ABOVE: Here are shots of Kelly I took from about 20 rows back with my cheapo Cybershot. Robb Cohen will have a photo gallery ready hopefully by the morning and I’ll link to that when I find out what the url is.

Kelly Clarkson is a beguiling dichotomy. On the surface, she still seems like that sweet, innocent gal we all remember from the days of “Idol” when she would utter “Cool beans!” and cried through “A Moment Like This” after being crowned the winner.

But at age 25, she’s not only asserted her independence, her “breakaway,” so to speak, she’s channeling some serious anger issues percolating underneath her sunny exterior, much of it stemming from ex-boyfriends. Her boss Clive Davis tried to reign in the Evanescence-tinged cuts, tried to nudge her current album into more pop friendly territory but instead, she did it her way, got into a public tiff with Davis and watched the public reject her first single “Never Again.” Before Davis could say, “I told you so,” her summer arena tour was nixed due to slow sales and she’s back to smaller theaters such as Cobb Energy Centre Tuesday night where she sold out the 2,750-seat venue.

For die-hard fans, a more intimate setting was just the ticket. Clarkson proved as usual that she could sing the instructional manual from a DVD machine and make it sound great. Sure, some of the same-sounding cuts on her “My December” album aren”t much better than said instructional manual (“Judas,” anybody?), but if her label RCA hadn’t thrown in the towel so quickly, it could have pitched at least a couple of the more melodic tunes on “My December” to top 40 radio such as “Don’t Waste Your Time” and “How I Feel.” (The label inexplicably released the downbeat, hook-deficient “Sober” as a second single and it went nowhere.)

Over 18 songs and 85 minutes, Kelly was in top form vocally, with just a hint of a rasp. She hit all the big notes with only one exception that I could ascertain (she skipped the big high note on “Behind These Hazel Eyes” early on). She wore a garish purple satin getup possibly stolen from “Dancing With the Stars” with black bell-bottoms which didn’t exactly accentuate her strong points, but her always beautfiul smile and that trademark high intensity more than made up for such visual deficiencies.

And the crowd stood by her from beginning to end, singing lustily along to the big hits such as “Walk Away,” “Because of You” and the perfect pop gem “Since U Been Gone.” But they also treated her non-singles with near-equal enthusiam, including “Addicted,” her self-proclaimed favorite cut off “Breakaway,” and “Gone,” where she did her trademark pogo-stick dance. Heck, they even gave some of the darker cuts respect, including encore song “Sober” and “Hole.”

Her three-song acoustic set two-thirds through the concert was a highlight as her voice hugged every nook and cranny of the new venue, which opened Sept. 15. Her encore featured “Chivas,” the most playful kissoff song on her CD which she said she wrote at a bar on napkins after spying an ex.

ABOVE: Kelly waves goodbye after singing her final song “Since U Been Gone”

A couple of observations about the venue if you plan to go for future concerts: as you are pulling into Cobb Galleria Parkway off Cumberland, beware of seemingly helpful men with flags directing you into a shopping center and asking you for $7 to $10 to park. It’s a ripoff. Not only do you have to walk an extra block, but the venue has 1,300 parking spots for $5 right next to the venue. So keep right on going.

And how about this for bizarre? The Cobb Energy security staff “wanded” everybody and checked bags thoroughly, acting as if this Kelly Clarkson crowd might be packin’. At worst, attendees might be packing cell phones or maybe some Tylenol. Most concertgoers looked like they probably don’t even cheat on their taxes much less pose a danger to anybody. The search was more thorough than those you get at Philips Arena or HiFi Buys.

Also, thank you Sammie for joining me at the concert with my “plus one” ticket. He’s certainly not an obvious “Idol” fan— he’s a 47 year old Union City divorcee who looks about 15 years younger and works at Atlanta Dairy. He’s very gracious, very nice. Thanks for coming! And a shoutout to Erin (who I hung out with at the last “Idols Live” and “So You Think You Can Dance” concerts) and Jill (my Clay buddy from back in the summer). I hope you two enjoyed yourselves, too!

Here’s the set list, which is the same as those from most other dates this fall. She sang one cut from “Thankful,” seven from “Breakaway,” eight from her current release “My December” and one cover song from Patty Griffin. And not a second of “A Moment Like This.”

1- One Minute

2- Behind These Hazel Eyes

3- Don’t Waste Your Time

4- Never Again

5- Maybe

6- Gone

7-Hole

8- Addicted

9- Because of You

10- Up To the Mountain (MLK Song) (that Patti Griffin cover song)

11- Be Still

12- Miss Independent

13- How I Feel

14- Breakaway

15- Walk Away

Encore

16- Sober

17- Chivas (the bonus track on “My December”

18- Since U Been Gone