Toronto, ON - The Guvernment, 11/15/03


Sun, 16 Nov 2003
Dan MacDonald

i'm a long winded bastard, so i'm gonna cut this into two reviews - and it makes sense, since i actually had the brilliant honour of seeing liz twice yesterday.
so where do i begin..
i left my house in windsor for toronto at 5:30 a.m. her in-store signing and acoustic performance was scheduled for 1 p.m. - that gave me enough time to get there and get into the gigantic line that i just KNEW was gonna be there.
cut to 9:30 a.m. - we arrive in toronto and decide to drive by Sunrise records - i knew there wouldn't be a chance in hell that there would be anyone there yet because i was so ridiculously early. The line up was almost around the block.
my jaw almost hit my tits. i was floored/furious/angry/confused. i didn't understand how there could POSSIBLY be that many people waiting for her three and half hours before the show.
we parked the car, and i dragged three of my friends by their ear lobe to the line and we began to wait.
i couldn't help but notice how everyone in the line was like, 12 years old. i heard one little boy in front of me talking about wrist bands, so i patted him on the shoulder and asked what the hell was going on. he mumbled something about tickets selling out and how they JUST went on sale today..and i asked him, my copy of Juvenalia in hand "This is for Liz Phair isn't it?"
and to my relief, he replied "Liz who?? This is for Blink 182 tickets." I can honestly say i have never been THAT happy after hearing blink 182 tickets went on sale.
anyway - fast forward to the show:

i had front row directly infront of liz and her little stool. the ditz from 99.9 fm the mix came out and announced liz phair to a semi-excited audience.
liz came out dressed in a black lacy top, these god-awful orange gloves - they were SERIOUSLY ugly - fingerless a la avril lavgine kinda arm-warmer thingies - - jeans and TINY pointy black sequined high heel shoes. she looked beautiful.
she had an acoustic guitar and her lead guitarist with her. the set list was as follows:
"Okay...how about we start off with some perfect world...."
Perfect World
Extraordinary
Rock Me
(she mentioned something about that christopher guest film "A Mighty Wind" and motioned to her guitar player - he kinda looks like one of the folk singer dudes. then everyone started yelling out for classic songs and she said "Okay...before i dip into the catalogue - I have to play Why Can't I." - (things that make ya go Hmmm.... she "had" to play it? says who, i'd like to know)
Why Can't I?
Fuck and Run
(then the girl who works at the damn record shop asked for polyester bride and i was annoyed cuz i kinda wanted to hear songs that would NOT be played at the big show later that night...but whatever polyester bride rocks and it's always great to hear it.)
Polyester Bride
and that was the closer.

fantastic set. she fucked up the last chord of Fuck and Run and smiled. i also exchanged brief words with her just before perfect world:
Me - "Liz!! I LOOOOVE your gloves!!"
Her - "Thanks."

and then after the set was done, i offered her my juvenalia CD with a black magic marker and said:
(Liz Phair/Dan MacDonald dialogue exchange number two:)
Me - "If you wouldn't mind....."
Liz - "of course not..." (started signing)
Me - "You sounded kick ass - great teaser for tonight's show."
Liz - "Aww thanks."
Me - "And hey - you were hilarous in Cherish."
Liz - (she started chuckling) "Thank you. Hey - Can I keep your magicmarker?"
Me - "Of course!!"

and that was it.

so that was that. at one point, some doorknob in the audience yelled out for "Favorite" (u know - "The Underwear Song") and i immediatly got this bad taste in my mouth and was terrified she was gonna waste a perfectly good acoustic set by ruining it with that ear-sore - but she didn't play it - thank GOD.
jase was there - and he said that at that exact moment, i actually MADE a face. this scared me because i had no idea i actually MADE a face. goes to show you - i don't even know my OWN depth of disgust for this song. but regardless - it was so intimate and nice and cool she sounded great, she was in a good mood - nice and mellow. it rocked. i pity the people who were more than 10 feet back because there was no stage. but for those of us in the front - kick ass and up close with liz phair. there's no better way to spend an afternoon...
so i got stoned with a few friends and started hyping myself up for the Big show at 6 p.m.....

(Part two)

okay - the big show. what can i say - i didn't think ANYTHING could compare to that fanastic and intimate acoustic set at sunrise records. and nothing really could...
except - having front row to a completely amazingly ridiculously rockinshow at the guvernment.
it was bloody incredible. it was my fifth time seeing Liz live. this was by far one of the greatest - only because she was in SUCH a great mood and i have never known her to be a "jammer" on stage - but she just cut loose with her guitar and was all over the place, improving with vocals, just whaling on her guitar, crazy solos - it was soo hot.
she wore a white t-shirt with a big pink "L" on it - (wonder what that stood for?) - she had a zebra print skirt thing on - that was (pardon my french) *fucking* short. the back of it was even shorter. i can honestly say that i have now seen liz's ass. i don't know if she was wearing a thong - but she sure as hell was NOT wearing her favorite underwear. all i saw was bum cheeks.
and yes, she had "the headset" on. but i didn't mind it as much. anyway - i am not completely sure about the set list...i know the order is wrong in the middle...but it went something like:

Mesmerizing
Johnny Feelgood (she SOOOO jammed this one up at the end - it wasbrilliant)
6'1" (this is when the audience just kicked in and it was pure old school liz - everything i always loved about her was there)
Divorce Song (at the "take a deep breath and count back from ten and maybe you'll be alright" part - she stared right at me and smiled - i think she kind of recognized me from the show earlier in the afternoon cuz she sorta gave a little wink i dunno. maybe i'm just being wishful..but it's totally possible)
Polyester Bride
Rock Me ( i wish i was straight )
Perfect World
Flower (this was my highlight of the night. normally i kind of consider this song a joke song. it's cool, funny...but i could take it or leave it. this version is bloody amazing. i wish there was a studio version. raunchy guitar solos, drums that creep up on you, and then bite your head off when you least expect it and a trembling guitar that made me wanna drop to me knees and thank the sweet lord i was alive to witness this. i felt like a cigarette after the song cuz it was seriously as good if not better than honest-to-goodness old fashioned sex. and I liked it.)
Help Me Mary
Stratford-on-guy (i wasn't really "the one", mister emil breton.i yelled out for it a few times in the beginning and heard her say a little "Uh-uh" and i thought it was a negative "uh-uh" to me, so i shut up about it.)
Friend of Mine ( so sad and sooo rockin)
Extraordinary
Never Said (rockin)
Why Can't I
Jealousy (CRAZY new arrangement - schizophrenic almost - it was truly awesome i loved it. soooo catchy, all riffy.)
Supernova (wow!!!! again - one i could take or leave cuz i made myself sick of this song back in highschool - but it was given new life last night i melted)

encore:
(liz came out and was like "OKay..so we kinda just went back stage and stood by the bar...and just kinda waited..."
Red Light Fever ( i like this song, but honestly - i could take it or leave it live)
"Time to spice things up a little"
Fuck & Run
HWC

my drunk friends near the back of the audience said the sound was shitty. there were a few technical hiccups throughout the show, but i thought for the most part she sounded kick ass incredible, and i wasn't being biased. the head set...well..it didn't bug me...but it didn't really do anything for her vocal acoustics. like, when it came time for her to raise her voice in songs, normally she would pull her head away from the mic. since that is impossible to do with a headset, we just got her screaming. but - she sounded great. maybe the sound was different/shittier from different aural perspectives, but in the front row - it was kick ass.

if anyone went and knows the ACCURATE set list - please correct me. i'm sure i got all the songs down - but the order I KNOW is wrong. but she really mixed the set list up from other shows. totally different order, so it was nice to not know what to expect. and some of the songs...they were just sooooo rocking and different...it was truly one of the greatest liz shows i have ever seen. she was just a total rock star - having a great time - actually JAMMING with the band...it looked so fun.
anyway, that's my story. liz twice in one day. two great and drastically different shows. an autographed copy of juvenalia.
and a fridge magnet that some dude at sunrise records gave me of liz - only it doesn't work. the damn thing isn't even a magnet and he told me he would only give it to me if i had a fridge. so yeah. that's that.
dan