EXTRAORDINARY PHAIR

Photos courtest of www.hookerz.org

I debated about going to the Liz Phair concert. She sounded flat on Jay Leno, and it was once again pouring rain in South Florida. But Liz didn’t cancel, and I thought I could use the normal pick-me-up that concerts usually give me. I’m glad I went. Liz didn’t disappoint.

I thought it unbelievable that she would kick off her national tour in this smallish club called Revolution. It was my first visit and it may be my favorite venue. The stage was set six feet above floor, and there were two additional seating/standing levels surrounding the stage. I found a great spot off to the right side and was a mere 20 feet from Liz when she took the stage.

She came out by herself with just an acoustic guitar. It was reminiscent of the Alanis Morissette concert. I had to do a double-take because she looked so amazing. She wore a short denim mini-skirt and a sleeveless blouse. Her smile was dazzling and beaming, and I’m sure every guy in that club, accompanied or not, was having fantasies about her.

She was thrilled with loud and raucous greeting. She explained to the crowd that she enjoyed playing her acoustic shows on her last tour and that she didn’t make it down to Florida. So she gave us a flavor of it by opening acoustically with Hurricane Cindy and Girl’s Room before her guitarist joined her for the next two songs Baby Got Going and Soap Star Joe. Liz was very laid back; she admitted to flubbing the words and jokingly said that the show would only get better from here.

The rest of her band joined her for the balance of the 90-minute set. I came in expecting the show to be dominated by new songs from her new CD, Somebody’s Miracle. But she actually only sang three songs from the CD and her song selection was well-balanced amongst her previous four CDs. As she sang, I couldn’t believe how close I was to her. I got four glances and a smile from her during the show so that was pretty cool.

Liz has quite a singing range. She can hit those high octaves on songs like Why Can’t I and Extraordinary, yet she can reach these low registers (sorry for the Paula Abdul-like commentary) as well as demonstrated on her newest song, Everything to Me. She sang this song much better than she had on Leno a few nights ago. I know Liz has been sort of panned for going pop with her Liz CD. Critics said it lacked the edge of her earlier successes such as her debut album, Exile in Guyville. To me, that matters little. From what I’ve noticed this year, Liz, Alanis, and Sarah have all seemed to mature, overcome bad relationships, and have discovered happiness. If critics want to attack that, so be it. I say, be happy and rock on.

And Liz was just that. She seemed to be having a blast up there singing and cursing her way through hits such as Fuck and Run and Shitloads of Money. For me, it was just what the doctor ordered. Two hours of great music in a great venue and great crowd atmosphere, and staring at this beautiful woman who hardly looked 38. I even made a new friend, but it’s not what you think. A woman brought her 10-year-old daughter to the concert for the daughter’s birthday. You could tell the daughter was just ga-ga over Liz. I had my eye on this Liz poster hanging on the railing, but decided to give it to the little girl for her birthday. Her surprised expression of wonder and happiness really made my night. She mouthed a ‘thank you’ over the blaring amps and I mouthed a ‘happy birthday’ back to her. It was a perfect ending to a perfect night.