Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Aug. 10--"Let's see if we're going to get lucky tonight" Melissa Etheridge yelled to the crowd as she took command of the stage at Musikfest's RiverPlace Wednesday night.
The fans were the lucky ones. Etheridge performed for more than two hours, with gritty, searing vocals and heart-felt lyrics about good and bad love, social injustice and her recent fight with breast cancer.
Amid the screams of the largely female audience, Etheridge clad in tight gray pants and a "sparkly" blue plaid shirt with the cuffs hanging open, kicked off the show with a raw version of "Lucky," written after she was diagnosed with cancer in 2004. The two-time Grammy winner also sported the cropped hairstyle she has worn since she lost her hair from chemotherapy in 2005.
She was at times strutting and defiant, then plaintive and introspective. She made good on her promise of "rock and roll," delivered with a never-fading energy and passion.
Etheridge mentioned her last appearance at Musikfest in 2003, when she played during the fireworks finale, and told the crowd the only fireworks would be on stage. She proceeded to demonstrate with lightening licks on the guitar and vocal gymnastics with seeming ease.
Etheridge slowed things down a bit with "I Take You With Me," a song she wrote for the movie "Boys on The Side." Starting off slowly, she displayed the lyrical quality of her voice before belting out the refrain.
After talking about her home state of Kansas, "way out there," Etheridge displayed her softer side with "Nowhere To Go." She brought the crowd back to its feet as she went right into her early hit, "Come To My Window," throwing an arm up into the air as she sang "I don't care what they say."
Etheridge made a pitch for caring for the environment and said she uses biodiesel fuel in all her tour vehicles. She urged everyone in the crowd to see Al Gore's film about global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth," then launched into a song she wrote for the film, "I Need to Wake Up."
Etheridge, who chatted easily with the audience and frequently threw local references into her songs, called her cancer diagnosis a "wake up call" to treat herself and the earth better. She also lauded "her wife," actress Tammy Lynn Michael, with whom she had a 2003 commitment ceremony, with standing by her as she beat the disease.
After singing her song about her struggle, "This is Not Goodbye," Etheridge gave a shout-out to all cancer survivors. She followed that with "I Run for Life" which she wrote to raise money for breast cancer awareness.
During a blistering rendition of "Bring Me Some Water," she and her quick-fingered guitarist, Phillip Sayce, did a call and response that ended with Etheridge pressing her guitar neck across the frets of Sayce's guitar while he played a distortion solo.
Following a raucous version of "I'm the Only One," Etheridge channeled Janis Joplin with Joplin's classic "Piece of My Heart." She brought it home with a vocal chord shattering yell immediately followed by a series of melodic high notes as if to say, "Look what I can do."
Etheridge's single encore consisted of a 15-minute version of "Like the Way I Do," with an extended guitar jam between Sayce and Etheridge that left the singer grinning with a broken string hanging from her guitar.
kathy.lauer@mcall.com
610-778-2235
Click here to find out more!
-----
Copyright (c) 2006, The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
