The crowd here was sufficiently older than at the concerts described by other list members (probably b/c it was sans Jason Mraz and 21+). Lots of preppy couples and pretty indie boys.
The opening act was Patrick Park from Denver, CO and was a great opener for Liz. Just some good, solid songwriting and an acoustic guitar.
When he left there was about forty-five minutes worth of guitar checking and rechecking and then the lights came down on us and up on the stage and suddenly there was Liz. Now let's say I was not prepared to fall under her spell. But my God, Liz holds an audience captive. She has turned into a true rock star in the best sense of the term. She was wearing black boots and a black see-through dress, with black panties underneath. She was also wearing a silver bracelet.
You cannot take your eyes off her! Mostly b/c she does not take her eyes off you. She made direct eye contact with me multiple times and winked once. But she was doing it to everyone. Just absolutely amazing how she manages to be so giving when performing. She did not seem nervous at all and was having the time of her life. But the most impressive part was her guitar playing. She extended many of the songs past their album ending point and simply jammed with the band. This was something I've never seen her do.
She played a decent mix of her four albums (though I hate that Whip-Smart always gets the shaft with only a one song representation).
When she first came out she mentioned that playing the Bowery was a "dream come true" b/c when she was writing Guyville she would often go there to listen to bands."
Before Glory she said "this is a song I wrote about Steve Albini"
She played a few notes of Flower and then invited a girl to sing backup with her. It was fun to watch. But I don't like that this has become a sing-a-long song. And this is the only bone of contention I had with the concert. All of Liz's songs are now sung with this giant smile and with such enthusiasm it's easy to forget this is not how the songs were originally written. Flower and Fuck and Run really are angry, funny, and rather grotesque and have to be heard with a certain level of intensity to get the full effect. But it's a small quibble.
She told the "lottery" intro again, which is just as stupid now as it was when I first heard it. Only this time someone yelled out. "You've already won the lottery" and she responded "The Happiness lottery, maybe."
For the encore she came out all by herself and played Explain it to Me. She forgot a chord change at one part and everyone started to laugh. But this was a very moving rendition of the song. Probably the greatest moment of the evening. The band then came out but everyone in the audience started screaming for Stratford-on-guy. She turned to the band and then turned back and said "okay, but this could prove disastrous" and she played it by herself.
After Little Digger she talked a little about her son and how much she misses him and how she spends her time on the bus reading Harry Potter.
So, anyway, I didn't have a problem with her backup band. They were very inconspicuous, which I think works, since the night should be all about Liz. Any guitar solos were done by Liz herself.
The only time she didn't play the guitar was on Rock Me and Favorite. Both of the songs show their transparency live, though and don't seem to fit with the rest of the set. Extraordinary and Red Light Fever on the other hand are very powerful and could have easily been a Guyville tune if I didn't no better.
Okay, that's enough from me. The set list as best as I can remember is down below. And if you have any questions I'll do the best I can.
6'1''
Polyester Bride
Help Me Mary
Glory
Never Said
Uncle Alverez
Divorce Song
Red Light Fever
Flower
Johnny Feelgood
Rock Me
Favorite
Supernova
Extraordinary
Perfect World
Why Can't I
Encore:
Explain It To Me
Stratford-on-guy
Little Digger
Fuck and Run
james
james did a great job of rehashing the bowery show- but i just have to say that liz is absolutely mesmerizing and she just rocked. she was amazing. i feel blessed to have been at the fillmore and this show. the venue is absolutely perfect-
at the end, people were going back and forth between yelling fuck and run and mesmerizing (it was my friend who was actually yelling mesmerizing) - it was funny- it turned into a little battle. that was when she did stratford on guy-
and her see thru dress was hot!
Lani