Mesmerizing
Liz Phair In Washington, DC, October 5, 1998
CONCERT DETAILS
MEDIA PERSPECTIVE
The following description of Liz's performance in Los Angeles is
courtesy of Rob Pegoraro
(taken from the Wednesday, October 7, 1998 editon of the Washington
Post):
Subject: Liz Phair At the 9:30 Club
Date: Wednesday, October 7, 1998
Liz Phair decided to come out and play Monday at the 9:30 Club -- she
sang, she danced, she practiced bird calls. (That last bit, if you were
wondering, was part of a digression about how fans express their
appreciation.) The one thing she didn't do was exhibit any of her old
timid stage demeanor.
Aside from the show's brevity -- little more than an hour -- it was a
terrific set, the kind to talk about the next morning and maybe the weekend
after, too. Phair seemed totally at ease onstage, whether rocking out to
the straight-ahead Stonesy kick of "6'1"" and "Polyester Bride", or
audaciously delivering the Ken Starr-rated lyrics of slow-churning
"Flower".
Playing live with a full band for the first time in years, the Chicago
singer-songwriter opened up and filled out older songs that had only been
sketched out with voice and guitar on her last tour. "Supernova" crackled
with electricity, driven along on a revved-up backbeat; "Mesmerizing"
simmered with a barely restrained energy. She seemed to enjoy exploring
her catalogue so much that material from her new record,
whitechocolatespaceegg, didn't surface until six songs into the
show.
The evening's defining moment came in one of those older songs, the
frenzied ending of her encore "Fuck and Run": Phair tossed her guitar to a
roadie so she could dance to her own song, jumping up and down to the beat
(in three-inch heels, no less). The sellout crowd would have done the same
thing, if there had been any room left on the floor.
The following description of Liz's performance in Washington, DC is
courtesy of the Mark
(taken from the mailing list
Support
System):
Subject: Liz in DC
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1998 00:41:46 EDT
Tonight I saw Liz at the 9:30 Club in DC. One word describes the
show: amazing. I'm not one to get too excited over concerts, but this was
by far the most fun I've ever had at a live show. I saw Liz at Lilith this summer
(Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland) and that performance
wasn't even close to this one. Part of the problem there was that I was on
the lawn (those who have been to the venue know that the lawn at
Merriweather Post is great if you want to hear the concert but don't care a
wit about actually seeing the performer). At the 9:30 Club I was right in
the front, just left of the center of the stage. Liz was about 15 feet
from me for most of the show, and about 8 or 9 when she came to the front
of the stage on our side.
She wore a long red dress and very high black heels. She looked
absolutely stunning. I think that the heels started to annoy her, though.
In the second half of the show she made a comment about wanting to perform
barefoot, and at one point when she was doing her on-stage calisthenics
(that's what Liz does now when she's not singing or playing guitar) she was
tugging at the shoes.
Liz seemed to enjoy herself immensely, talking with the audience
between songs and having fun with the members of the band (she never
introduced them by name). There was no visible nervousness or stage
fright, and only one mistake bad enough for her to say, "Let's try that
again" a few seconds into a song.
Here's the set list:
1. Explain It To Me
2. 6'1"
3. Cinco de Mayo
4. Support System
5. Never Said
6. Johnny Feelgood
7. Johnny Sunshine
8. Uncle Alvarez
9. Polyester Bride
10. Supernova
11. Flower
12. What Makes You Happy
13. Mesmerizing
14. Divorce Song
15. White Chocolate Space Egg
Three Encores:
1. Perfect World
2. Stratford-on-Guy
3. Fuck and Run
That's a grand total of 18 songs -- 9 from EIG, 3 from
Whip-Smart, and 6 from WCSE. Once again, we see the disrespect for
Whip-Smart, even from Liz herself. I'm only kidding, actually it's
been good to see all the Whip-Smart fans making themselves heard on
this list lately.
I also got 3 CDs (EIG, Whip-Smart, WCSE) signed after the show.
Unfortunately, someone else took them backstage and I didn't get to meet
Liz. Overall, it was an incredible night with a woman who is far and away
the greatest rock star of our time. If you get a chance to see Liz on this
tour, you must go. It is absolutely not to be missed. And that fulfills
my posting quota for the next six months.
Thanks for reading,
Mark
The following description of Liz's performance in Washington, DC is
courtesy of the Lynda
(taken from the mailing list
Support System):
Subject: liz at 9.30
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1998 18:20:06 EDT
okay. if someone would have told me this time yesterday that i
would be hugging liz phair tonite i would have said, no way. liz put on a
rocking show at the 9.30 club in dc last nite. it was simply amazing. it
was beyond amazing. not only did she play stratford on guy but after the
show ended i ran into some friends of mine who had after show passes........
hmmm..they said they'd give them to me after they go say hi. sure enough
not more than two minutes later my friends appeared and graced my friend
and i with the lovely lightish purple 'an evening with liz phair' stickers.
my friend and i flipped out. liz was so cool to talk to. i even asked her
about the list. she said she'd be scared to read it, but at the same time
she doesn't want this part of her life to just slip by. i told her she
should check it out sometime........she signed my tic stub and then i asked
her if i could have a *hug*.............what a lovely surprise ending to
such a stellar show. i'm so happy.
~lynda
"spend my money on a 'hit' magazine"
The following description of Liz's performance in Washington, DC is
courtesy of the Stacey (taken from the mailing list
Support System):
Subject: liz in DC
Date: Tue, 06 Oct 98 22:27:34
hey guys!!!!
well I'm sure that a million of you have already posted about the DC
show, but I feel like sharing so here it goes....
Liz was amazing!!! Some people in the audience thought she
looked nervous but I thought she looked relaxed. She
talked to the audience and taught us her favorite cheers/
whistles... it was SO good. She was SO beautiful...
I almost had a perfect night... As I was waiting outside
after the show, this girl comes up to me and my friend and
GIVES us two backstage passes. I was in heaven, I thought
I would get to meet Liz.. But sadly, just as we made it to
the front of the line to get backstage, she left :-(
(but she still came out to say goodbye!) and those bastards
at the 9:30 club didn't even give us the free leftover
promo posters of liz, every body else who was backstage got
one...AAAAAHHHHH
One more thing.... About the slides, what did people think?
some were cool and all, but others were not very
flattering of liz (no, not the naked ones, the ones where
she's making faces) I wonder why she included them???
This is getting kind of long... I think I'd better stop now
and go do my work.
later,
Stacey
p.s.- there were some people next to me who were taping the show....
If you're out there and the tape came out semi-decent, I would love to
trade up.
The following description of Liz's performance in Washington, DC is
courtesy of the Tom
Kreusler (taken from the mailing list
Support System):
Subject: 10/5/98
Date: Wed, 07 Oct 1998 02:24:21 -0400
October 6, 1998
The 9:30 club in Washington, D.C. was the setting and Liz Phair was the
sold-out attraction last night: Oct. 5, 1998. Starting around 7:30 PM,
people of all ages descended upon this modest venue, with the youngest ones
huddled at the front of the stage, impatiently awaiting the star. A
slide-show of mostly black-and-white photos of Liz and friends did little
to pass the time, and when 9:20 rolled around, the crush on the floor was
trembling in anticipation.
At 9:30, the club lights dimmed and the stage lights lit up, and Liz
became only partially visible as a silhouette behind the stage curtain.
As the crowd cheered in unison and surged to the front of the stage, the
slow, beautiful chords of "Explain It To Me" drifted out, and Liz was
revealed.
The Phair One looked absolutely stunning in a long, dark red dress with
thin straps draping her shoulders. Liz's sinewy arms held her guitar
confidently, and the slow chords of her first song were quickly a memory
as she and her band members blasted into another Exile in Guyville
favorite, "Six-Foot-One." After a cheery "Cinco De Mayo," Liz greeted the
crowd, saying how great it was to be "back." She handed her guitar off to
a band-mate and sang another Whip-Smart favorite, "Support System."
Liz was smooth in her delivery of "Never Said," and when she announced
"Johnny Feelgood" to the audience, everyone started to cheer. Liz smiled
while singing the song, visibly pleased that the audience liked it. Liz
flubbed the opening chord of her next song, "Johnny Sunshine," and she
smiled to the crowd and said, "let's try that again." No mistakes were made
in Liz's next songs, "Uncle Alvarez" and the popular "Polyester Bride,"
with the latter being played at a much faster tempo than the album track.
There was a brief lull on the stage, and with some added flair and
excitement, Liz and her band started into the 1994 hit "Supernova." The
audience cheered loudly, and many people on the floor were dancing and
singing along. The band dispersed suddenly, and Liz, standing alone on the
left side of the stage, sang her sex-anthem, "Flower". As I looked up
across the balconies and crowd, I saw that every person was standing and
watching Liz, completely transfixed.
Liz got her guitar back but immediately handed it off for her next
song, the upbeat "What Makes You Happy," and she started to dance around the
stage when she wasn't singing. Wielding a new, purple guitar, Liz sang two
huge crowd favorites, "Mesmerizing" and "Divorce Song"; and it was at this
point that the entire crowd went into a frenzy. After "Divorce Song"
started, I couldn't stand it anymore and forced my way to the front of the
stage, trying to get closer to Liz. Using a cigarette as a crowd-breaker, I
accomplished my goal in getting extremely close to the front, and Liz went
into her latest album's title track, "White Chocolate Space Egg". Liz,
stretching her arms out over her head while singing, appeared extremely
calm. The stage then went dark, and the audience cheered for Liz. She did
not disappoint, and she came back to the stage quickly and sang "Perfect
World." Everyone became silent and Liz's voice was beautiful. After the
song and more cheering, I yelled "STRATFORD!" up at Liz, and she looked in
my direction and smirked. Then my wish was amazingly fulfilled I heard the
opening drum beats to "Stratford-On-Guy." I was ecstatic. Most of the
fans near the stage knew every word to the song, and it also seemed to be
a crowd-favorite. The last song of the encore and the show was "Fuck And
Run", and this song drew the biggest cheers of the evening. When the song
was finished, Liz Phair left the stage for the last time, leaving only pure
gratification in her wake.
Tom Kreusler
The following description of Liz's performance in Washington, DC is
courtesy of the Lynda
(taken from the mailing list
Support System):
Subject: Re: support-system-digest V1 #36
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1998 18:56:47 EDT
well I had to finially post... I have to tell you about the ost imprttant
evening of my life. okay it may sound cheesey but you have got to understand
that Liz is the only person or thing that I have ever been interested in. I
mean like fanaticl about. well my Dear friend Sarah said Liz is playing the
9:30 club on the 5th you need to get tickets and I will pay you back I said
Okay. well stupid me I thought that I was the on;y other person on the
eastern sea board that had heard of her so I was like I got plenty of time.
well when I called Ticket Master they where sold out. Sarah sent me nasty
Emails asking if I had gotten them well I bit the big one and told her no.
Well She saved the day by responding to some chick that said whoever responds
first can have them . so It was set. Well being the paranoid fans that Sarah
and I are we left her house way to early. we got to the club at 6:30 and when
we walked to the door we could hear the sweet sounds of Liz resounding from
the building. that sent me into shock as little tingles ran up and down my
spine. Well we waited and waited till the doors opened and we rushed in and
got our spots right at the baracade well we waited some more getting bored and
the only thing to keep us happy was the tought that Liz was less that fifty
feet from us. well the slide show started and everyone cheered. While
listening to the music selction the slide show I could hear where Liz gets her
sound. Well she started playing don't ask me what cause I was in shock to see
her she is so beautiful . I was flabergasted. I stood there shacking from
excitment. now its all getting blury. She sang her heart out. and she
seamed to devlope a good raport with the crowd. She had on the coolest dress
it was red velvet and it looked as if it had been worn away at the knees. I
couldn't tell if it was a designer dress or a trift store find. well She
seemed to glow. her skin was glistening with sweat. oh yeah she didn't have
any pit hair like icky paula cole. she had these little black shoes that
seemed to hurt her feet I think it was the four inch heels on them that didit.
I was also shocked by how tiny she was. all I can say is I wish that she
would have pulled some of her old stuff out. like the girly sounds uno y dos.
well if you read this you will see that there isn't any thing very important
to it other than me sharing not so well the wonderful effect Liz had on me.
Oh yeah her band was pretty good as well.
Josh
