My take on 8/5/03 St. Louis Show at The Pageant
I won't waste time on Mraz & Lerche, other than to say both have a lot of talent, just not really my cup of tea. So.... on to Liz.
The crowd was mostly girls under age 18, and they were definitely there to see Mraz. It did seem that most did pay attention to Liz during her set, but I doubt she picked up many of them as new fans.
Liz came out right at 8:30, wearing a cammo mini skirt, tall black boots, white wife beater top and the "star" Musicmaster as seen on the new cover. As many have said before she looks great.
I heard a live radio interview with Liz about 2 hours before the show and she said she felt really good. From her appearance on stage it looked like she really did. She seemed happy and was smiling throughout most of her set.
The set was as follows:
1. 6'1
2. Polyester Bride
3. Rock Me
- --- Changed to red Musicmaster capoed at 1st fret
4. Divorce Song
5. Help Me Mary
- --- Changed to "star" Musicmaster
6. Extraordinary
7. Fuck And Run
8. Favorite
9. Johnny Feelgood
- ---Changed to red Musicmaster capoed at 4th fret
10. Why Can't I
- ---Changed to tobacco sunburst Telecaster
11. Red Light Fever
- ---Changed to "star" Musicmaster
12. Supernova
13. Flower (solo playing guitar)
Liz left at 8:40 (total time 50 minutes)
There were no encores.
I think Liz sounds better than ever and her singing has really come a long way since I saw her on the WCSE tour. You can tell she has really worked hard at it. Not to worry though she still sounds like Liz. She also looks more confident and comfortable on stage.
Early in her show Liz mentioned that Jason Mraz had taken picture of himself & guitar in a pose similar to the one on the new LP cover. I think she said she had taped it over her bed. That got a few laughs. She also said right before "Favorite" that she actually did have a favorite pair of underwear that the song was based on, and that she might try to sell them on e-bay if she could find them.
I was really surprised how well the Matrix stuff came off. The songs sounded pretty full considering that the band was only a 5 piece and didn't use a lot of effects in concert. The older material was greatly appreciated by the "creepy old fans" in the audience.
Overall it was a pretty good show, although it could have lasted longer.
The only negative was that I was not particularly impressed with her band. While there were no big screw ups or anything like that, they didn't really seem to me to have very good chemistry with Liz or each other. I thought the WCSE band was a lot better, certainly a lot tighter, but hey maybe these guys will come along as they get in more playing time with Liz. I will still go see them again if I get the chance.
My friends and I left after the 3rd Mraz song and headed to our car. We noticed a little group people and some security that looked like they might be on a smoke break, behind the venue. Just as we passed them we heard a little commotion and turned around and guess who pops out. We walked back and Liz was signing a few autographs. I had already bought a signed copy from the Aware store but getting one handed to you from the supergoddess herself is just a little bit better. Thanks Liz. I didn't really get a chance to talk to her but she seemed nice and was smiling the whole time, as the picture my friend Kally snapped can attest to. Sorry just had to gloat a little.
Larry
I was at the St. Louis show last night...so...yeah...so you know...it was amazing.
I was really expecting it to sound terrible considering how lame the Dallas show sounded and how terrible the radio show was...but I was completely blown away.
Her set list was really great, and really appropriate considering the type of show it was.
And was very rock and a whole lot of fun.
I can't remember the order, but it was like..."6'1"", "Poleyester Bride", all four matrix songs, "Fuck and Run", "Johnny Feelgood", "Divorce Song", "Help Me Mary", "Red Light Fever", "Supernova", and "Flower".
She closed with "Flower", and it was just great...because the band left and it was just her strumming the same note over and over on her guitar...and she enunciated really well...and the audience LOVED it.
I was sort of surprised by how small the venue was...but it made it really awesome since I could get like...five feet away from her.
It was cool because she seemed SO HAPPY singing the old stuff. I don't know. Like...she seriously looked like she was being tortured during the chorus of "Rock Me", but then she went into "Help Me Mary", and she was just SO HAPPY and SMILEY and it was so great
She had the most hilarious bassist ever. He NEVER STOPPED JUMPING. I don't think he stood straight the entire show. He was so wonderfully..."ok, stay pumped, stay pumped, stay pumped, stay pumped, ROCK!!!"
It sort of threw me off like...how many people I saw mouthing the new stuff in comparison to how many people there who seemed to know "Supernova". Like...I don't know...I saw at least a dozen people who were singing "Extraordinary", but only four people including me and my friend were mouthing "Supernova"...and it was really weird...because since when is the new album popular evnough to encourage people to see her live?
Pretty much everyone was there for MRAZ, though...so...I don't know.
Seriously, though, she looked great, and she seemed to really be enjoying herself on-stage.
I did the meet & greet thing afterwards, and I got a picture with her, and she photographs SO WELL. Like...she was looking good, but it really threw me off.
It was like...you meet her, and she's a normal person; and then you photograph her, and she's this gorgeous Hollywood sex-goddess.
It was cool the way the St. Louis show was set-up, too...because Liz and Jason got equal billing...but Liz played before him, so got to see both Sondre Lerche and Liz without having to endure MRAZ.
And...yeah...sidenote: Sondre Lerche was the most adorable guy ever. He was just so cute. There was this one part of his show where he was all "St. Louis are you ready to ROCK!?!?! Wait, ok, rock r-o-c-k or rock r-a-w-k? RAWK!? Ok, well the only rock I know is soft-rock. But, yeah. Try to endure it anyway."
I don't know.
I wish I could've met him afterwards, but I would've had to get out of the crowd...and...then I would've been a lot farther away for Liz, and...yeah.
Anyway, yeah, the show was awesome.
I thought the St. Louis show was a little weird. I don't get why she's touring with Mraz, everybody there was there to see him. I guess she's trying to reach out to the abercrombie/flip-flop crowd. I was completely surrounded by people who didn't really know her. Comments included "Wow, she's old!" when she walked out and after Liz mentioned something about her 4th album, someone behind me said, "FOURTH??" This girl also gave a horrific dying-cat rendition of Why Can't I. Fun fun fun. And during flower, people were really shocked, I heard a "Is she for real?" and "Oh my god!" And I was standing right behind a 40-ish dad and his teenage daughter. Family fun for all.
Kate