Melissa Etheridge A Concert Review [More Photos From the Concert]	October 12, 1996 The Rosemont Horizon Rosemont, IL A Review by Stu Gotz & The Dude on the Right Photos by DOTR

After the songs "If I Wanted To" and "I Want To Come Over" Melissa took a little time to welcome her Chicago audience. She talked about the great weather we were having and referred to the "Chicago Ocean?" I think she meant Lake Michigan. Anyway, it was during this time that I was joined by the Dude On The Right who was there to take pictures of the show. I asked him how the shoot went and he told me Melissa couldn't get the mic out of her face. To which I replied "Hmm... I thought she was gay. Considering she's gay and mic's are very phallic you'd think she'd be afraid of the mic." The Dude On The Right simply shook his head and questioned why he brings me to these shows. Hey! What's the problem? Is my editor afraid to talk about sexuality? Does it offend you the reader? Why should it? In this day and age I think it's great to see an artist that is not afraid to express her sexuality in her music, videos, and public life in a graceful way. It really bugs me that society is not accepting it and forcing people to be "closet homosexuals." Then there are the extremely militant ones that quite frankly piss me off more than those cowering in the closet. It's the 90's man. God bless you if you find love in the arms of another man or woman. Whew... Sorry about that little tangent there. On with the review.

  After her short chat with the audience Melissa broke out her 12-string guitar. I admire anyone who can handle a 6-string guitar and am in total awe of a gal like Melissa who can play the shit out of a 12-string. (While were on the subject of playing guitar... Please, don't go to concerts and play air-guitar or air-drums. It's really annoying when your swinging that pretend ax and you bash into me and if I get one more pretend cymbal crash to the head I'm gonna kick some serious ass! As long as I'm on a tangent... I like to sing along with those "sing-a-long" type songs, but there are those songs that are best enjoyed when sitting back. Please, during those songs, SHUT THE FUCK UP!) It was while Melissa strummed out "Come To My Window" I began to notice something I liked about her live performance - she didn't sound just like the CD. It really bugs me when I go to a live show and get a performance I could have stayed in my living room to get. I like it when artists mix it up a little. But, then there is the extreme when an artist takes a song you love and changes it so much you think it's a totally different song that you don't like. Melissa and her band did not cross that line. The changes to her songs went from the subtle "a girl and her guitar" version of "Yes I Am" and the added drum fills and riffs in "Silent Legacy," to the obvious 15 minute long blues accented "Like the Way I Do" (Hmm... Could the whole blues thing have something to do with the fact that she is supposed to portray Janis Joplin in an up coming movie?). About those added drum riffs... Melissa's drummer, Kenny something (it was hard to hear his last name over a cheering crowd) was a madman on fire. With the possible exception of Neil Pert back in the 80's, Kenny was by far the best stage drummer I have ever seen. Melissa even gave him the opportunity to wack out a beat with his sticks on her 12-string. I thought that was pretty cool. Later in the night he was spotlighted in a drum solo. Now there is something I haven't scene done in years. I liked it!

Before I close my portion of this review, please indulge me in one more tangent and point of concert going etiquette. If you're bored with a show... Leave! If you just can't wait to tell your friend about a great new sweater you got at Carson's on State Street... Take it out in the hall! Whatever you do, don't sit behind me and be a "Chatty Patty." - it really pisses me off! Then to top it all off, don't go offering me a quote I can use for my article, especially if it's a cliché' and not a quote. For example:

"Melissa is an extraordinary artist that bridges the gaps between generations."

Huh? I'll agree that she is an extraordinary artist but this whole "bridging generation gap thing" I can't go along with. I'm sure there are exceptions, but in general Melissa appeals to the late Baby-Boomers and the early Gen-Xer's. I don't see many grannies rocking out to "Bring Me Some Water."

"Melissa was full of energy from finish to start."

Yes she was. It's a shame to waste your 15 minutes on a cliché' like that. I'll spare both these women further ridicule by not printing their names,

When Melissa started her show with no opening act I felt shorted, but after watching her perform for nearly 3 hours I can honestly say I got my money's worth. Melissa Etheridge and her band rocked the Rosemont Horizon and were well received by the crowd. It is without hesitation that I rate Melissa Etheridge's show worthy of a TWO BIG THUMBS UP!

That's all for me and now I'll turn it over to the Dude On The Right who likes to talk about the techy aspects of shows (he's such a nerd!) - stuff like Melissa using two stages and her main stage changing from something that looked like a fine arts museum (complete with a red velvet tapestry and chandelier) to something that resembled a "Tool" or "NIN' video set (complete with a bastardized torture chamber disco ball). Later & Love Ya! ;-) Stu Gotz

It's The Dude on the Right's Turn.
"He's such a nerd," "he's afraid to talk about sexuality," "mic's are very phallic" - dear reader I ask you, should Stu Gotz be let go for pushing the line? Here he's writing a Melissa Etheridge review and getting jabs in at me. What is an editor to do? First off Stu, learn to wind your watch because she started about ten minutes after 8PM. Secondly, if you would read your ticket once in a while you would have noticed it said there would be no opening act. Thirdly, the drummers last name is Aronoff - at least that's what the Melissa site at http://www.fanasylum.com/melissa said it was. Stu, take that. Anyway, I have more important things to worry about right now, things like letting you know my side of the Melissa Etheridge show.

In my bio here at Entertainment Ave! I list some of the best concerts I've been to. In that list are the likes of Roger Waters, KMFDM, Garth Brooks, Meat Loaf, and Bruce Springsteen. The more I reflect on it, the more I think about it, there might be another show added to that list and it just might be the Melissa Etheridge show at the Rosemont Horizon on October 12, 1996. In the end I guess I was impressed that much.

What can get a performer added to this list? There are the simple things like a show that lasted nearly three hours long and had the crowd on its feet nearly the entire time. But then there is that one thing where a concert isn't a concert, it's an experience. Melissa Etheridge bridged that gap for me, and I think she took most of the rest of the crowd with her.

This is the third time I've seen Melissa. The first time I saw her open up for The Eagles - she was good but still seemed a little stage-shy, putting out the energy but kind of afraid it wasn't being received. The second time she was headlining and she put on a killer show, but the venue was the World Music Theatre and it lends itself to more a relaxed feel. This time she was headlining and her confidence as a performer has finally put her to the point of being able to tell stories and have the crowd listen to every word, take an ordinary song from any of her CD's and tweek it just enough to make it new, and add emotions to every song that gives that song a new lift, a new feel, and makes you think about that song just a little bit more.

But what about this show? Well, as the show started I took a look at the stage. To me it looked like this bad art-deco living room. It was open and spacious with velvet curtains, a chandelier and some mannequins with no heads, arms, or legs. It gave them room, not the mannequins, the band, to move around, but mostly, for Melissa to work the entire stage, when she wasn't singing, to touch every person she could. For the first part of the show Melissa belted out a bunch of songs from "Your Little Secret", did a little story leading into "Shriner's Park," and just wailed. Lying on the ground working the guitar, there was an energy she seemed to have that she didn't have before. Then during "I Could Have Been You" she took a song with meaning and pushed it right into the crowds face. And as she left the stage quickly and shyly with the band up there jammin', everyone knew she was heading toward the second stage at the other end of the Horizon.

So, she ends up on this second stage, alone with her guitar, and belts out the anthem to many, "Yes I Am." I figured, "Alright, a couple of songs and she'll go join the band back on the main stage." Nope, I was wrong. Suddenly the band started taking it's place on this little stage and the concert took on an intimate feel. For six songs on this little stage, Melissa and the band used the entire area to sing to every fan, one fan getting a little bold and jumping on stage, Melissa continuing on, and "Resist" brought the band intros followed by band member departures and leaving Melissa wailing on her guitar just a little bit longer.

Now, in the time the band was at this little intimate stage there was this drastic change on the main stage. Gone was the art-deco living room and in it's place was, hell, I can't even describe it. Let's just say the simple things that struck me were the transparency photos of an eyeball, a hand (that to me looked like it was resting on a pregnant ladies belly), a shot of the sky, and a bunch of others. But what I really noticed were the two bastardized disco balls. Melissa was back on the main stage for "Bring Me Some Water." Cool.

Now, as she and the band left the stage, I said to myself, "self, she'll be back, they haven't used those bastardized disco balls yet" Sure enough Melissa and the band came back into "I'm the Only One" which turned into this big blues jam. Personally, being from Chicago and seeing some of the best blues jams in the world, this one wasn't that great, but it was good and the crowd loved it. But, I digress a tad. During "Like the Way I Do," I noticed that those bastardized disco balls had lights instead of mirrors and they didn't spin around. I guess I was wrong about the disco ball reference. But you know, as I stopped looking at the lighted balls and watched Melissa strut from side to side with her 12-string, playing that familiar chord structure from "Like the Way I Do" and as I looked at her face on the video screens, I noticed that you could see her pouring every feeling into every word. Melissa had come into the circle of great performers I have seen.

It was time for a third encore and Melissa's voice was starting to go, but as she put her hand to her throat pushing for that one last note during "This War is Over," I looked at my watch and said "Shit, it's almost been three hours." Melissa left the stage leaving the band to carry on, a solo came and the guitarist left that stage, a solo came and the drummer left the stage, and then the bass player strolled off the stage. I thought to myself "Well, that was different," but, when I got back home and listened to "Your Little Secret" I realized it wasn't that different after all.

I guess I kinda apologize for my portion of the review being this long, kinda rambling and kinda for my trying to be professional in the writing - that's just not usually our style. As I thought about the show, as I re-listened to my Melissa CD's, I just realized how far she has come as a performer and a songwriter. Melissa Etheridge's show gets TWO HUGEMOUNGOUS THUMBS UP, oh and hell, it doesn't matter in the end because I probably have no chance in hell of causing Melissa to switch teams, but it's A BIG ADDED APPENDAGE UP TOO!! (now that's more our style!). My only real regret is that I didn't see Melissa at the Milwaukee show when one of my other favorite performers, Bruce Springsteen, joined her on stage - that, for me, would have been my way to heaven, especially if I had my camera. Maybe next time.

That's it for this one, I'm The Dude on the Right. L8R!!