The following description of Liz's performance in Birmingham is courtesy
of David Peisner (taken from the website
Music Boulevard):
Subject: Morissette, Phair Deliver Snarling Rock In Atlanta Show
Date: Tue, 02 Aug 1999
In many ways, Liz Phair paved the road to success for Alanis
Morissette. Phair wanted to be our "blow job queen" two years before
Morissette even thought of going down on anyone in a theatre. And the
critical and relative commercial success of such sexual frankness on
Phair's 1993 debut Exile in Guyville made the music world a safer
place for Morissette's somewhat toned-down behemoth, Jagged Little
Pill.
Both women have moved away from such brash declarations with their
recent releases, (Phair's whitechocolatespaceegg and Morissette's
Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie), but the parallels between them
continue. Performing at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta on the second date of
their tour together, Monday (Feb. 1), it was clear that despite the fact
both Phair and Morissette write catchy pop songs, deep down, they just
wanna rock.
Phair opened the show gently, though, sauntering out in a black
evening gown and high heels to the delicate "Chopsticks" from her 1994
album, Whip-Smart. From there, she strapped on a guitar and charged
into three roughed-up rockers from her debut: "6'1"," "Never Said," and
"Mesmerizing." Though Phair's voice was in good form, the louder, denser
arrangements forced her to stetch its limits and occasionally she missed
notes badly. The band hit its stride, though, on a raucous version of
"Polyester Bride," one of only three songs Phair included from her new
album.
Perhaps sensing her older, more sexually explicit songs would go over
best with the nearly sold-out crowd, Phair leaned her set in that
direction despite her obvious awkwardness with some of the material. Now
a wife and a mother, she delivered "Fuck and Run" with a wry, knowing
smile and stifled laughter through the particularly raunchy "Flower." A
tight, impassioned "Divorce Song" closed her set on a high note.
The following description of Liz's performance in Birmingham is courtesy
of Alan (taken from the website
The Spaceegg Corner):
Subject: Fox Theatre - Atlanta, Georgia
Date: Tue, 02 Aug 1999
Okay, I went to the show last night. Mind you this is the first
time I've ever listened to Liz Phair. Also there were some problems with
the sound. Her voice wasn't coming through properly and the music was way
too loud. But there she was all cleavaged out. Okay, lets begin... She
had some really good music. Very rifey with guitar loops that would make
someone go crazy in their seat. Her voice was deep and sultry which
accented very well with the backup singer (who by the way I thought was
Joan Ozborne). When she sang "Porcelan Bride" her emotion shot up at us
like a wave of ideas and thoughts that foarced themselves out. Her use of
"verbal provocations" raised a few eye brows from me and some laughs
betweet me and my friends. I especially liked it when she said something
along the lines of "I'm your blowjob queen", and "We can do it while
watching TV backwards" or something like that. All and all her
performance was rich in emotion and provocativness. It stimulated the
mind and tickled the libitoes of just about everyone in the theatre. But
I have to say that when it was all over, Alanis took us by the heads and
threw us into a wall because she rocked our worlds beyond what my
extensive vocabulary could even begin to comprehend, and that I'm still
recovering from.
