QUOTE
It was hard not to feel awash in nostalgia at Liz Phair's sold-out show at the 9:30 club Thursday night. Looking back, after all, was the point. Phair was there to play her classic indie-rock album, "Exile in Guyville" -- all 18 songs, start to finish, from "6'1" " to "Strange Loop" -- and the enthusiastic 30- and 40-something crowd was along for the retrospective ride.
Fifteen years ago, when the album came out, Phair also played a show at the 9:30 -- at the club's old location, a dark, dank shell at 930 F St. NW that left a seemingly toxic stench on concertgoers. Phair's grit was more readily apparent, too: At 26, she kept her head down and plowed through the set, stopping only to apologize for her stage fright.
No such nerves were on display Thursday. Phair, a seasoned performer whose sultry good looks have not changed in a decade and a half, seemed at ease from the first note and looked genuinely moved by the audience's response. Or as she put it: "You guys are the best [bleeping] crowd. I swear to God."
Playing guitar with a three-piece band behind her, Phair cruised through such songs as "Soap Star Joe" and "Mesmerizing." The manipulative wit of "Girls! Girls! Girls!" still packed a punch, and for "Flower," a song so dirty it would make Prince stammer, she enlisted the help of two female fans to sing along. Still, nothing topped "Divorce Song," a crushingly bleak ode to a failed relationship that revealed itself again as perhaps the best breakup song ever written.
Early on, Phair had signaled that this would not be a late-night affair and that it would wrap up in time for anyone interested in getting home to catch the main event at the final night of the Democratic convention. "Nobody's gonna miss Obama tonight," she said. "Not on my watch." True to her word, the 70-minute show ended a little before 10, and she and her fans returned to the present.
Fifteen years ago, when the album came out, Phair also played a show at the 9:30 -- at the club's old location, a dark, dank shell at 930 F St. NW that left a seemingly toxic stench on concertgoers. Phair's grit was more readily apparent, too: At 26, she kept her head down and plowed through the set, stopping only to apologize for her stage fright.
No such nerves were on display Thursday. Phair, a seasoned performer whose sultry good looks have not changed in a decade and a half, seemed at ease from the first note and looked genuinely moved by the audience's response. Or as she put it: "You guys are the best [bleeping] crowd. I swear to God."
Playing guitar with a three-piece band behind her, Phair cruised through such songs as "Soap Star Joe" and "Mesmerizing." The manipulative wit of "Girls! Girls! Girls!" still packed a punch, and for "Flower," a song so dirty it would make Prince stammer, she enlisted the help of two female fans to sing along. Still, nothing topped "Divorce Song," a crushingly bleak ode to a failed relationship that revealed itself again as perhaps the best breakup song ever written.
Early on, Phair had signaled that this would not be a late-night affair and that it would wrap up in time for anyone interested in getting home to catch the main event at the final night of the Democratic convention. "Nobody's gonna miss Obama tonight," she said. "Not on my watch." True to her word, the 70-minute show ended a little before 10, and she and her fans returned to the present.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...8082903150.html
she'z zo zexy
rockstah!!1
QUOTE
Liz Phair began the live rendition of her 1993 debut, Exile in Guyville, by thanking the 9:30 Club’s sold out crowd for its enthusiasm, which continued through the night. The 9:30’s DJ had warmed the crowd with hits from Guyville contemporaries like Urge Overkill’s “Positive Bleeding” and the Afghan Whigs’ “Gentlemen,” and expectations were high.
I’d first seen Phair on the original Guyville tour at Minneapolis’ First Avenue, and while that show was far from bad, the 15 years since the legendary album’s release have served Phair’s stage abilities well. Foremost, she now holds the guitar on her hip in true gunslinger form. At First Avenue, it was clasped under her armpit like she feared it would make a break for the exit, and she did her best to blend in with her touring band. At the 9:30 Club show, however, Phair stood out in front and engaged the crowd, hopefully putting the tired stage fright story line to rest.
After a carbon copy of Guyville’s third cut, “Glory,” Phair answered the question of many an audience member:
“By the way, no one is going to miss Obama tonight. Not on my watch.”
This led to wild applause, and then she ripped into “Dance of the Seven Veils.” Aside from a slight slip at the start of “Soap Star Joe”, the rest of the show was tight and professional. And Phair’s voice is as strong as ever, evidenced by the high notes she hit in “Explain it to Me.”
Guyville’s bold and raw lyrical content is often cited as the reason for the album’s greatness. I embrace that assertion, but it was always the album’s music that drew me in. She rocked on Guyville, and from the basement no less. It was also a refreshing antidote to the grunge movement. The highlights of last night’s show were “6′1″,” “Never Said” (with her touring band hitting the backing vocals just right) and the foot-stomping charge of “Johnny Sunshine.” The grooves on “Mesmerizing” were deeper than the album cut and came with double the swagger.
Two lucky fans were plucked from the audience to accompany Phair on the audacious “Flower”. Much blushing and giggling ensued. My favorite cut from Guyville, “Divorce Song”, however, lacked the recording’s final tight jamming frenzy. Instead, Phair used the album’s closer, “Strange Loop”, for displaying her ax skills, dueling with her touring guitarist.
I’d first seen Phair on the original Guyville tour at Minneapolis’ First Avenue, and while that show was far from bad, the 15 years since the legendary album’s release have served Phair’s stage abilities well. Foremost, she now holds the guitar on her hip in true gunslinger form. At First Avenue, it was clasped under her armpit like she feared it would make a break for the exit, and she did her best to blend in with her touring band. At the 9:30 Club show, however, Phair stood out in front and engaged the crowd, hopefully putting the tired stage fright story line to rest.
After a carbon copy of Guyville’s third cut, “Glory,” Phair answered the question of many an audience member:
“By the way, no one is going to miss Obama tonight. Not on my watch.”
This led to wild applause, and then she ripped into “Dance of the Seven Veils.” Aside from a slight slip at the start of “Soap Star Joe”, the rest of the show was tight and professional. And Phair’s voice is as strong as ever, evidenced by the high notes she hit in “Explain it to Me.”
Guyville’s bold and raw lyrical content is often cited as the reason for the album’s greatness. I embrace that assertion, but it was always the album’s music that drew me in. She rocked on Guyville, and from the basement no less. It was also a refreshing antidote to the grunge movement. The highlights of last night’s show were “6′1″,” “Never Said” (with her touring band hitting the backing vocals just right) and the foot-stomping charge of “Johnny Sunshine.” The grooves on “Mesmerizing” were deeper than the album cut and came with double the swagger.
Two lucky fans were plucked from the audience to accompany Phair on the audacious “Flower”. Much blushing and giggling ensued. My favorite cut from Guyville, “Divorce Song”, however, lacked the recording’s final tight jamming frenzy. Instead, Phair used the album’s closer, “Strange Loop”, for displaying her ax skills, dueling with her touring guitarist.
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/b...yville-the-930/
