When getting to know new people who enjoy music, I like to play the “First, Best, Worst” concert game. People love to tell stories about their first shows: bussing to Rochester with the church group to see Stryper, witnessing Tina Turner get booed while opening for Lionel Richie during the “Hello” days, seeing Van Halen with dad. There’s no doubt that most of Friday night’s crowd will tell stories of their first concert, seeing Kelly Clarkson at the State, when asked that same question later in life. 

I thought I was prepared for the crowd. I anticipated the “OMG”-shrieking groups of tweens, chaperoned by the parent deemed least embarrassing to be seen with (or more accurately, driven by). I was ready for the non-stop rush of kids to the stage, snapping pictures from their my-phone-totally-represents-who-I-am Chocolates, Razors, and Sidekicks. But glow sticks? Really? Glow sticks? I was sure that after the rave phase died, glow sticks were banished to Disney on Ice. But Clarkson and her marketing crew knew that this show was about the total concert experience, not any one element.

While her people blundered earlier this year, booking an arena tour that was cancelled quickly due to lackluster ticket sales, they knew their audience this time around. From the moment the curtain revealed Clarkson in a billowing red dress, laying across plush purple stairs on the romantic-styled set, you knew this show was going to play to the good-girl angst of the t(w)eens who wanted to be Clarkson and the parents who approved of her. 

Clarkson’s performance varied widely – at times lackluster and uninterested, at times fully engaged. Maybe it had to do with her own attachment to the songs. She described more than half of the songs as “one of my favorites to sing,” which tended to be her best performances. She often instructed the crowd to “sing” and “jump” – apparently the only way to dance to her music. 

Although musically she’s striving to underscore the “rock” portion of her pop-rock label, Clarkson, now 25, still comes off like a teenager singing into her hairbrush in her bedroom. Throughout the evening, the bounce of Clarkson’s demeanor matched that of her sandy-blonde curls. And, dressed in a blue silky tank (no midriff showing, thank you very much) and stretch boot-cut black pants, Clarkson’s appearance was PG-13 all the way.

The setlist (which reportedly did not divert from previous tour stops) was dominated by songs from 2007’s slightly heavier My December, a number of hits from 2004’s Breakaway (has it really been that long?), and only one song, “Miss Independent,” from her 2003 debut Thankful.

Unlike some female singers who resort to self-indulgent vocal runs or over-produced reaches, Clarkson nailed the high notes cleanly and on-key on crowd favorites including “Because of You” and “Breakaway.” She opted for a lower octave on the climax of “Behind These Hazel Eyes,” but the crowd – which sang along word-for-word on all the chart toppers – couldn’t hear over themselves to notice … including the 10-year-old girl and her 40-ish father who sat behind us in matching Kelly Clarkson tour t-shirts.   

Acknowledging her reputation for writing boy-bashing songs, Clarkson called “Never Again” her “most bitter” song, as profiles of male Abercrombie-catalog types of all ethnicities flashed on the backdrop (at least she’s an equal-opportunity hater).

The more grown-up moments of the evening came in the second – and more engaging – half of the show. Paying tribute to one of her favorite singer-songwriters, she covered Patty Griffin’s “Up to the Mountain,” in a performance that would have earned rave reviews from the “American Idol” judges, had she sung it barefoot, sitting down, Katharine McPhee “Over the Rainbow” style. On “Be Still,” her mom’s favorite song from My December, Clarkson channeled Norah Jones, noting she likes the song because it’s different than most of what is written for her, calling it, “soft and pretty.”

The encore began with a quick testosterone fix, as a male member of her seven-piece backing band sang harmony on one verse of “Sober.” Next, in the most bizarre moment of the evening, Clarkson’s crew rolled out a three-foot-tall whiskey bottle sculpted by some dedicated audience members. She then told a story about writing “Chivas” (a hidden track on My December) on a cocktail napkin after running into an ex-boyfriend at the L.A. bar Molly Malone’s. Maybe just the visual of Clarkson in a bar aged her, taking her from prom pal to bar buddy … or maybe her voice got a little huskier after throwing back a mini of scotch on stage, but Clarkson showcased a mature, authentic side, reminiscent of an early Sheryl Crow on the subdued tune.

Finally, on the song everyone was waiting for, Clarkson missed the cue for “Since U Been Gone” and had to ask her band to start over. After a quick giggle, the audience helped Clarkson belt out her biggest hit before the house lights came on and they were off to beg mom and dad for a bedazzled t-shirt at the merch table.