This was both an interesting and a satisfying evening,
especially since it consisted of one
act that I had seen on several previous occasions, paired with another that
I was seeing for the first time. Each did a set that was precisely 90 minutes
long.
The Indigo Girls opened – I suspect they switch off from
night to night – with six other musicians accompanying them on stage (including
Lucy Wainwright Roche, who contributed a lovely solo performance of “Soft Line”
about halfway through). The classic “Shame On You” started things off, followed
by “Power Of Two”, which is one of my personal favorites. I was familiar with
most of the material, although I had forgotten “I’ll Change” and had never
heard “Joy Train”, which is from one of Amy Ray’s solo albums. “Least
Complicated” was a crowd favorite mid-set, but things peaked at the end, with
the final threesome of “Galileo”, “Kid Fears”, and the obligatory “Closer To Fine”,
with Etheridge joining them for the last two.
Melissa Etheridge featured only three other musicians (bass,
drums, and keyboards/guitar), but they produced plenty of powerful (and loud)
tunes, opening with “Must Be Crazy For Me”. Two songs later, Amy and Emily
joined them on stage for the simmering “You Can Sleep While I Drive”. One of
the highlights for me came when she sat down at the piano for the great slow
ballad “Nowhere To Go”. Although both of tonight’s acts like to mix up their
setlists from show to show, the final four in Melissa’s recent shows have been
almost completely consistent, alternating mid-tempo songs with extended rockers,
ending with “Like The Way I Do” from her debut album, which included her
spending a little time on the drums.
The weather was absolutely perfect. The pre-show traffic was
not – very slow from halfway up the I-270 spur well into Virginia. Oddly
enough, given that the show was sold out, I got out of the (no longer full) parking
lot much quicker than usual about 15 minutes after Melissa Etheridge finished
her set. Did some folks come just for the Indigo Girls and leave early?
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