as her voice is, Clarkson needs to develop a larger repertoire of stage moves. Her meek skip-hops, in particular, didn't work well with the messages of tunes such as Miss Independent.

She did, however, seem to turn into another performer when she belted out Stuff Like That There, a naughty big-band number from her Idol days. As she channelled the Andrew Sisters, the original Idol loosened her hips, arched her eyebrows and looked like she was ready to seduce everyone in the building.

Perhaps Clarkson should record an album of sultry and celebratory tunes to make up for the dud that was her last effort, My December, which was a disc of dark, spiteful songs.

And perhaps more artists should take note of this tour and try to come up with unique pairings of their own. The possibilities are endless -- U2 and Shakira, Radiohead and Bjork, Nine Inch Nails and Kronos Quartet ...

By MIKE ROSS, SPECIAL TO THE EDMONTON SUN

Funny, I thought Kelly Clarkson was a pop singer.

Now there she was sharing the stage with Reba McEntire at Rexall Place last night. There was even a Bounce 91.7 van packed outside the arena at a country concert, right next to the CFCW truck. That was weird.

I admit I haven't been keeping up with the post-American Idol career of Kelly Clarkson as closely as I should've been. Was there a radical change in direction somewhere in there?

But I know that fellow Idol Carrie Underwood hit it huge in country music, that Nashville grooms its biggest stars similarly to American Idol, that stars of neither camp write much of their own material, and that country music in general has a high tolerance for cheese, which the American Idol franchise churns out in giant, stinky wheels.

So it makes perfect sense for Kelly Clarkson, arguably the best of the Idols, to have "gone country."

On the other hand, Kelly's portion of last night's show didn't sound any more "country" than Reba's did. Aside from their inevitable duets, this show was more of a tag-team match featuring the finest two-part female vocals you'll ever hear: Reba doing the backups on Kelly's slick CHR songs, Kelly wailing on Reba's chart-topping country hits.

This was more than just a Reba concert with an embedded opening act. Think of the "2 Worlds, 2 Voices" tour as a joining of hands across genres and generations, a beautiful symbiosis in more or less perfect harmony, a real smart move on Reba's part in getting this young hotshot to do most of the heavy lifting. Well played!

You could even say that Reba has "gone pop," which seems to be the country music industry's most common complaint about itself. Modern country music all sounds like '80s pop anyway, right? They opened by singing the hell out of the 1983 Eurythmics hit Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This). I rest my case.

So why did these two dames pair up in the first place? It's more than just the money. They clearly love being on stage together.

For a quick-paced show spanning the key hits of both singers' careers, there was chemistry on both sides of the blurry country-pop divide.

Early in the show, Kelly got to let loose on Reba's Why Haven't I Heard From You, while Reba was grooving like only a grooving mom can on her stagemate's funky, urbanized Walk Away - the second song a logical next step from the first.

Kelly only looked a little out of place singing in Reba's Western swing material - the only kind of music you want to do in southwestern Oklahoma - but powered out her parts as the stylistic lines got fuzzier.

A large, slick, studio-quality band capable of copping any style helped. One imagines that musicians who played with Patsy Cline wouldn't have been able to pull off something like Miss Independent as it sounds on the record. The attempt might sound interesting, though. I know, I know - don't give them ideas.

But never mind the countrification of pop or the popping up of country, this show could definitely be enjoyed for impressive vocals alone. These ladies killed on the classic The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia, and on the ballad Beautiful Disaster, with Reba's eyes on the verge of misting up, as they always are in proximity to the tiniest amount of drama. The hits didn't let up, nor did the hair-raising vocals.

So a country-pop veteran teams up with an R&B pop newcomer to meet somewhere in the middle for a sold-out audience full of hard-core country fans in Edmonton, Alberta - and people are just blown away.

It might be terribly confusing to anyone who wasn't there.

---

SOUNDCHECK

MAIN EVENT

Reba McEntire and Kelly Clarkson

IN THE SEATS

13,000

NOTE PERFECT

Country goes pop, pop goes country. What does it matter? These women can sing

Sun Rating: 4 out of 5

Reba McEntire is playing shoe saleswoman to help fight breast cancer. She will appear in both print and television public service announcements in support of the 15th annual Fashion Footwear Association of New York's Shoes on Sale breast cancer fundraising event, live on QVC on October 15. The three hour event will feature more than 100,000 pairs of shoes at half the manufacturer's suggested retail price, with net proceeds benefitting leading breast cancer research and education institutions. Selected styles from McEntire's own line of shoes, called Reba, will also be available during the broadcast.

"Knowing the effects breast cancer has on all who are touched by it, I am proud to step in to support such a worthy cause," McEntire told Marketwatch.com. "This event not only raises much-needed funds for education and research, but also helps promote awareness of this deadly disease."

In other Reba news, the country icon will be honored with ASCAP's prestigious Golden Note Award during the 46th annual CMA Awards ceremony in Nashville. McEntire has sold more than 55 million records and boasts 31 No.1 hits.

Disc One:

1. "How Blue"
2. "Somebody Should Leave"
3. "Have I Got A Deal For You"
4. "Only In My Mind"
5. "Whoever's In New England"
6. "Little Rock"
7. "What Am I Gonna Do About You"
8. "Let The Music Lift You Up"
9. "One Promise Too Late"
10. "The Last One To Know"
11. "Love Will Find It's Way To You"
12. "Sunday Kind Of Love"
13. "I Know How He Feels"
14. "New Fool At An Old Game"
15. "Cathy's Clown"
16. "'Til Love Comes Again"
17. "Walk On"

Disc Two:

1. "You Lie"
2. "Rumor Has It"
3. "Fancy"
4. "Fallin' Out Of Love"
5. "For My Broken Heart
6. "Is There Life Out There"
7. "The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia"
8. "The Greatest Man I Never Knew"
9. "Take It Back"
10. "The Heart Won't Lie" (duet with Vince Gill)
11. "It's Your Call"
12. "Does He Love You" (duet with Linda Davis)
13. "Why Haven't I Heard From You"
14. "She Thinks His Name Was John"
15. "Till You Love Me"
16. "The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter"
17. "And Still"

Disc Three:

1. "Ring On Her Finger, Time On Her Hands"
2. "Starting Over Again"
3. "Fear Of Being Alone"
4. "How Was I To Know"
5. "I'd Rather Ride Around With You" 1997
6. "What If It's You"
7. "If You See Him, If You See Her" (duet with Brooks & Dunn)
8. "Forever Love"
9. "Wrong Night"
10. "One Honest Heart"
11. "What Do You Say"
12. "I'll Be"
13. "I'm A Survivor"
14. "Somebody"
15. "He Gets That From Me"
16. "Because of You" (duet with Kelly Clarkson)

Hank Williams Jr. and Reba McEntire will be honored during this fall's invite-only annual awards of the performance right organizations BMI and ASCAP.

Hank will be honored as a BMI Icon at BMI's 56th annual Country Awards on Nov. 11 at the company's Music Row offices.


Hank wrote hits including "All My Rowdy Friends Have Settled Down," "Country Boy Can Survive," "Family Tradition," "Born to Boogie," "Dixie on My Mind" and "Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound." He's had six platinum and 20 gold albums.

"Hank Williams Jr. has long been an icon of hardworking, hard-playing Americans," says BMI's Jody Williams, "and we're looking forward to honoring Hank's profound legacy as a songwriter this November. His songs are about real life - his life - he is the guy in his songs, and generations of fans have identified with that hardscrabble authenticity."

Past BMI Icon winners include Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Isaac Hayes and James Brown.

Reba will be honored with the prestigious ASCAP Golden Note Award during the 46th annual ASCAP Country Music Awards on Oct. 13 at the Ryman Auditorium.

"Reba is one of the greatest singers ever in country music," says Connie Bradley, ASCAP senior vice president. "She won CMA Female Vocalist four times and Entertainer of the Year once. Not only is Reba a phenomenal country singer, but she's had a hit Broadway show and a hit television series. She has always stayed Reba and always stayed true to country music.

"Songwriters really love Reba because she has remained open to their material throughout her career."

Reba has sold more than 55 million records and earned 31 No. 1 hits, including "Can't Even Get the Blues," "Little Rock," "Whoever's in New England" and "Does He Love You."

The Tennessean

Are you ready to add another Reba CD to your collection? Well how about 3 more? Reba is set to release a 3 CD box set containing 50 of her biggest hits on October 28. Stay tuned for more details!