My Staycation + the Kelly Clarkson Concert

Kelly Clarkson Concert Hey y’all! So I have a bit of a different post today – I figured I would talk a bit about my week!!! I decided to have a little staycation before I made the trek to South Bend, IN for the Notre Dame vs. University of Texas football game tomorrow! This break could not have come at a better time, because it coincided with the Kelly Clarkson concert in Houston. I have been the biggest fan of KC since she started on Idol and my mom likes to tell the story that I picked her during the audition phase to win the whole thing….I really think it was dumb luck, but nonetheless, I think she is amazingly talented, extremely down to earth and how could I pass up on the opportunity to see her live!

The concert was Tuesday evening at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in the Woodlands, which is about a 45-minute drive from where I live downtown. Since the drive can be painful after a concert, we decided to use some points from frequent business travel to stay at the Marriott right across the street from the venue. We checked into the hotel and took a short walk to Market Street. This little shopping area has quickly become my favorite because it has some amazing stores (aka. Kate Spade, Elaine Turner, Kendra Scott, Vineyard Vines, J.Crew…. I could go on) and it looks like a little square – somewhat reminding me of pictures of small town America about 30 years ago. We had a couple of hours before the concert, so of course, we did some shopping! I fell in love with some of the amazing fall pieces at Kate Spade – this fox clutch is going to be a sell out like the wicker animal pieces from this summer, this blue suede, fringe purse has made it’s way into the Bastedo household and this headband is just hands down amazing! (P.S. Kate Spade is having a labor day sale with 25% off the sale items, so make sure to grab some of your favorite pieces this weekend!)

Coconut Martini at Tommy Bahama

After I made the mental debate about purchasing all of these pieces, we headed to Tommy Bahama, which has amazing food and drinks. This restaurant is usually my go-to when I am in the Woodlands because the food is consistently amazing and they have pretty much coconut-everything! #obsessed This time did not disappoint. I had their house salad with some coconut shrimp and a coconut cocktail, which was made of cream de coconut and had toasted coconut in it – I think I went to heaven.

Cricket Wireless at the Kelly Clarkson ConcertOnce I got my coconut fill, we make the quick walk across the street to the concert venue. We showed up right as the first act was finishing her set, so we didn’t see much of it because I wanted to take lots of pictures and see what some of the sponsors/vendors had to offer. Cricket was the main sponsor and had a lot of fun activities/photo opps to participate in. I took a quiz on Kelly Clarkson song lyrics and nailed it! Then I spun the virtual slot machine for prizes – not my absolute favorite, but I won a light up bracelet. And then I took a photo with the photo frame they had.

Cricket Wireless at the Piece by Piece Tour

I knew KC had a great line up of artists before her, so I made sure that we were in our seats for her second act, Eric Hutchinson. His songs are mellow and I like to think of his style similar to Gavin DeGraw. You may know his song OK, It’s Alright with Me – I want to say that it was pretty popular a few months ago, but I love this type of music so it may have just been popular in my head. His set was extremely entertaining and he was hilarious – joking that he was Kelly Clarkson and that he knew everyone was there to see the third act and KC!

Pentatonix + Leinie's

Pentatonix

The third act was, of course, amazing – it was Pentatonix! Every time I hear them, they amaze me!! I honestly believe that there were some people in the audience who came to the concert to only see them! If you haven’t heard of them, they are an acapella group that won NBC’s The Sing Off. They have been featured in Pitch Perfect 2 and, recently, I have seen them in a few commercials. In my opinion, they have become the face of the acapella scene and definitely one of the most well known acapella groups to make it big in the industry. During their set, they performed some their hit arrangements  and even showcased some of their new songs. Their full album is due out in late October, but their single is released today!! Go check it out!

Singing along at the Kelly Clarkson Concert

On to the main show – KC was so down to earth and at the beginning of the show made a disclaimer that she would be playing a mix of songs and to bear with her through the new stuff. Some of my favorite parts of the show were during the breaks when she talked about life and inspiration for songs. I teared up a few times when she sang Piece by Piece with just piano accompaniment. There were also some amazing high-spirited moments during the show like when her back-up singer, who was from Houston, took to the stage and sang I Wanna dance with somebody – man, could she sing. Then, Pentatonix came out and sang Heartbeat Song with Kelly Clarkson. There were a few different twists that they put on it, but, of course, they were fantastic! As they were leaving the stage, they started to sing the musical track part of Uptown Funk, which set up Kelly Clarkson and her band to mash up Uptown Funk with Walk Away. It took me a minute to realize what they were doing, but, man I wish we had more musical collaborations to listen to outside of concert tours, but then again, they probably wouldn’t be as special. She made a little exit around this time and it seemed like the concert may be over, but alas, her backup singers came out and started singing Bang Bang and one of them killed the rap portion in the middle. Kelly came back out on stage at the bridge of the song and belted it out.

To close out the show, she sang Miss Independent. So fun little story about me growing up – I was extremely involved in choir and competitive classical singing (aka. opera). When KC won American Idol, I was in middle school and for my pop show I only wanted to sing KC songs. At the time, Miss Independent was all the rage and, therefore, became my audition piece. I landed a solo in the show and wanted to pull of the look, entirely. I had my hair highlighted for the first time with large blonde stripes to look like her and wore a white button down for my performance. The hair was a little harsh for everyday life in middle school, so I eventually grew them out, but I was so excited to feel like her for just that one day. Seeing this song live made me remember how much this anthem helped me get through during the rough times in my life. And the final closing number was Since You Been Gone.

Kelly ClarksonPiece by Piece Tour

Overall, I had such a great time and the concert was by far one of the best I have seen!! If you get the chance to attend a Piece by Piece Tour concert, I would highly highly recommend it! All of the acts are extremely talented and it seems like they love what they do! I hope y’all have a fantastic Labor Day weekend! As we speak, I am driving from Chicago to Notre Dame to cheer on my Irish!!! Aren’t y’all so glad college football is back? I sure am – it’s my favorite season of the year!!! #southerngirl

Something gold something blue kelly clarkson

YI: Hey y’all! A few affiliate links are below. Purchasing items through these links help to subsidize the cost of this little adventure. Please see my disclosure policy for more details and thank you for supporting SGSB!!

Anthropologie Top | Chico’s Jeans | New Balance Sneakers | Ann Taylor Pineapple Earrings (old, similar, budget-friendly) | Rebecca Minkoff Purse (same style in black)

Where you’ve seen this outfit before…

Leave a Comment

6 Comments

  1. Obviously I LOVE this post 😀 I’m so glad that you had such a great time! I hope you can make it back for another concert soon. Have so much fun at the game!!!

    Posted 9.4.15 Reply
    • Emily wrote:

      Thanks so much, Whitney!! I am still thinking about this concert and I was so bummed to hear that she had to cancel the rest of her tour! I am glad that we got to see her!!

      Posted 9.17.15 Reply
  2. How fun! Kelly is amazing!

    Posted 9.10.15 Reply
    • Emily wrote:

      Thanks, Brittany! She is so awesome – the new album my pump up music to put me a good mood!

      Posted 9.17.15 Reply
  3. So fun!

    Posted 9.17.15 Reply
    • Emily wrote:

      It was a blast! I wish everyone could have gone!! It was absolutely fantastic!

      Posted 9.17.15 Reply

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