Mesmerizing
Liz Phair In Austin, September 9, 1998
CONCERT DETAILS
FAN PERSPECTIVE
The following description of Liz's performance in Austin is
courtesy of Dennis Smith
(taken from the newsgroup
alt.fan.liz-phair):
Subject: Austin Show Comments
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1998 02:44:19 GMT
Stubbs outside amphitheater. Packed to the gills due to $6 tickets.
Opening Damnations were fine hard rocking local country if not
particularly memorable.
Memorable Liz was. She was in top form with excellent band playing
mostly from Guyville and Egg. WCSE, 6'1, SuperNova, Never Said, would
be obvious highlights, geez even What Makes you Happy kicked ass.
Standing just feet from one of the banks of speakers and not much
farther from Liz, I had a big ol' smile on my face the whole show.
It has been years since I've seen a concert this invigorating. This
young lady can rock. She had the better half (ie female) of the
audience singing along with Flower, a moment you had to be there for.
The thrill of the concert aside, an observation. I know Liz has
gotten crap about her singing voice over the years, and I've heard she
has a bit of stage fright. Well for the encore, Liz came on stage
solo with electric guitar, stood a minute, then said 'here goes' and
played a pretty and simple version of Perfect World. Did a very nice
job, her voice broke only once during the song. At the end she wiped
tears away from both eyes and, obviously uncomfortable, vigorously
motioned to the band to get on stage. Then she stood very
uncomfortably while the guiter player tuned. Finally, the band
started up, and she relaxed into a rousing version of ...Fuck and Run.
As much as I love Liz, and was moved by the experience, I suppose this
invites a certain amount of psychological analysis...
But a damn fine show. Do not miss this coming tour!