Hey everyone! I just arrived back from Lilith at George, WA on Saturday. WOW!!!! What a show - Liz being THE highlight, of course. So, if any of you were in reserved seating, my friend and I were the only ones standing and I was the black haired, white t-shirted boy making a COMPLETE fool of himself, jumping and screaming like mad. So, Liz was absolutely radiant - her hair is getting so long and she was wearing the sexiest dress. Some great surprises in the setlist, but first the songs we know: Mesmerizing, Never Said, Johnny Feelgood, Polyester Bride, Supernova, Divorce Song, 6'1". AND 2 NEW SONGS!!!
The finale was called "Love/Hate", a totally playful rocker that had Liz bouncing around like mad and doing a series of high-pitched wails. And, to my total surprise, she redid "Hello Sailor" into "Stranger", so now it goes "hello stranger, buy you a drink"...and no "buy you a fuck". Liz said both these songs would be on the new album! Yay! She was wonderful, plus she got a 45 slot in the middle of the show, unlike her half hour opening sets she usually does. Liz also came out at the end to sing "Put a little love in your heart" with the whole Lilith crew, but she seemed really tired...like me. Good night all!!!!
Jeff D.
Well Katie, Liz was awesome tonight! I really enjoyed her set and she's just so darn CUTE, isnt' she?
Here's what she sang:
Mesmerizing
Never Said
Johnny Feelgood
Divorce Song (with Sarah)
Polyester Bride
Supernova
Stranger (a new song)
6'1"
and her last song I wasn't familiar with. The chorus had a lot of "ho-ho-hos" and "hee-hee-hees" and it sounded like she was saying "transmission". What song is that, if you know?
Thanks for being my Liz Assistant! She is really growing on me. I can see that live she's better than on the cd's. Her voice is so low and doesn't always appeal to me but when you SEE her dancing around and playing and singing she's really charismatic and that adds so much. I love The Divorce Song and Polyester Bride. And my GOODNESS the lyrics to Flower are... well... let's just say that's a song I won't be playing with my kids in the room!! LOL.
Well, it's been many moons since i took a look at the digest, but I'm going on faith here and assuming that this address still works for contributions. Just thought I'd take this opportunity to feed a little concert material to all you Liz phreaks and share my most recent sighting with some sympathetic souls.
I had a bout of luck. I am working for a company which is doing a traffic study of Civic Stadium here in Portland and we needed a few people to attend the concert and survey people about the method of transportation they used to get there. When I heard this, I went to the Lillith website and Liz had just been added to the bill, so I signed up. After battling a little heat exhaustion, finishing up interviewing people in the restroom line, and heading to the field to hear Liz's performance, further luck ensued. At first, all the seats seemed to be taken by bodies either present or not present, and the defenders of those seats informed me that the organizers would not allow one to stand in the aisles. But I was determined to be close to the stage. I kept wandering until some former classmate I barely recognized flagged me down, talked to me, and pointed me in the direction of an empty seat, quite central and just at the back of the first large row of seats.
Then I had to wait as Sandra Bernhard came on stage and bad-mouthed everybody. What's her deal, anyway?
For those of you who read this list last year, this Lillith report will sound familiar. The most disappointing thing is that the audience at Lillith Fair just doesn't seem to know Liz Phair. Then when Sarah comes on, everyone just goes wild. This has confounded me for the past day. I'm sure it's partly a matter of exposure, since so many of Sarah's songs make it on the radio. But this is a discussion we've had before, no?
Anyhow, Liz came on stage. She wore black stretch pants and a grey halter top with a laced-up string back and high-heeled sandals of some sort. Her hair was sort of blowing in the wind back behind her face. Her voice seemed really strong and her performance very solid. She danced around on stage a lot and kept exhibiting her back, which looked like it had been participating in a great deal of circuit training. She dribbled some water from her water bottle on one of the security guards beneath the stage. The song line up was this (approximate order):
Mesmerizing
Explain it to Me
Johny Feelgood
Divorce Song
Polyester Bride
Hello Stranger
Supernova
6'1"
and a new song i didn't catch the name of
The Hello Stranger song uses the same tune as "Hello Sailor" from Girlysounds, but doesn't have the same bite or wit. I think the original song is so great, but i suppose it would have to be put in a different context now anyway if it were going to be released, as the Gulf War is over. The new song might be about oneself being a stranger, because she says something about looking in the mirror, but I'm not sure.
Sarah came on during Divorce Song and the crowd went crazy. Before, I'd been one of the few people standing up in my area, which was a little awkward. Then when Sarah came on, everyone stood up. Sarah sung the line "Well it's true that I stole your lighter.." but then missed another line ("And then accused me of trying...").
Part of the audience did seem to recognize "Supernova," so that was fun.
It seems Liz put a clip from one of her voice lessons in one of her new songs, as she has sort of an opera moment.
Well, it was over too quickly. She waved as she went off-stage and I, at least, waved back.
Sheryl Crow came on after Liz and I do see that she's a strong performer with a very strong voice, very confident on stage and lets her personality show and jokes with everybody. And then Sarah McLachlan has the pretty songs and the big light show, the big flowing voice and great turqoise sparkly pants. Still, I wish more people had been standing and dancing and singing along with me during Liz's performance.
that wraps up my report.
Positive Post! Liz related news! :)! (Please forgive my typos).
Since no one seems to be discussing Liz at Lilith, I just thought I'd share with you that Liz did sign stuff at the Tower Records tent again this year.
At the Detroit show she played a great all-too-short set*, including 2 new songs, one of which she closed with, called "Love/Hate Transmission". Great song! :) I don't remember all of the songs, but some were: 6'1", Never Said, Supernova, Polyester Bride, ... I don't remember...
She played a song I thought was Don't Apologize, it was a great song, but it sounds richer? more developed? than the Don't Apologize I recall from the college tour. Have any other Lilith-goers who heard it know anything about this? I know she said something before she sang it, but I couldn't understand her.
(*=What's up with the really short set for Liz, anyway? She gets 30 minutes, Sheryl and Sarah get almost an hour. Why don't they break up the time evenly? I know normally the opening band does have a shorter set, and that Sarah and Sheryl are more *popular*, but if the purpose of this is to see a bunch of different artists and celebrate them ALL, then shouldn't they all get equal stage time?)
The only thing with her signing was that there were two lines, one for people who bought CDs from Tower, and one for people who didn't. The Tower CD line went first. I was really disappointed by this - that Liz would do something like this. But when she got to the table, she was confused by the two lines, and the security guy explained to her - these people bought CDs, you have to see this line first - she said ok - but apparently she didn't know anything about it. That made me feel better.
I asked her about the new album (which she made reference to during the set - - she said Love/Hate will be on the new album). She gave a big exasperated sigh, and said "I don't know *when* it will be out. It's not even finished yet." She sounded really frustrated/disappointed about it, so I didn't ask anything else about it.
I drove 13 and a half hours, paid $34 for a ticket, $6 for parking, and $18~something for a CD I already own, but I'm happy, becasue I not only got to see Liz perform live, but I got to talk to Liz, too. It was definately worth it. I think it's great how friendly and polite she is with her fans. If she does ever top the charts, I hope that she doesn't change.
Liz was just amazing!
she did
6'1"
Never Said
Glory
Don't Apologize
Supernova
Polyester Bride
and a *new* song called Love/Hate Transmission (which was a fun, jumpy song......and liz jumped all over the stage)
she was great! then she did an autograph signing at the Tower Booth........she was the only main stage act to do that.......
it was a great day!
in liz love
Liz at Lilith: Cleveland
Good news! Buddy's back! It's just my opinion, but Liz seemed much happier and more relaxed at this show than at the Saturday Detroit show. It was damn hot (or is that Hot Damn!..?.. ;)...) but she and Buddy looked like they were having a great time together on stage. He was singing along and bouncing around with Liz. I guess I'm just spoiled from seeing them play together so much, but it was good to see them play together again..it seemed weird seeing Liz play with someone else.
{And for the fashion police, she had on the white top with the fringes and orange-ish skirt that she wore at (was it Seattle or Portland?)}
Anyway, this show was great. She played Don't Apologize and Love/Hate Transmission again. In my opinion, if these two songs are any indication of the direction her next album will take, I think it will be a much (heavier?) more rocking album than WCSE was and will be a new direction for her, different (again) from her previous albums.
I'm really in love with Love/Hate Transmission and can't get it out of my head! If you haven't heard it, it is *somewhat* like What Makes You Happy, at least at the end of both songs. "a Love Love Love...Hate Hate Hate...Transmission...." Does anyone have a copy of this song? Can you describe it better? It's definately one of those songs I would listen to very loudly while flying down the road singing along at the top of my lungs appreciating on a beautiful sunny day. (And what does she say that she asked her mother(?) to do? "But she didn't do it.")
She didn't sign at the Tower booth, much to my disappointment. And yes, ya'll are correct about not having to buy CDs in Detroit. After thinking about it, I did notice that some of the CDs were beat up, but that's just what the security guy said when he explained the two lines to me and like a dummy I believed him. Sorry!
Jason and I were just discussing why there aren't more Lilith reviews posted to the list. I wonder if maybe no one's going, due to severe allergic reactions to the hype, ridiculous ticket prices, or fear of epileptic seizures when Sar-uh starts singing. Anyway, I went, and here's how it was...
Cleveland sucks. The road to the venue was closed, necessitating a detour that took one HOUR to complete. Parking was free, and only a HALF MILE from the gate. The lawn, where we sat, was huge. So huge that it allowed the venue to hold more people than it could really service. The line for food was longer than the Dixie Chicks' set. BTW, who the hell leaves a TREE in the middle of the lawn at a concert venue?
This was my first Lilith trip. The hippie clothes sales booths and activism booths and all that were interesting for about one minute. The "Girls Rule" temp tattoos that Biore gave out with their free samples became omnipresent and annoying in that same minute. I completely did not get the whole empowerment thing, or the cult of Sar-uh, of any of it. It was ridiculously expensive, completely commercial, and lacking any spontaneity. And it wasn't just me, the chromosomally unequipped one, who didn't get it. My wife was fed up with the whole thing, too, especially by the end of the day, when the restroom situation had reached its low point. Women had appropriated the mens restrooms too, so that as I stood at a urinal doing my business, women watched me who were standing directly behind me waiting for stalls. In the women's restrooms, my wife said that, lacking a convenient receptacle, women had thrown their used feminine products in heaps on the floor. "If this is what it means to be a feminist these days..." she said. But as for the music...
Deborah Cox' R&B was pleasant but unspectacular. She wore black vinyl and appeared to be even smaller than Liz. Susan Tedeschi, on the second stage, WAILED. We were hoping for a Joplin cover, since she really had that vibe going. We'll have to look for her music in the store. Then came Liz.
I'm listening to the MD recording I made of the show right now, which turned out terribly--not good enough to trade, so don't ask please. So I can give you all the facts. Here's the whole set, including EVERY word that Liz uttered. Just like you were there...
[Mesmerizing] "We're damn glad to be here!" [6'1"] "Woo! Are you hot? I like those little tents up there. It's very medieval you know, hey, horses riding all across..." [Never Said]
"Now we'd like to play a new song for you. It's called Don't Apologize." [Don't Apologize]
"Are you guys dying out there, or is it just me? I am SO hot! Woo! Just makes you wanna run out and dance naked, doesn't it?"
"This song is called Divorce Song." [Divorce Song]
[Polyester Bride] "This song's called Fuck and Run." [Fuck and Run] "Anybody have a hair rubber band? (laughs) That you'd wanna toss up on stage? So talk to me; how do you guys feel? (cheer) How many guys? Yeah? I'm half guy." [Supernova]
"Okay, this is our last song. And it's a new one. But, uh... Get your butts up!" [Love/Hate Transmission] "Thank you so much!"
You can see there wasn't a lot of stage patter. The schedule they passed out at the show said Liz had 40 minutes; the one on the Lilith site said she only had 30. She only played 30. Many of the bands seemed to fear the stage managers; no one even came very close to filling their alloted time; they played and got the hell out of the way before the set started coming down around them. No encores, of course; just that big singalong at the end of Sar-uh's set that we didn't stick around for.
Liz wore a long skirt and the same top as she did at the 7/9 show. Check the Lilith site for pix of that show; pretty much same outfit, but I think a darker skirt. She was fun to watch, but it didn't feel much like a Liz show, because she didn't talk much, and it was SO short. Pretty businesslike, which was really the theme for the day.
I thought Liz was well-received. At least until Dixie Chicks came on and everyone went NUTS. They got as good a reception as Sar-uh, and better than Sheryl Crow. They also got to play much longer than Liz, and then spent half of their time talking (Grrr...) Sheryl's set was very good. She's gotten a pretty good stage presence, and there were fresh new treatments of some of her songs to keep things interesting. She was the only artist to have video screens onstage (the venue didn't have any) but didn't use them to help the people far away see what was going on--they only showed footage of building falling, and buffalo running, and junk like that.
Then there was Sar-uh. We left after her third song. The drinking fountains had quit working by then. The restrooms were nasty. But the exit from the parking lot was, mercifully, quite speedy.
And now, as if I hadn't editorialized enough already... A RANT: So what good was this year's Lilith? Maybe it lengthened the delay before we have a new Liz Phair album. If she would have been touring anyway, then Lilith just kept me from seeing her in a reasonably-sized space full of enthusiastic fans, performing a full set. Same goes for Sheryl Crow, who would've been much more fun to see in the theatre downtown, for half the price. I don't think Lilith did a thing for most of the artists, and it wasn't doing much for their fans, either. But it did give a whole bunch of women, gay straight and bi, a chance to get together and... well... I still don't honestly know what they were doing.
mark
http://musicmark.webjump.com
last year I went to lilith fair in st. louis. yesterday I went to the one in indianapolis. for some reason, I had a better time at this year's. was it the line-up? or maybe it was who I went with? whatever it was, I had a blast. first up, I watched susan tedeschi, who is absolutely amazing. I picked up her album about a month ago, and she is even better live. and to top it off, sarah and natalie (dixie chicks) got up and sang with her on the last song, so poopoo on all those pavilion people, because I was only about 50 feet from the stage. yeah, I'm gonna bitch, because since I watched susan, by the time I got back to the lawn for liz, the only seat was against the fence, as far from the stage as you can get. and no one back there even knew who liz was. but I want to ask if the two girls who were dancing down towards the middle are on this list? liz singled them out after the show, because they kicked ass. they were standing and dancing the whole time. and I know someone on this list is going to disagree, but the dixie chicks are damn good. they have a nice mix of the new and old. and what is up with sheryl crow's new look? she was punked out with crazy hair and make-up. oh, well. thank you sarah mclachlan for lilith fair. but I really need to see liz in a small venue, because it sucks when people are falling asleep next to you when your favorite artist is singing. oh, the poor souls don't know what they're missing.