My wife and I saw Liz last night at Boston's Avalon. Actually we saw a LOT more of Liz than we expected to. The Phair one was wearing less clothing than J-Lo's infamous Versace dress! Seriously, I have no idea who's dressing her for this tour, but she looked rather uncomfortable in her see-thru mini-dress (with matching bikini briefs). No wonder she doesn't move around much onstage. If she started jumping up an down her breasts would have popped right out of her plunging neckline. Yikes! Yeah, she's hot all right, but jeez . . . leave a little something to the imagination. ;-)
OK, now about the music. After a thoroughly enjoyable 40-minute set by Boston alt-rockers Wheat there was a 20-minute wait while the stage was reset for Liz & Co. At a little past 8:00 the lights went down and Liz's band filed onstage and began 'tuning up.' Then Liz made her entrance to thunderous applause and whoops. The crowd was so pumped! She strapped on her trusty Fender Musicmaster and blasted off with 6'1". The mix was VERY LOUD! (My ears are still ringing a bit this morning. (Must remember earplugs . . . ) As many have noted in their reviews it was a bit difficult to hear Liz over the rest of the band at times. Since this has been reported at virtually every show on this tour you have to wonder about the doofus behind the mixing desk.
The setlist was as follows, but not necessarily in the order listed:
6' 1" / Polyester Bride / Red Light Fever / Glory / Help Me Mary / Rock Me /
Never Said / Perfect World / Johnny Feelgood / Divorce Song / Why Can't I? /
Uncle Alvarez / Extraordinary / Flower (solo -- no singalong) / Supernova
===== encore =========
Little Digger (sung with her eyes closed) / Fuck and Run
(total time = just over an hour)
Some random observations:
Liz's singing and guitar playing were both excellent. She really hits the high notes with confidence. The vocal coaching has clearly paid off.
I didn't notice that many guitar changes. Liz stuck with her cream-colored Musicmaster with the red star thingy on it for most of the show.
Midway through the set Liz remarked "It's been nice touring with Jason Mraz, but it's great to be headlining." This was followed by shouts of "Jason who?" from the crowd. (She clearly seemed resentful about having to share the spotlight with "Mr. Remedy." I think the comment was meant more for her management than the audience.)
I'm surprised no one has mentioned that Liz's mop-topped guitarist and
drummer are twin brothers. The guitarist was wearing a white T-shirt emblazoned with the "Big Muff" fuzz-pedal logo.
The bassist was by far the best musician onstage. He also sang most of the
backing vocals -- the high notes, not the low parts! He has a damned good
falsetto. I actually liked hearing a guy sing backing vox on the _Guyville_ songs -- sounded more like the album versions.
Liz's between song banter was pretty minimal. She made a few remarks about
the NYC blackout; "We were doing a taping for VH-1 and blew out the power!" She also mentioned before Little Digger "I'm going to see my son Nick tomorrow. I can't wait!" (Little Digger was a lousy encore choice IMHO. Too much of a downer.)
I thought it was kinda odd that while introducing her band Liz stumbled over
the bass player's last name; "Is it Simmons or Simons?" Doesn't she speak to
these guys? Don't they all travel together in the same bus? I'd like to be a
fly on the wall in that tour bus. And speaking of tour buses, hers had two huge eyes drawn on the windshield shades. Pretty cute.
About a half hour after the show ended Liz emerged from the stage door and
proceeded to sign pretty much anything anyone offered her. She was very
accommodating, but kept the chitchat to a minimum. To my surprise she was still wearing her skimpy stage outfit. She even posed for a few pictures with fans. Liz signed my _Liz Phair_ CD. She signed on the *actual CD* -- not the booklet. (I haven't tried playing it yet.) After signing a couple dozen T-shirts, ticket stubs and CD booklets Liz asked "Is there anyone else who needs anything?" I thought that was a peculiar turn of phrase. Made me feel like a parasite and not a fan. One fanatic asked Liz "If you sign my arm I'll get it tattooed." To which Liz replied, "Ooh, I don't think so. That's too creepy!"
On the subway ride back home my wife and I talked a lot about Liz and what a
bundle of contradictions she is. The *next* Liz Phair CD is going to be the
most telling. I just hope it's not another five years in the making. Bob K.