Last updated October 18, 1998.
So far for the 1995 tour I've got:
So far for the 1998 tour I've got:
Date: Sat, 08 Apr 1995 20:11:38 -0400
From: dmocko@lamar.ColoState.EDU (David Mocko)
Subject: 4/7 Denver show review SPOILER
Hello everybody,
This is really long, but please bear with me. There are SPOILERS ahead, so if you want to be surprised on this tour, don't read any further.
I was on the Liz Digest for a while, then I switched jobs and didn't resubscribe right away, until just a few days ago.
Saw Liz last night (4/7) at the Ogden Theatre in Denver - first night of the tour! I went with my roommate and two friends of his, although I'm the biggest fan. :-) The theatre seats just over 1000, with about 1/5 of the seats in a balcony. We got there just before 9 pm, and found seats right in front of the sound boards, about 60 feet from the stage. There were folding chairs everywhere, this place usually has a large standing section - especially up front. Paul Kelly opened the show, he wasn't bad, but no one was there to see him. He played acoustic guitar and harmonica, and had someone accompany him with electric guitar or slide on a few of the songs. At least the sound was perfect where are seats were - right in the center of the theatre.
Only about 20 minutes between acts, my friends bought me more beer for guarding our seats during the opening act, so by this time I was pleasantly drunk. This feeling disappeared when Liz walked out on stage. Wow! She had a couch behind her on the stage, with wood rocking chairs on either side. There were also end tables, plants, and a small rug. For the entire show, she more or less stood at a mike in front of all this and played her electric guitar. For those interested, it looked like a custom, with the body of a Strat, but with only one single coil pickup - cherry red with white around the pickup. She was wearing a short white skirt, brown t-shirt, blue Adidas sneakers (no socks), and her wedding band (oh well! ;-) ).
She looked really comfortable playing - just her and her guitar the entire show. She even wore a hat someone gave her out of the audience, and seemed pleased when a few fans gave her what looked like short letters. I didn't write down the entire set list (sorry!), but she played everything. She opened with "The Divorce Song", "Mesmerizing" and "Never Said" were early highlights, as was "Hurricane Cindy" - and her introduction of it. "Supernova" was midway thru the set - and sounded great. She even ran thru "Flower" at breakneck speed. She closed the show with "Fuck and Run". No encore, total playing time about 1 hour and 15 minutes, but well worth it.
Now for the REALLY cool part. Before the 5th song of the night ("Never Said"), Liz said "Anybody that wants to join me up here is more than welcome" - kinda pointing at the couch. I think many people didn't think she was serious, but me and my roommates two friends did! Of course, we had to go a little further than most, but we ran down the aisle (sorry if we bumped you!) and jumped on stage. By this time, about 20 or so other people had braved it, and we ended up sitting on the stage about 10 feet behind her and to her left with a couple people in front of us. Altogether, probably 30 people got to stay up on stage (including us!) for the rest of the show! The security was pretty cool, as were most of the people on stage - just sitting and singing along.
After the show, we rescued my roommate, and we agreed that the sound where he stayed with our original seats was better than where we were, and he also was "looking her more straight on". Up on stage we didn't get to see much of her facial expressions while she was singing, although I wouldn't have traded him positions for anything!
We milled around in the lobby, hoping to find another friend of ours who had told us he was working the show. He wasn't around, but we still tried to talk to some security people to let us back into the main part of the theatre. As we were waiting, we noticed Liz come back onto the stage, and just sit and talk to the sound people and those cleaning up. We were finally forced outside, where only about 50 people remained. Right then, we decided to get back in by any means possible, and our friends went and got their Liz Phair CD's in case we got in. We walked around the building, and didn't even see a bus or anything, and had just about given up, when my roommate just pushed open an unpromising looking door. After looking around and seeing no security about, we all got in the building, and just ran down some stairs - and there we were. Liz was still sitting on the stage talking to some people that were most likely with the tour.
We walked right up to her and just said "Hi!". She was very cool, talking to just the 4 of us for over 5 minutes!!! We told her how much we enjoyed the show, and how great the sound was - to which she said we should congratulate her sound person. My roommate asked her if she was as bad of a driver as the Rolling Stone interview made her out to be. She loved this question, laughing and insisting that "I just drive fast, I'm very safe!" I commented that we made it to the show in record time that night, so she asked us where we were from and what we did. My roommates two friends came up from the Air Force Academy and Liz said "Oh, I have a thing for fighter pilots - can I touch you?" and poked one of them on the shoulder. They then asked for her autograph (I was so nervous about asking), but she was very cool about it - one of the tour people even found us a Sharpie (NEXT TIME I'LL BRING MY OWN). She signed two Exile CD sleeves and two Whip-Smart CD sleeves for us - she really got into it too - drawing little doodles on the covers and pointing out her rat in the WS sleeve. I also got her to sign my ticket stub. I'll never again wash the hand that touched her hand when I gave her and took back the ticket stub!
We chatted another minute or two, then said goodbye and wished her luck on the rest of the tour. No security bothered us the entire time. We had asked her if she was coming back to the Ogden (the Boulder Community homepage has her listed as coming back - but that's the only place I've seen it). Liz was like "really I am?", so I'll have to see (April 27th at the Ogden again). I was very impressed how friendly, personable, animated, and interested in talking to us that she was.
Needless to say, a great evening!! Don't miss this show!
David Mocko
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David "Hoover" Mocko dmocko@lamar.colostate.edu
Colorado State University, CIRA. Room 110, (303)-491-8209
http://www.atmos.colostate.edu/html/staff/mocko/mocko.html
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"Nobody wins, unless everybody wins." - Bruce Springsteen
Date: Thu, 13 Apr 1995 02:24:50 -0400
From: HoffmanPJ95%CS30%USAFA@cadetmail3.usafa.af.mil
Greetings,
Hi, I'm Hoff, brand new to the list (have been lurking over in the Sugar/Mould domain for a long time and thought it was time to branch out....let's hear it for the information superhighway....)
Anyway, Liz. Denver. Ogden Theater, last Friday night. At $12 a ticket, folks, this show was an absolute steal. Kicked off around 9 pm with Paul Kelly, an acoustic-folksy kind of act from Melbourne. Looked like Charlie the Bald Guy from Anthrax, I thought. If you're into the pseudo-Dylan-with- songs-you-swear-you've-heard-before, you'll think he's okay. Personally, I hit the front of the theater for yet another beer.
Stage setup: mic stand center, 3-person sofa behind, rocking chair and and easy chair flanking. The flower table was a nice touch, too.
Liz hit the stage at 10:15, just her and her guitar. The Ogden's sound was incredible, and the sound guys were doing their damndest to bring out every sound coming from her guitar and every nuance of her voice. It was the best soundwork I'd heard at a concert, period. I didn't write the setlist down, nor was I quick enough to steal it, but highlights included "Divorce Song" (show opener), "Cyclone Cindy" (new, can't recall if it's "Cyclone" or "Hurricane"), "Never Said," the 1-2 punch of "Supernova" and "Flower," and the closer, "Fuck and Run." Total time was around 1:15, on the high side. No encore.
True high point of evening #1: Before "Never Said" Liz goes "Y'know, I'd feel better if I wasn't alone up here, so if you wanna come up onstage, go ahead." So for 40 minutes I sat on the stage with 35 of my closest friends (well, make that 1--I didn't know anyone else).
True high point of evening #2: After waiting around out front for 40 minutes, we decide to sneak around behind the club and get in through the back. Which worked. So for about ten minutes, we worshipped at the altar of Liz and she bestowed upon us much wisdom. Or, put it another way, she was incredibly friendly and talkative. The stagefright thing is deader than Keith Richards. Or at least his brain, whatever. She said she "was nervous at first, but it went away when everybody came up it went away." Signed our stuff, talked about her rat and what a good driver she is ("I'm not bad, just fast!") and the virtues of fairly cheesy cinematic productions. And asked my friend Bryan if she could touch him, but that's kind of a private thing.
Beyond that, not much else. One of my fellow stage sitters leaned over and mentioned that a friend was taping the show, unfortunately I lost track of her after the show, but it may wind up floating around in the near future.
Take care,
Hoff
Date: Sun, 09 Apr 1995 14:40:20 -0400
From: meathead@selway.umt.edu (Ross C. Jeffcoat)
I don't know the exact order but these are most of the songs she played...
I was SO psyched that she played stuff off Girlysound!!!
(G) = Girlysound
(N) = New song
She played a couple more songs but I'm afraid those are all I remember. - She NEVER played Whip-Smart. - There was also NO encore which I thought was sort of lame, they even gave her a standing ovation. I don't think that was the best place to see the show either. It was 21 and over for the ground floor and everyone else was stuck on the balcony, I'm 19 but I snuck down to the ground floor anyway. I think Liz played a lot more mellow because of the older crowd in front and the fact that everyone on the ground floor was sitting during the show. The front seemed sort of like a golf clapping crowd.
She sounded REALLY good though I thought. She wasn't very nervous at all, although she did screw up a couple of songs lyric and chord wise. It took her three tries to get the right starting chord for a new song. She sort of jumbled the lyrics to flower up a bit too. It was pretty funny though, she'd stop and say "god damn it."
I think she has a different local band open for her for everywhere she plays. A band called Macinily(sp?) opened at the Portland show and they mentioned they were a local Portland band. I thought they were pretty good.
The stage was really weird. They had it like Liz's living room with sofas, chairs, paintings, a big knight with glowing red eyes, a chandalier, it was pretty interesting. I wonder if it really was Liz's furniture and she thought she would be less nervous if things that made her feel at home were around her.
Overall it was a pretty mellow show, but I have to say It was more than I expected by far for a SOLO electric performance. The next show in Seattle should be better though since you'll probably be able to move up front no problem.
By the way, they DID have Liz Phair T-Shirts. It's white short sleeved with a old school black and white Donna Reed looking woman looking like she's screaming at a creature from a 1950's movie, and then it says around her face ALA guyville/whip-smart inside sleeve titling "I can not UN dress." On the back it lists the tour dates with eenie meenie miny moes between dates...
_________________________
R o s s J e f f c o a t
-meathead@selway.umt.edu-
http://www.armory.com:80/~fisheye/megaweb.html
Date: Mon, 10 Apr 1995 02:48:07 -0400
From: lizphair@teleport.com (John Pendleton)
Liz Phair, solo electric. Aladdin Theater, Portland OR
April 8, 1995
attendance: approx 630, sold out
length of show: 65 minutes, no encore!
Opening act: McKinley - I thought they were rather lame, as all their songs seemed to be the exact same tempo and seemed to be the exact same 10,000 Maniacs song...
NOTE: see Ross C. Jeffcoat's previous post for more good stuff, I agree with almost everything he said and will try not to repeat him.
At the bottom are the songs LP performed in order, ID'ed as best as we could (can?). I thought the concert was excellent! I went with a friend who had never heard of Liz Phair till I got the tickets and made a tape for her and gave her the lyrics. She claimed that LP couldn't sing and that the concert was bound to be a boring experience. Bottom line - she loved it! Way to go Liz! About the audience, (and I speak as a sitting, golf-clapping??, lower level, post-21-to-say-the-least) fan, we were a little subdued, and LP did urge the audience at one point to (I think) "make some noise." The audience did become more lively as the show progressed. Perhaps it was the opening soporific act? and no she didn't invite the audience to share the stage with her. I thought it was an OK place for a concert - a small old-fashioned movie theater; albeit rows of seats are not ideal for rock concerts. I also thought the sound was somewhat distorted, but eventually decided that it was deliberate. She did seem to be enjoying herself, mentioned that a local newspaper had reported that some Oregon legislators want to impose life imprisonment for growing pot ("That's fucked up, man..."). Made a few jokes and remarks to the audience, e.g. when someone yelled out 6'1", she smiled and said, "yep, that one's coming up on the set list."
And like Ross, it was far better than I thought a solo electric performance would be. Definitely not a "here are the solo versions of the songs on the albums" concert, but real performances of the individual songs. The best song, in my opinion, was Never Said - a blistering hard core version that got the audience going to a certain extent. I thought the version of Fuck and Run was especially interesting, she seemed to sneer?whine? the "I want a boy friend" part, and place more emphasis on the "fuck and run" part. Is she just kidding about the boyfriend? Would she really rather fuck and run? Is she telling those who whine about not having a boyfriend that they better get used to fuck and run?? Who knows????
Here are the songs in order....
*** especially good song
* Title courtesy of Ross C. Jeffcoat's post
John Pendleton, Portland OR
lizphair@teleport.com
Date: Mon, 10 Apr 1995 02:27:46 -0400
From: TFrang@aol.com
As fas as the SF show goes...a 20 year old songwriter from Alaska named Jewel opened up. She was fresh, raw and very mousey with songwriting talents any Liz fan would enjoy.
Liz came out in leather pants and a halter satin top (both black).
She started with the Divorse Song and she played an equal number of songs from both Exile and Whip-Smart. She also played stuff off Girlysound and a few new ditties. She wasn't without her share of problems on stage, occasionally out of key and she forgot a few chords but nothing unforgivable. Her artistic license deserves renewal.
She shared the Dallas experience of how130 people were invited on stage with her for the show and without missing a beat people acquired center stage seat during her final number Fuck and Run. She never came out for an oncour, even after 5 minutes of screaming cheers. I was bummed but I'll get over it.
Hope everyone enjoys her show...I have a feeling she won't be touring for a long time afterwards so get her while you can.
T.Frang
Date: Mon, 10 Apr 1995 03:20:10 -0400
From: librik@netcom.com (David Librik)
I just got back from the Warfield show, and it pretty well agrees with what people have said about Portland -- about an hour and a half, a quiet audience (who did all hop on stage for Fuck and Run once Liz mentioned the Denver incident), and no encore. I got a look at Liz's set list and so can give song titles for some of this stuff. What follows is John Pendleton's Portland list, which matches what I remember for SF -- though the order may be different
- David Librik
librik@cs.Berkeley.edu
Here are the songs in order....
* Title courtesy of Ross C. Jeffcoat's post
Date: Fri, 14 Apr 1995 04:17:41 -0400
From: David Myers (dmyers@ocean.washington.edu)
I hope I am not about to bore anyone with the details of tonight's concert at Seattle's Moore Theater. All flames, as usual, go to /dev/null. This is pretty long, though. Sorry in advance.
The opening band started very nearly on time and played a very long set. Minus 5 is their name, and they consist of one member of the Posies (on acoustic guitar) and one member of the Young Fresh Fellows (on electric). There was a fair amount of irony (as well as morbid imagery) in their songs...and some of the audience seemed to appreciate them, although there were some loud (and rude) people that wanted them to get off the stage after about 8 or 9 songs. There was this one _very_ funny song about an Algerian torture device that had a pretty direct reference to the ear-cutting scene in _Reservoir Dogs_ ("I don't want to be stuck in the middle with you...").
I was sitting in the left floor section, fifth row. In my row there were still open seats. I think a fair number of people came late, because it DID get more crowded, and finally about 100 people or so stood right in front of the stage past the edge of the first row. I'm told the show was sold out, and indeed there were people on the wait list standing out front as I was going in. I think the Moore holds about 1200-1500, including the balcony.
The show was fantastic. It is not easy to maintain the momentum and energy to entertain a crowd with just a solo electric guitar and no drum machine, and yet she did quite well. The crowd didn't seem as dead as that described at the Warfield, although I really did expect more people singing along loudly. There was heavy reverb on the voice, as someone else on the list has already noted, and most of the time Liz used it to her advantage. The only time that I thought I heard her screw up any chords was once during Cinco de Mayo, but it was really pretty minor. She seemed really _on_ when it came to playing, and the new songs really grooved. The crowd did hoop and holler a little bit during Flower, but that was really the whole crowd, ok, and not just 'frat boys.' Even the lesbians (no shit, ok) that I was sitting with shouted and whistled. Every other time that she cussed, there was really no response out of the ordinary. Since it was an all-ages show, I half expected her to use different words during those parts, like she did a lot during the Warfield boot from '94 that I have.
The setlist was 100% identical to the one that has been posted here before, so I will not waste posting it here again...since it seems so consistent so far, I think we should post it at Ross' MegaWeb (comments?). If you _must_ have a setlist, or have no www access, send me private email (I already have it typed in and ready to go). I think that song #18 (the one that people seem the least sure about) is a cover. It might be Velvet Underground. I'll check on that tonight...I have to agree with someone else who interpreted the new song _Wasted Away_ as having a definite reference to pot.
Her set lasted almost exactly 90 minutes, and as with the other venues so far, there was no encore. There were only pretty small amounts of patter in-between songs. After the 2nd song, she took off her jacket and threw it onto the set near where they roadies had hung up a clothesline. The set was pretty thrown-together, but very original. There was a little back-country-looking hut with some (real) shrubberies around it and a mailbox with 'Phair' painted on it. She commented on how the grass was green in Seattle and that was about it. Someone shouted out "Happy Birthday" during a slow moment, and she said "Thank you. 28. Oh My God." Two (age ~15) girls behind me were signing a birthday card that they planned to give to Liz if they could find her. The Liz homepage in Sweden says that her birthday is April 17.
At first, it seemed like I would have a very tough time of getting a shot at meeting her. The road crew seemed pretty militant. There was a woman with a camera that they really hassled, even though it appeared she was official. One guy swiped the official setlist off the stage and a roadie made him give it back (although he could have just run out of there pretty easily if he had wanted). The crew was pretty efficient in sweeping everyone out of the Theater a few minutes the house lights came up.
Unfortunately, I had never been to a show at the Moore before to know where the service exit was or how many there were. I walked around about 10 minutes before I found what I thought was the Right Place. In that meantime, three different people tried to sell me drugs, and this supposed Right Spot had a lot of rats (I'm not kidding). I was beginning to seriously think about getting on the bus to go home. Two other guys looking for autographs were there, and a couple of roadies loading pieces of the set/soundboard. I began to change my mind about the roadies since they didn't seem to care that we hung out in this back-alley (which was way cool, considering that maybe 3/4 of the roadies were women).
We helped them throw away some of the shrubberies in the dumpsters, but there was no sign from the roadies that she was or wasn't still there. After a while longer, some people about eight stories up in the next-door apartment building were shouting down to us "Liz? Liz! Liz?" because they couldn't tell if they had spotted the right person. I don't know if they lived up there or what. Finally, about 45 minutes after I had left the Theater, the opening band came walking out carrying their own guitars and amps. I took this as a good sign, and after a few more minutes, I just walked right in through the service entrance door to find Liz standing there with her Fender stowed in a case and slung over her shoulder. I couldn't tell if there had really been a lot of other fans backstage or not -- probably so (tell me if you were...). As with every other time that I have met my heros, I was nervous as hell and hardly anything came out of my mouth (when I met Throwing Muses, all I could say is 'You guys rock'). This time was marginally better, and as everyone has said so far, Liz is really really nice about meeting her fans. Here are the essentials of our (momentary) exchange. I said "I have something I'd like you to sign, but I hope it doesn't piss you off," as I fished around in my baja for a tape. "As long as it's not the Jerky Boys she said." "No, no, it's Girlysound," I said. "Oh shit, I'm not pissed. Bootleg the hell out of it. You know, I don't even have a copy of that anymore." I thought of offering her my address or the e-mail to the list, but, c'mon, there wasn't time and I was too nervous to push my luck. The two other guys that were waiting had her sign their copies of the Rolling Stone issue, and that was about it before I really DID catch a bus home.
If anyone in Seattle managed to tape her on the air at The End today, I'd love to hear about it and maybe trade for it. Send private email.
-david
dmyers@ocean.washington.edu
Date: Sun, 23 Apr 1995 10:15:42 -0400
From: atheiss@netnet.net (andy theiss)
I drove from Green Bay to Milwaukee without a ticket, it didn't turn out so well. As I left My car I was approached by a guy and we sort of eye'd each other up and then he asked "do you have an extra ticket?" I said no and that I was looking for one also. He said "Join the club." There was about 8 of us waiting around for a ticket. A couple in their 40's (they left, I think), a couple in their late 20's who "waited" in their car (like that's going to help) the 2 guys I first met and a guy and girl who showed up and stood "with" us. So I stood there awhile and watched the guys ask people for tickets and then this goofy looking guy walked up and asked if anyone was from Sheboygan. He had a ticket for someone from Sheboygan. We said no but then I started joking with him saying yeah I'm from Sheboygan my name's Jimmy. That didn't work because he was looking for a girl. So I pipe in "i'll give you $20" no response "$30!" he chuckled and was ignoring me and then stated that she was going to give him $45. I immediatly said "$50" He said "You got $50?" I chuckled and said "Yes!" I relized as I was giving him the money I had not even seen the ticket yet but as soon as the last buck hit his hand it came out and he gave it to me and I was on my way. I didn't think twice about the girl who was supposed to buy the ticket, I was going to see LIZ! If that guy hadn't come along I don't think I would've gotten in. I figured If I didn't get a ticket I would be parked-in and have to wait out the show anyway. So in I go to what turns out to be a small bar with a stage, very intimate compared to the shows I had been going to. I grabbed a seat about 12 rows back and a nice young couple joined me soon afterwards.
Feature Act: Liz Phair
It's about 5 min to 9pm and she just walks out. Whoa! There she is and the first thought that entered my mind was -she looks beautiful- (hair,face, size) she had on a velvet type shrit with zippers and a long dress to her shoes that was not loose but not tight. And she just started playing no backing band and as I sat there I wished I had a tape recorder and then I remembered -I left my camera in the car! It would've been a great photo opportuity being as close as I was. She was just good, all the songs were good, she was entertaining although she looked -over- the audience alot. I had heard that she had some stage fright but none showed tonight. She started and stopped one song but I didn't hear anything wrong. She played alot of songs and some new (unreleased?) ones but didn't perform others that I thought she might. She talked between songs wich is something that she says she never does but because she is from Chicago, Milwaukee feels just like her home also. She said it's like we all went to high school together. SHe also mentioned that it was a very short flight from Chicago and someone said she should come up every weekend which drew laughs and applause from her and the audience. She said she came up to Wisconsin a few years back for a beer festival (at some college she couldn't remember where) and she ate Chimichangas and when she got back she had "mono." Someone asked from back by the bar when she was coming back to Madison. She just said she didn't know and that she will have to get back there. She was asked about her rings and she said they were back home and motioned with her had sort of stating that is is hard to play guitar with them on. It looked like she had her engagement / wedding" ring on All of a sudden she was done and walked off stage. We applauded for 5-10 minutes and then the house lights came up. Many stuck around for a while and then started clearing out. I wasn't about to leave incase she came out to the bar. Well 5-10 min later the side door opened and there she was. She came out and greeted the fans that were already waiting there. So I thought she would come out farther but she didn't so I walked over there to see she was chatting and signing autographs. People were having their tickets, t-shirts and CD covers signed. I talked a little with the people in our little area. There was a couple guys who were in back who just shouted and handed her their ticket she signed it and handed it back. So I figured quickly it was every man / woman for themselves. After one guy got his autograph he walked away and said sort of to me - maybe this will be worth a quarter some day, i said something like "hey know, none of that" The guy in front of me had a tape from that night's concert. She signed it and wrote something about " My demo's" on it. He said he used the same $70 Aiaw recorder that I was looking at the other day. He said it sounds good on a boom box but that's about it. When I got up to her finally (only 15min wait tops) I just put my ticket out and after another guy in front of me finished she took mine. There I was face to face with Liz Phair (with two big goons behind her). She was as cute as ever with pretty blue eyes but shorter than I thought she would be (up to my shoulders) I had to look down at her. It looked like she had taken her makeup off and just put a jean jacket over her stage costume. So I said "Hey Liz, I had to pay $50 for that ticket." She said "no way! You Scalped? $50 really?" I said "do you want to see my empty wallet?" She wrote $50 on the ticket and then I told her to put Andy on the ticket She wrote it and said "onndeee" as she wrote it. and then put an arrow from my name to the $50 she wrote. Then she said "loco" and wrote that on my ticket also. She gave me the ticket back and I said "thank you, this means alot to me" and as I left she said "think about me when you have no money for the next two weekends" I smiled. I then went to buy a T-Shirt and drove on home.
Songs Played: not in order, 6' 1", Help Me Mary, Never Said, Fuck and Run, Divorce Song, Flower, Stratford-On-Guy, Supernova, Cinco-de-Mayo, Alice Springs, Hurricane Cindy (new), I need a ride (new? / unreleased). Played about an hour 10 min. --what am I missing--
Someone said erlier about how she was going through the motions while playing and I can agree with that. She seemed a little vacant at times on stage. If you remember when she came on stage she said "I can hardly see you back there" I was suprised there wasn't much clapping -before- the songs. as in hey! I recognize that song! alright! I clapped I few times but few others were and I'm not the type who shouts things out from the audience. Alot of people getting autograghps didn't say much too her, at least interesting things. I had some questions / comments lined up if I ever got up to her. such as:
-Is there a parrallel from Exile in Guyville to Exile on Main St. (I heard there was, it was too deep of a question for the situation, unless the answer was no!)
-Did you really meet Julia Roberts (I figured she had been asked this many times before, and I could find out other ways)
-You,re a bear fan aren't you (Only important to Wisconsinites)
I just stuck with the $50 comment. The price was worth it only because I got to meet her. I paid $50 for the Stones and I'll never meet them, but they had a better light show. Anyone know if her stage setup, (couch, lamps, chair) is that way for all shows or was this Unique to Shank Hall.
Sort of long post - and first impressions mean everything.
Looking forward to hearing from you all on this list.
Andy T.
If anyone has a copy of the show I'm willing to trade a signed ticket for it (just kidding)
I went to Liz's show at First Ave. in Minneapolis last night. It was a really great show, although I do agree that it would have been nice if she'd had her band backing her. Maybe she just wanted to prove to herself that she could do it alone.
The doors didn't open until about 6:30, although they were supposed to open at 6:00. It seems Liz's plane was late getting into MN so they didn't finish the sound check until about 6:30. A friend of mine works at First Ave. and told me this while I was waiting in line to get in.
The opening band was The Distracters. I didn't pay too much attention to the first part of their set, but came out about halfway through so that I could start making my way towards the stage. By the end of their set I was at the stage on the far right side. It was kind of neat since I got to see them setting stuff up, and could see Liz come out before they had raised the big screen.
Liz finally came out at a little after 8:30. She was wearing some sort of leather halter top with black and white striped pants. The set was much sparser than the ones previously described. It was just Liz, two guitars (she only played one of them), and the speakers, etc. First Ave. is more of a nightclub than the previously mentioned venues, and Liz said that it had the best view of any of the places she'd played on tour so far.
I don't have a set list, but it was pretty similar to the one Ross gave. Some of the highlights were:
They had t-shirts available, and they were only $15 as opposed to the $20 that someone on the list previously said they were selling for. They were white shirts with the woman screaming from the inside cover of Whip Smart on the front, with the phrase "I CAN NOT UNDERS" just like in the picture. The back had all of the tour dates surrounded by "eeny meany miny mo..."
Date: Wed, 26 Apr 1995 14:02:52 -0400
From: MITCHELL STARY (mitchell.stary@mail.industry.net)
Saw Liz at First Avenue in MPLS last night (4-22-95). Just her (hair a little longer than shoulder length; tight, waist-high vertical black and white pinstriped pants; mostly black halter top; gold choker-style necklace w/ multiple pendants) and her guitar (red Strat [Jaguar?, Musicmaster?], rosewood fretboard). Her guitar was plugged into a Fender amp and except for a spare guitar (which she never used) and four house monitors at her feet, there was nothing else on stage. Oh yeah, there was a bottle of water hidden behind the monitors from which she drank periodically.
She made these interesting comments (at least to me--I generally don't read fanzines and I just subscribed to this list recently). In response to an audience member, she asked, "Did you say `Happy birthday'?" And then, "Thank you." I take it her birthday is on or around April 22nd.... Again to an audience member she said something like, "South Dakota? I just released those songs. I gave someone a plastic bag of tapes that were in my closet...Juvenalia...."
Anyway, she gave a very strong performance. You wouldn't know she has suffered from severe performance anxiety, which, ac- cording to an interview I heard on the radio some time ago, is why she canceled her last tour. Fortunately for us, she's apparently over it. If she needed audience support, the very friendly and appreciative First Avenue crowd provided it.
Call me naive (its' been a long time since I played guitar--and I wasn't very good), but until I saw her play, I never realized how technically accomplished and inventive she is as a guitarist. I guess I've been too awed by her ability as a songwriter. I only missed the lack of accompaniment in songs like _Never Said_ and _Supernova_, because I'm so used to the more highly-produced recorded versions. (And I didn't *really* miss it.)
Liz's vocals were very strong, also--her recordings seem somewhat pale in comparison. Of course, I'm listening to them on a low- end boombox, but her voice now seems to be coming from a deeper place (whatever that means).
If I were more literate, I could tell you how moved and privi- leged I felt to be at the show. Like other contributors to this list, I too was taken with her as a person. It's funny how your relationship to an artist, who you've only know through her works, can change when you actually see her. (I assume that those readers who have had the pleasure know what I'm talking about....) Some might argue that to me, she's *still only* an idealized concept (pattern in my brain). But isn't that all we can ever know of anybody (since we can't share their skin)? Be- sides, I know that the *real* Liz Phair is not the concept I have of her. [I hope I'm not embarrassing myself. :-/ ]
Oh yeah, the show.... She played one set, starting with _Divorce Song_ (one of my favorites) and played most of the songs on "Exile". I think I remember these (*not* done in this order): _6'1"_, _Help Me Mary_, _Glory_, _Never Said_, _Fuck and Run_, _Flower_, _Soap Star Joe_, _Explain it to Me_, _Mesmerizing_, _Stratford-on-Guy_ and _Strange Loop_. _Flower_ was done a little differently than on the CD: faster tempo, higher regis- ter...?
From "whip-smart", she did _supernova_, _support system_, _cinco de mayo_, _jealousy_, and _may queen_.
She played four songs, I think, that are on neither album. Two she introduced, one as a new song about Cindy Crawford (Hurricane Cindy_) and the other about marijuana.
(If anyone wishes to correct this playlist, please do.)
I'm happy for the contributor whose "Guyville" disk Liz signed. I brought both of her disks with me to the show with an assortment of markers on the off chance that.... But my wife was anxious to leave--the crowd, the heat, the smoke and standing for hours took its toll on her--so I didn't even suggest hanging around.
Dear Liz (if you're lurking out there),
"Adamantly free." Maybe that is what I like best. Without assuming that you do it for anyone but yourself and not knowing what else to say without sounding stupid, Thanks.
Live / Let Live,
M
Date: Tue, 25 Apr 1995 02:55:46 -0400
From: Tygrrr2259@aol.com
With a purple backdrop, some personal household furnishings, and her trademark Red Fender Jaguar, Liz Phair walked on stage at Town Hall tonight.
As a solo performer Phair is an artist with courage. She bravely offers the audience the opportunity to listen to her music in a way that is very personal and honest. Her M.O. this tour is the basic lo-fi style of voice and electric guitar. Easily she could have chosen a backdrop of musicians to help polish her songs to an audience expecting the familiar album production. Defiant to oridnary expectations she delved into her live show with the same pure intent and self-inspiring energy that was found so enchanting on her Girlysound demos. Pure and simple.
Production, polish, and the correct chord changes aside Phair's songs speak for themselves. Liz kept the typical singer/songwriter "impromtu" banter to a minimum only responding to the first "I love you Liz" with a smile and "I love you too" back. Tonight's show's featured the assortment of songs from Exile in Guyville and Whip-smart. Outstanding numbers were "Mesmorizing", "Stratford-on-Guy", "Jealousy" and a very fast and yet heartfelt version of "Flower". The latter offered comic relief to most of the audience who was familiar with infamous tune.
Liz introduced a bunch of wonderful new songs which showcased Liz's upper vocal range. Of mention were: "Wasted Away", "Take a Ride" (inspired by her father's involvement in AIDS research) and a beautifully melodic song called "If There's a God in Heaven". "Heaven" is quite pop accessible and should catch the ears of "All the people."
The set tonight ended with "Fuck and Run" which was the same song she closed her first NYC appearance with. At that time, flustered by stage fright and insecure about her performance she promised a handful of fans: "I'm gonna come back next time with a band and kick ass!" Two years later a more confident Liz Phair, guitar in hand, delivered and walked off stage to a standing ovation. Plain and simple.
Date: Tue, 02 May 1995 17:20:36 -0400
From: meathead@selway.umt.edu (Ross C. Jeffcoat)
Liz Phair at Town Hall
April 28, 1995
By NEIL STRAUSS
"Weave my disgust into fame, and watch how fast they run to the flame," Liz Phair sang on Tuesday night during the second of two sold-out solo concerts at Town Hall. This line, from Ms. Phair's 1993 debut album, "Exile in Guyville," has turned out to be a blueprint for her career. Ms. Phair's disgust, expressed in songs about being taken advantage of by so-called friends and lovers, has helped her grow from a bedroom musician to a college-radio favorite in two years. In fact, fans are so drawn to the flame of her bad memories that while she was singing a song about regretting a one-night stand, one male fan yelled, "Marry me, Liz."
Two years ago, watching Ms. Phair perform was like watching a wounded bird trying to fly. One took pity on her, but knew that some day she would learn to soar. On Tuesday, she was no longer awkward, just uneasy at times. A look of relief spread across her face after each successful guitar solo. The music, filled with melodies that seemed to be influenced by overdoses of classic-rock radio, sounded as if she was performing rough versions of songs for a demo tape. Her guitar playing was simple and unadorned, and she often flubbed chord changes and fell off tempo. But imperfect music only heightened the effect of songs about imperfections. There seems to be a handful of emerging female songwriters, including Ms. Phair, Lisa Germano and Jill Sobule, who have found a way to come to terms with the social and sexual mistakes they made in the past (particularly as teen-agers) in songs that mix maturity, regret and revenge.
Ms. Phair, a 27-year-old raised in Chicago's suburbs, wasn't afraid to show the wounds of high-school insecurity and college dormitory politics. Though she sang many of her songs with a sneer rather than the cool deadpan that she uses on her two albums, she didn't always play the role of suburbia's enlightened victim. In explicit expressions of desire like "Supernova" and "Flower," Ms. Phair showed that bad experiences haven't extinguished her sexuality but have instead taught her how to be comfortable with it and sometimes even use it to her advantage.
Copyright 1995 The New York Times
Transmitted: 95-04-28 12:24:00 EDT
Date: Mon, 01 May 1995 19:24:20 -0400
From: Roger Noe (noe@sal.cs.uiuc.edu)
I had the good fortune to attend the concert in Chicago on April 29. Thanks to my fellow Phair fans at Oberlin College (hi, Peter, Trista, and Alina!!) we were able to assist each other in going to the concert. I had a great time, both at the concert and making the journey. Sadly, I did not realize my life's goal of sleeping in the same bed Her Lizness had when she went to Oberlin. (-: But seriously, it was a lot of fun, despite some minor disappointments.
Since miz Phair played Chicago last on her tour, I feel there's not much new to write about this concert. Some of this might sound repetitive to those of you who have read previous summaries from the April 1995 tour.
This venue was The Vic Theater, in Chicago's Wrigleyville area (or maybe just south of there). It should be no surprise that the concert was a sell-out; were any of the 11 dates in this tour NOT sell-outs? I don't know how many tickets there were, but one person in my group guessed 500. This seemed a reasonable estimate, but we couldn't see the balcony, so there's no way to tell. The general admission standing-room-only area was packed and became a sardine can of human bodies as the start time approached. This is definitely not my preferred way of attending a concert, but I took the best I could get. The stage was set much as others have described, a living room with a sofa and two chairs, table and lamps, a plant and a piano. Sorry, no sign of Heidi's water toy...if they use local furniture at each place, it probably stayed in the city where she left it. Also no picture frames.
The opener was Jason and Alison, an interesting duo. She plays cello, he plays acoustic guitar and sings. Alison was noticeably energetic with her bowing, making it look like an aerobic activity. Jason's voice was good, even better than his guitar playing. The thing that most fascinated me about this pair was the variety of musical styles they tried on during their 40-minute set, everything from pleasant folk ballads to disharmonic, distortion-filled punk rants. They made interesting use of their instruments, electrifying their acoustic sound (although some of the feedback was probably not intentional). In one song, Alison picked up her cello and played it like a guitar, keeping the rhythm with her "bass" while Jason played the lead on his guitar. Although some ill-behaved concertgoers did not agree, I viewed these two musicians as inventive, creative, and hard-working. It isn't enough to make them famous, but they deserve credit for the talent they do have. If you're interested, they have an album, titled "Woodshed", available on Whitehouse Records.
Following the opener was an annoyingly long half hour intermission. I don't know what the problem was, perhaps they had difficulty finding a stagehand who knew how to play a chord on Liz' guitar for the sound check. The only change to the set was the addition of some flowers. Finally, just before 9 p.m., Liz took the stage. My immediate impression upon seeing her in the flesh for the first time was, "She's so little!" I'm pretty small myself (5'6'') and I've seen plenty of pictures of her as well as videos and TV appearances, but on the stage holding her cherry red guitar (have we ever positively established what kind it is?) she looked TINY. She was wearing a long-sleeve black leotard (or body stocking; is there a difference?) and pants that looked like jeans with thin blue and white vertical stripes.
After greeting the Chicago audience with "It's good to be home", she launched into her first seven songs with hardly a pause between them. Her voice sounded outstanding and her playing was excellent. With those lips and fingers, how could I not love what she does with them? :-) She showed no outward signs of nervousness, except possibly the fact that she was rushing into her set at breakneck speed, but without actually rushing the songs to their detriment. She took her first drink of bottled water after 20 minutes and 7 songs, which made it look like the concert would be over in no more than an hour. I started worrying that maybe she was tired of the tour and eager to get her last show over with. I was pleased to be proven wrong.
She introduced the new song "Hurricane Cindy" by name and received applause after the first line or two of lyrics. As in other places, she told us she wrote it about (or for?) Cindy Crawford. Stratford- on-Guy, as expected, got an enthusiastic local reception, with many in the audience beginning to sing along to familiar songs from Exile and Whip-Smart. The second break came after Explain It To Me, at which Liz said there was something she had been wanting to say: "Idle chatter is not a good thing." I thought that was puzzling. I tend to analyze things from many different perspectives, but without idolizing statements just because they come from a certain person's mouth. She then began a very obvious and deliberate tease which she would bring up another two or three times that night. "I could tell you the moose joke...it's dirty."
After about 45 minutes with her guitar, she went over to the piano and played Chopsticks and Canary. The piano was in need of a tuning, but that's a reflection only on The Vic. It wasn't too bad, I doubt most people noticed. As she returned to her guitar, I started having the feeling that I could actually make out some lyrics better listening to her live than at home with my CD player and headphones. Maybe I could, maybe she's made an effort to improve her enunciation. For example, on Fuck and Run, I could swear I heard clearly for the first time "I heard THE rest in your head" and on Supernova I could hear (and see) the "F" in "Your kisses are as wicked as an F-16", which I previously thought might be "M-16".
The audience maintained a high level of energy throughout the latter half of her set. Her new songs were well received, especially the one most people here have called Beautiful Day ("what a beautiful day for a drive") or I'll Get You High. This is the one where she leaps into The Flintstones theme song to the words, "Bimbo, meet the bimbo". Of course, there was the obligatory fan shouting "We love you" and Liz' automatic reply, "I love you, too". I had too much self-restraint to offer "We love you more". :-) I kept expecting the concert to end with every song after the first 20, but she went on for 27 songs in her 75-minute set, 13 of them from Exile In Guyville (more than two-thirds of the album), 7 from Whip-Smart, 1 Girlysound, and 6 new songs. I really got my money's worth, especially considering my ticket was free, all I had to do was drive between Oberlin and Chicago.
When Liz thanked us for coming and left the stage not to return for an encore, the audience was of course disappointed. Me, too, but I wasn't surprised. After all, she's not constrained by convention and has shown much determination to do things her way. What's the real difference if she does a 21-song set and 2 encores of 3 songs each, or if she just does a 27-song set?
I didn't hang around and try for an autograph. It was 10:15 and we still had to make the drive back to Oberlin. I was also bummed because of The Vic's security goons. I had brought with me a can of rat treats I bought for Willard, the little white music video star, wrapping up in birthday paper. As they patted everybody down before entering the theater, they confiscated it! They knew what it was, but they didn't care. Assholes.
Merchandise for sale in the lobby included the previously described tour T-shirts in medium, large, and XL for $15 and cardboard "stars" from her Whip-Smart cover design. Yeah, the T-shirts aren't all that great, but I bought one anyway, I sort of collect T-shirts.
My general impression of this tour is that we have witnessed the next step in Liz Phair's evolution as a performer. The ones who start to become popular as a result of studio work eventually learn that tours are an unavoidable part of promotion, and no one--no matter how talented--becomes a big name without promotion. This doesn't mean she had to lose her stage fright, but that she had to learn to handle it and perform despite it. It appeared to me she has done that, and without the support of a backing band, which takes tremendous courage. Unless she decides she doesn't want her musical career to progress beyond its current point, I think we'll see another tour from her, after her next album, in twice as many dates and maybe venues twice as large. I'm happy for her if this happens and it's what she wants, but at the same time I'm saddened because this means less intimate shows.
Enough philosophizing. Here's what you all wanted up front, the set list. Haven't you ever heard of foreplay? :-)
Set list for Liz Phair's April 29, 1995 concert at The Vic, Chicago:
There's a logger who moves up to Alaska after breaking up with his wife. After a while up there, all the loggers get a little horny. One day this moose shows up, and all the others start whistling after it and getting excited. This logger reacts in disgust, "How can you guys even think that, it's so sick!" A year goes by, the moose wanders through the camp again, the others get excited and this logger still thinks they're disgusting. A second year goes by, the moose comes through, the others get excited, and this logger is getting desperate but he still thinks it's just too gross. A third year rolls around and now the logger is so desperate he starts thinking maybe it wouldn't be so bad. One day when he's out in the woods he comes to a clearing and there's this cute little moose, and he thinks, well, there's no one else around, this wouldn't be so bad. So he goes up to her, says "nice moose" and they start, uh, you know... (At this point you have to conjure up a mental image of Liz thrusting her hips back and forth.) While they're doing that, the other loggers happen upon them and react with shock and disgust. This logger says, "But you guys were all whistling after the mooses and everything." They replied, "That's different...this is the ugliest moose we've ever seen."
To directly quote Liz, "Sorry about that joke".
--
Roger Noe noe@cs.uiuc.edu
University of Illinois (217) 244-6173
Urbana, IL USA "This isn't rocket science, only brain surgery."
Date: Sat, 06 May 1995 21:03:54 -0400
From: TomMohr@aol.com
Pardon any typos in this -- we had a very nice bottle of wine with dinner...
This is the review of the Chicago show from the Tribune, by their excellent rock writer Greg Kot. From the May 1, 1995 early edition, reprinted without permission, of course.
Instead of a band, Liz Phair brought living room furniture and flowers on stage with her Saturday at the Vic. Fortunately, she didn't forget to pack her self-confidence.
Phair and her fully cranked electric guitar instantly blasted her reputation for stage fright into the rafters with a triumphant "6'1" ": "I kept standing six-foot-one / Instead of five-foot-two / And I loved my life / And I hated you."
It sounded like a big "Take that!" to those who may have regarded this as a put-up-or-shut-up homecoming gig for Phair, a performer who keeps making up her own rules as she goes along, much to the chagrin of former friends, musical associates and even her record label.
This was a tour that should have taken place last autumn, but Phair pulled the plug at the last minute. In the interim, she lost her fine band and added fuel to the notion that she just can't cut it live with a couple of wobbly performances on the national talk-show circuit.
But in playing material from her era-defining 1993 debut, "Exile in Guyville,", and her latest album, "Whip-Smart," plus some impressive new songs, Phair gave a winning performance and reasserted why she created such a buzz in the first place.
Phair has never seemed more sure of herself on a stage. Her demeanor was relaxed yet purposeful, and her voice was especially strong in its upper register, previously shaky ground for her, as she belted out choruses with conviction.
As a guitar player, Phair has developed an idiosyncratic vocabulary of fills, riffs and chords that run a variety of melodies, counter-melodies and rhythms underneath her voice. With impressive audacity she sang "Soap Star Joe' and "Jealousy" while the density of her guitar-playing evoked a one-woman band.
Of course, Phair's more ribald verbal imagery drew the usual frat-boy hoots and giggles. But these were but a small piece of a well-rounded batch of songs. When she picked up the tempo, she swaggered with "Cinco de Mayo," "Never Said," "(Expletive) and Run," "Supernova," and particularly a snarling "Help Me, Mary."
An even deeper impression was made by the more contemplative material. On the brooding "Glory" and "Explain It to Me," the snaking "Mesmerizing," and "Canary," which she performed at the piano, Phair persuasively illustrated her subtle strengths as a songwriter.
Of the new tunes, "Hurricane Cindy," dedicated to a certain supermodel, resonated with painterly images, while others revealed a more playful side, including a variation on the "Flintstones" theme. After 75 minutes and 26 songs, Phair walked off without an encore, as has been her habit. This time, she deserved one.
Tom
5-6
2007cdt
Review by Tom in Boston.
I found a guy who had an extra ticket for the Liz Phair show last night at the Avalon in Boston, and after waiting for a couple hours, I was able to watch from the second row. There was no opening act, but at 9pm on the dot, they started a two-projector slide show with a few dozen black and white pictures of Liz with various people, some band members, I think, lots of goofy faces, some very nice (even touching) pictures, and some from the cover shoot for Exile in Guyville. They played a tape of several songs through the slide show (30 minutes) including "Little Red Corvette," "Ray of Light" (Madonna,) and "Kiss Off" (Violent Femmes.)
At 9:30, Liz and band came on. I wish I knew who was who in the band, but there was a guitarist, bass player, keyboard guy, drummer, and a woman who sang backing vocals. Maybe if she'd tour a little more often, we could be more familiar with them! I guess Liz is pretty short, but what struck me was how thin she is. She wore a long black silk skirt with a long slit. She wore a long-sleeve dark red silk shirt with black fuzzy featherlike trim around the wrists and neckline. She also wore four-inch clogs, a wedding band, and a necklace with pendant. The only change she made during the show was that she kicked off her shoes and jumped around a lot during "What Makes You Happy."
Here's the play list:
There was 1 break, I think before "Perfect World." She did some of the great wild chord playing that we've seen on videotape, but also several songs were toned down. She hooted and yelped back at the audience, and said she really enjoyed playing live, and playing songs for us "the same way I play them in my room."
After the show, I got one of a few guitar picks that was tossed. No play lists were tossed. I waited for a while outside with a Sharpie, but Liz left in a taxi from another door. A few contest winners came out while I was waiting; the two I talked to said she was really nice, and really small.
Tom in Boston.
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