Liz Phair, Lupo's, 5-2-99

Liz Phair has finally nailed shut the coffin containing her stage fright. Her show at Lupo's showed growth in her stage presence, confidence, and even her set list. Her set list in Boston last fall choreographed the buzz bin favorites "Flower," and "Fuck and Run" as closing numbers. For her Lupo's show she ended with "Divorce Song." Instead, she opened with "Flower," and "Fuck and Run," so anybody who showed only to see the dirty mouthed lady sing could leave and still make it home for X-Files.

Throughout her performance Liz seemed relaxed and confident.

Although she talks rarely, when she does she usually has something good to say. Once she did stop to mention that she is an "honorary" Rhode Islander, since she owns some company here, but she didn't elaborate or give out the name. Her band was the same (I think?) 5pc that backed her up when she came through last fall/ winter. They keep low key, but they have talent. I especially like the backup singer, she has a good voice and really helps round out the layers of sound of Liz's songs.

I took photos by standing on a chair and banging through a few rolls really fast, so the photos aren't really great. Liz looked awesome in a sheer black dress with little straps and a low cut front. I really like the fact that she dresses up and isn't one of those performers who shlep in wearing the old jeans and tee shirt ensemble. It adds to her stage presence that she takes it seriously enough to dress up to play.

The set blew by pretty fast. It went something like: "Chopsticks," "Fuck & Run," "Johnny Feelgood," "Mesmerizing," "Cinco de Mayo," "Flower," "Firewalker,*", "Never Said," "6'1"," "Dance of the Seven Veils," "Glory," "Uncle Alvarez," "Don't Apologize*," " Polyester Bride," "Supernova," "whitechocolatespaceegg," then three encores: "Perfect World," ""Stratford-on-Guy," and "Divorce Song."

It was cool to hear the two new songs (*) and it might mean that there won't be 4 years between CDs for Liz this time. Her fan base is definitely growing. Lupo's was really crowded for Sunday night, and there was a good mix of people, not just Liz die-hards. People are getting used to the fact that she is out and about, so the novelty of her touring is wearing off and the talent is becoming the focus.

The opening act was a guy named David Mead. He had a 4-piece band and they did some retro-rock that was pretty good. At one point the drummer did a really cool solo on a big xylophone like you'd see in band practice. David Mead has a CD out this summer, and should be touring. They didn't get a huge reaction, but I thought they were fun.

As a final note- I've seen bootlegs of this show already, so if you are a Liz Phair phreak you might be able to find this one out there. I don't have any idea how the quality is, or where to get a copy, so check the Internet.