A half-packed Pershing Center rocked out to the indestructible vocal range of Kelly Clarkson on Thursday night following an enthusiastic Eric Hutchinson opener.

Pop soul singer Hutchinson succeeded in getting the crowd to its feet with his witty banter and raw voice, which tripped up and down the scale in his bass-driven tunes.

His on-the-spot songwriting was sure to impress and definitely was a highlight of his set.

But as soon as the original "American Idol" winner hit the stage with the title track off her latest album, "All I Ever Wanted," Clarkson took the show to a whole new level.

Her set was a perfect mixture of old versus new; rock, pop and country; and creative covers thrown into Clarkson's original sounds.

The innovation of meshing Alanis Morissette's "That I Would Be Good" and Kings of Leon's "Use Somebody," early on in the show opened the audience's ears to what the songstress had in store.

Clarkson's brilliant voice was showcased as she switched up arrangements and vocal runs just enough to keep die-hard fans interested but at the same time keeping the familiarity of the songs.

The power behind ballads such as "Sober," "Already Gone" and The Black Keys' "Lies" forced the crowd to get lost in emotions that only a handful of artists can evoke.

But she brought the hype back to the stage with her more edgy pop/rock tracks "Since U Been Gone," "Walk Away" and "My Life Would Suck Without You."

In the end, the crowd was treated to an awesome performance and then some; and the empty seats showed just how many Lincolnites missed out on one of the best voices in the industry.

Reach Jamie Graham at 472-7327 or jgraham@journalstar.com. Brady Jones contributed to this review.