Liz Phair- Pabst Theater - Milwaukee WI 10/26/05Liz Phair and her band put on a great show last night for an audience that was medium in size and highly vocal. Working from a set list her guitarist, Dino was credited for creating, Liz hit the hits and suprised with some true "Phairites" as well. Material from all of her CDs were represented in the 90+ min set.
In great voice and perfect pitch from the opening songs, Liz mixed unique acoustic arangements of new and old material with driving rockers. Her band and, in particular Dino on guitar KICKED ASS. Dino used a variety of effects and harmonics throughout the set adding color and texture that just blew me away.
Liz engaged the audience with World Series score updates, chatty comments and her genuinely personable style. Her stage presence is simultaneously charismatic and warm. This show is among the best I have seen - ever. See this tour..you will really have a blast...and a set of tunes that will be in your head a lot - the next day.
Thanks Liz!
Full Version: Milwaukee Show
Do we have a set list for the Milwaukee show?
QUOTE(moonbob0 @ Oct 27 2005, 05:23 PM)
Her band and, in particular Dino on guitar KICKED ASS. Dino used a variety of effects and harmonics throughout the set adding color and texture that just blew me away.
This show is among the best I have seen - ever.
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This show is among the best I have seen - ever.
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You haven't seen many rock shows, have you?
Ah, I kid. I kid, moonbob0.
From OnMilwaukee.com:
Bad girl or woman of wisdom, Liz Phair still rocks
By Erin Smith
Liz Phair has grown up. Her music has changed, and she shouldn't be chastised for giving up her defining 20s for a less encumbered look at the world in her 30s.
She proved Wednesday night at the Pabst Theater that she can still rock and that her songwriting is an honest reflection of each stage of life she has experienced so far: youth, love, marriage, children, divorce, love -- the benchmarks of a full life.
Phair played a tight set list on Wednesday, mixing two-parts old-school Liz to one-part Somebody's Miracle, her new 14-song album of more upbeat songs, which still feature Phair's sharp tongue, even if it sometimes does have a saccharine coating. Songs like "Lazy Dreamer" showed a more mature, less pissed-off side of Phair, reminiscent of the Go Go's rock style, where as old school fans of Phair might find "Planets and Stars" a little too Brady Bunch-like in its rhythm and melody.
The Pabst audience followed the show closely, dancing in their seats while the 5-foot 2-inch blonde kept their attention as they sang along with favorites like "Baby Got Going," "Polyester Bride," "Mesmerizing," "Cinco de Mayo" and "Divorce Song." But thankfully the 38-year-old's voice cut clear through the crowd of back-up singers so the experience was true and not mired by a tone-deaf audience.
Highlights included audience members giving Phair updates on the White Sox score in game four of the World Series (the Sox swept the Astros for their first World Series win in 88 years, with a 1-0 win Wednesday night). After the 1-0 score in the eighth inning was announced, Phair and her four-man band gave Milwaukee a shortened version of "God Bless America," which they sang on Oct. 22 in the seventh inning of game one of the World Series at Comiskey Field in Chicago -- Phair's home town. Another included an impromptu Liz-style riff on "Wild Thing" singing "you make the boys spring, you make everything expensive," and dedicating "Only Son" to her brother Phil, who she described as an asshole, while her band mate described him as the "Ernest Hemingway of bullshit."
Phair kept her story-telling to a minimum, preferring to link the songs together in a tight musical experience, but still maintained a comfortable dialogue with the request-shouting audience. "Fuck & Run" from Exile in Guyville was a favorite request, which Phair responded with, "Did you really think I'd play a show without that?" She switched between instruments easily, shouting "Freebird" as she pulled out the electric guitar after relinquishing the acoustic for "Headache" and moved to the keyboards for "Chopsticks" in her encore. She played the Pabst as though it were a 300-person club, a format she was comfortable with before the Exile in Guyville explosion brought her from an unknown to the female savior of indie rock in the '90s.
To hear Phair sing live is to hear her in her element. Only she can so artfully work "fuck" into a song where it retains its full meaning and not come off as trite. Although some prefer her angry, bad-girl self of the 1990s, for many fans, Liz has provided the song track of their young adult lives and we are happy to grow with her.
Bad girl or woman of wisdom, Liz Phair still rocks
By Erin Smith
Liz Phair has grown up. Her music has changed, and she shouldn't be chastised for giving up her defining 20s for a less encumbered look at the world in her 30s.
She proved Wednesday night at the Pabst Theater that she can still rock and that her songwriting is an honest reflection of each stage of life she has experienced so far: youth, love, marriage, children, divorce, love -- the benchmarks of a full life.
Phair played a tight set list on Wednesday, mixing two-parts old-school Liz to one-part Somebody's Miracle, her new 14-song album of more upbeat songs, which still feature Phair's sharp tongue, even if it sometimes does have a saccharine coating. Songs like "Lazy Dreamer" showed a more mature, less pissed-off side of Phair, reminiscent of the Go Go's rock style, where as old school fans of Phair might find "Planets and Stars" a little too Brady Bunch-like in its rhythm and melody.
The Pabst audience followed the show closely, dancing in their seats while the 5-foot 2-inch blonde kept their attention as they sang along with favorites like "Baby Got Going," "Polyester Bride," "Mesmerizing," "Cinco de Mayo" and "Divorce Song." But thankfully the 38-year-old's voice cut clear through the crowd of back-up singers so the experience was true and not mired by a tone-deaf audience.
Highlights included audience members giving Phair updates on the White Sox score in game four of the World Series (the Sox swept the Astros for their first World Series win in 88 years, with a 1-0 win Wednesday night). After the 1-0 score in the eighth inning was announced, Phair and her four-man band gave Milwaukee a shortened version of "God Bless America," which they sang on Oct. 22 in the seventh inning of game one of the World Series at Comiskey Field in Chicago -- Phair's home town. Another included an impromptu Liz-style riff on "Wild Thing" singing "you make the boys spring, you make everything expensive," and dedicating "Only Son" to her brother Phil, who she described as an asshole, while her band mate described him as the "Ernest Hemingway of bullshit."
Phair kept her story-telling to a minimum, preferring to link the songs together in a tight musical experience, but still maintained a comfortable dialogue with the request-shouting audience. "Fuck & Run" from Exile in Guyville was a favorite request, which Phair responded with, "Did you really think I'd play a show without that?" She switched between instruments easily, shouting "Freebird" as she pulled out the electric guitar after relinquishing the acoustic for "Headache" and moved to the keyboards for "Chopsticks" in her encore. She played the Pabst as though it were a 300-person club, a format she was comfortable with before the Exile in Guyville explosion brought her from an unknown to the female savior of indie rock in the '90s.
To hear Phair sing live is to hear her in her element. Only she can so artfully work "fuck" into a song where it retains its full meaning and not come off as trite. Although some prefer her angry, bad-girl self of the 1990s, for many fans, Liz has provided the song track of their young adult lives and we are happy to grow with her.
Photos/review from ConcertLimeWire.com: http://www.concertlivewire.com/phair.htm
QUOTE(moonbob0 @ Oct 27 2005, 05:23 PM)
[b]. Her band and, in particular Dino on guitar KICKED ASS. Dino used a variety of effects and harmonics throughout the set adding color and texture that just blew me away.
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That is encouraging and I am really glad you enjoyed it so much. One the two concerts that I saw the band was only adequate and not outstanding except for the bass player who seemed to me to be outstanding. I though lead guitar was a little weak but she really sounds good and uses some unusual variations of chords.
she looks reeeally thin!
QUOTE(Extraordinary87 @ Nov 24 2005, 02:10 AM)
she looks reeeally thin!
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wow was this how she looks in Milwaukee?
wow very different than usual! likd of punk for me.
I'm glad she was wearing heels when I saw her.
QUOTE(Extraordinary87 @ Nov 24 2005, 03:10 AM)
she looks reeeally thin!
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The thing is, she's been on tour for the past month. May even be 2 months, I think. Anyone would be thin
QUOTE(WILSIMS @ Nov 23 2005, 10:43 PM)
That is encouraging and I am really glad you enjoyed it so much. One the two concerts that I saw the band was only adequate and not outstanding except for the bass player who seemed to me to be outstanding. I though lead guitar was a little weak but she really sounds good and uses some unusual variations of chords.
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Props to Joe Ayoub. I've never been disappointed in Joe either. I even had a chance to talk to him at Lollapalooza this year.
http://www.joeayoub.com/
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