Melissa Etheridge

I saw her in concert last night. I'm a huge fan (both physically and in terms of c.d. ownership and memory of lyrics). I've been looking forward to the concert for weeks now, and at the last minute (like literally, walking into the showroom) scored floor seats. (Not that there's very many bad seats in this venue, they were pretty much just handed to me).

I'm gonna tell you the best thing about the concert - her voice is spot on. Perfect. There's no difference between the voice on the c.d.'s and the voice in concert, which tells me she doesn't need any dubbing or working over like all those modern day little flittery sensations. Perfect.

I'm gonna tell you what I didn't like, and it's just a personal preference, not reflective of the concert quality (which was superb) or the recording artist (who is phenomenal) or the crowd's overall reaction (which seemed to be highly enjoying the show).

To me, "up close and personal" in that "unplugged" way translated into "without a band" really just means kinda "dull and dull" to me. It's not my favorite style. Not gonna be.

Now, the audience (every lesbian within driving distance. I met one who drove 5 hours for this) loved it. A big crowd of 'em rushed the stage and stood there the whole night like adoring sycophants (I have wanted to use that word for a long time, but it's hard to work it legitimately into a sentence). And I can't say I blame 'em (the adoring sycophants, not the creator of the word sycophant who didn't take into account how awkward it would be to use). I mean, she's a great singer/songwriter/piano player (who knew?)/guitarist. And like I said, that voice is spot on.

My biggest problem with it? Uh, why I gotta be better dressed than the rock star? Puh-leeze. If I wanted to see ANOTHER lesbian wearing a man's dress shirt hanging open around a t-shirt, I could have just gone to supper at any of a dozen restaurants in this part of town.

Honestly? A man's shirt. Please.