January 21, 2004

Clay Aiken, Kelly Clarkson Announce Dates For Joint Tour

By Corey Moss (MTV.com)

Kelly Clarkson might want to suggest Clay Aiken perform second on the opening night of their upcoming co-headlining tour.

The outing, which will find the American Idol stars alternating between the earlier and later slots, opens in Aiken's home state of North Carolina on February 24 in Charlotte. Four dates later, the show hits his stomping grounds of Raleigh.

Hitting 30 cities, the show will be dubbed the Independent Tour, a nod to both Clarkson's single "Miss Independent" and the singers' growing independence from American Idol.

Midway through the trek, Clarkson will break from Aiken for two nights in her home state of Texas to perform at the Houston and Austin rodeos on March 16 and 17.

Aiken, meanwhile, has a couple of high-profile appearances scheduled before the tour. He's performing Wednesday on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno and Friday on the drama Ed. In the latter, Aiken visits Stuckeyville's radio station.

More than likely at least one of the performances will be of his next single, "The Way."

The Independent Tour dates, according to RCA Records:
2/24 - Charlotte, NC @ Charlotte Coliseum
2/25 - Duluth, GA @ Gwinnett Center
2/27 - Tampa, FL @ St. Pete Times Forum
2/28 - Miami, FL @ American Airlines Arena
3/1 - Raleigh, NC @ RBC Center
3/2 - Philadelphia, PA @ Liacouras Center
3/4 - Uniondale, NY @ Nassau Coliseum
3/5 - Washington, DC @ MCI Center
3/7 - Wilkes-Barre, PA @ Wachovia Arena
3/8 - Worcester, MA @ Centrum Centre
3/10 - Columbus, OH @ Schottenstein Center
3/11 - Detroit, MI @ Joe Louis Arena
3/13 - Winston-Salem, NC @ Lawrence Joel Veteran's Memorial Coliseum
3/19 - Grand Prairie, TX @ Next Stage
3/21 - St. Louis, MO @ Savvis Center
3/22 - Chicago, IL @ United Center
3/24 - Omaha, NE @ Qwest Center
3/26 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Delta Center
3/27 - Las Vegas, NV @ Thomas & Mack Center
3/30 - San Diego, CA @ Cox Arena
3/31 - Sacramento, CA @ ARCO Arena
4/2 - Glendale, AZ @ Glendale Arena
4/3 - Anaheim, CA @ Arrowhead Pond
4/5 - Los Angeles, CA @ Staples Center
4/6 - San Jose, CA @ HP Pavilion
4/8 - Seattle, WA @ Key Arena
4/9 - Spokane, WA @ Spokane Arena
4/13 - Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center
4/15 - Kansas City, MO @ Kemper Arena
4/16 - St. Paul, MN @ Xcel Energy Center