Concert Series ‘04

Zedd, 05/23/04

In keeping with my recent Liz Phair obsession, the Dowist and I decided that we should see a bunch of her shows. Fortunately, he was willing to journey across the country from San Francisco to do this because I’m pretty much (although not entirely) stuck in the DC area for the next couple months. We got tickets to her shows in Philadelphia and Washington, DC and decided to wing it for the Boston show. Just for kicks, we bought tickets for a Bob Dylan show, since the Dowist had never seen him live (it was my fourth time). So the Dowist drove across the country, hitting many frisbee golf courses along the way. He also witnessed some crazy mofo zooming along I-70 near Columbus, Ohio going the wrong way with cops following several miles behind on the correct side of the highway. This guy actually clipped the mirror of a car just behind the Dowist.


Boston

When he got to DC, we headed for Boston shortly thereafter. Unfortunately, I-95 also blew up around that time so we had to come up with a detour. We settled upon Route 15. This was a great decision. Route 15 is a very scenic road with all kinds of neat bridges and stone walls and stuff. Much better than I-95. I recommend it highly.

Eventually, we got to Boston. Before the show, we went to get some food (and beer) at the Boston Beer Works. I got the spicy chicken sandwich, which was extremely tasty. If I remember correctly, I had a Boston Red ale, a Beantown Brown ale, some sort of stout, and a cask conditioned nut Brown ale. I probably had a few others, even. All were good. While we were sitting at the bar, I overheard the lady sitting next to us talking about Liz Phair. Soon thereafter, I heard that she might have some extra tickets. At this point, I felt the need to say ‘hi’ and tell her that we too were going to the show and needed a pair of tickets. A few pleasantries were exchanged, and we continued drinking. The Dowist and I were saddened to see her get up and leave without offering to sell us the extra tickets. As we wallowed in our beers, a hand materialized betwixt us with a pair of tickets. After a quick round of bargaining, we got the pair for $30 (face value $40.50). Not a bad deal. I think we got another round and then headed off, late, for the show. There were two opening acts, so we didn’t really want to get there on time.

The Show

We arrived at the Avalon and headed inside. It is a relatively small venue with a slightly sunken area in front of the stage. We found spots near the center of the stage probably 50 or so feet back. We got there just as the second opening act was starting. It was a band called Wheat. They are from ‘near Boston.’ Anyway, if you happen to notice a Wheat show in your area, check them out. They play some cool tunes. After a reasonable pause, Liz came out wearing a black ACDC shirt and jeans. She opened up with Flower and played a very good show, with Mesmerizing and Fuck and Run as the encores. After the show, Liz came back out and signed autographs for a while. The Dowist got his ticket stub signed, but my attempts to get my shirt from the Austin City Limits Festival signed were unsuccessful. After the show, we went out and walked around for a while, trying to find somewhere to get a drink until our hostess got back from New York. We couldn’t find anywhere around the Avalon, so we headed to the Prudential Center, where her bus was going to drop her off. We ended up at the Pour House for a nice tall Sam Adams. Yum. We hung around in Boston all the next day. Ate lunch at Pizzeria Regina. Yum. The Dowist wasted no time for dessert, heading right for Mike’s Pastry. Unfortunately, I was so stuffed from lunch that I only had an apricot finger and a little bit of an apple twist. The bastard just wouldn’t wait an hour. We also visited Faneuil Hall. Finally, we grabbed a beer at Cheers. We capped the day off with an evening of wine and cheese and stuff.


Philly

I met the Dowist in Philadelphia on the afternoon of the show. We went to a happy hour in town and then headed up to the Electric Factory. The security guard actually checked inside my Altoids tin on the way in. Craziness!!! Once again, we arrived just in time to catch Wheat. I was amused by the lead singer’s rather dark 5 o’clock shadow despite his blond hair. I don’t know the names of any of their songs or anything, but I wouldn’t mind picking up a cd sometime if I get the chance. After an extended set break, Liz came on stage. This time, she was wearing a red tank top with horizontal slits all down the front. Very Sexy! She totally had her high beams on during Flower and a couple other songs.
The set list went like this:
Flower (the new rocking mix)
Polyester Bride
Rock Me
Johnny Feelgood
Uncle Alvarez
My Bionic Eyes
Divorce Song
6’1”
Chopsticks (solo on piano)
Extraordinary
Love/Hate
Help Me Mary
Red Light Fever
Never Said
Favorite
Stratford-On-Guy (solo)
Why Can’t I?
Supernova
ENCORE
Mesmerizing
Fuck And Run
H.W.C.

It was another awesome show!!

I found a few pictures on the internet from the Philly show, and they can be viewed here. All pictures courtesy of Flyersdude. Thanks a bunch!


Dylan

The following night (April 3) we had tickets to see Bob Dylan at Bender Arena in Washington, DC. This show was considerably bigger than the Liz Phair shows, as we found out when we got there. We followed the line into a parking garage and up 5 LEVELS before finding the end!!! This was my fourth time seeing Dylan and I’ve enjoyed all the shows. I only wish that he had played some guitar during this one. He played the organ all night long. But he played most of his hits and it was a good crowd that generated a pleasant haze. He played All Along the Watch Tower, which was cool. Rainy Day Women was the encore, which I predicted accurately. They actually did two encores, but I can’t recall what they played during the other one.


DC-9:30 Club

The final show of our, and Liz’s for that matter, concert tour was at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC. We got there just before the doors opened, and there was a line about 150 feet long or so. Once we got in, we went right to the stage and took up our positions for the evening. Center stage about five feet from the rail. There was this creepy old tall guy just in front and to the left of me. He was clutching a package throughout the whole show but never did anything with it. Beats me what he was up to. Anyway, for this show, we actually arrived in plenty of time to catch both opening acts. I’m glad we did because the first act was Rachael Yamagata. She was petrified that Liz was going to play some nasty trick on her because it was the last show of the tour adn kept mentioning it throughout the show. It was pretty funny. Most of her music seemed to be about ex-boyfriends and the women that they went back to after dating her for a couple weeks. Kind of sad, but the music was decent. Wheat came on after that and did their set. It was good, as usual, and since this was the third time seeing them, I could sing along a little bit to some of their songs, which I tend to like to do.

And now, time for Liz. This time, she was wearing a red V-neck, with the V reaching just about to her belly button and no bra (duh). Wow. She also had on jeans with some sort of lace wrap around them. She played a couple songs that she hadn’t played at earlier shows. For instance, during the Philly show, she gave us the option of hearing her solo rendition of either Stratford-on-Guy or Hurricane Cindy. The most cheers were heard for SoG. In DC, she just played Hurricane Cindy. Fuck the popular vote. Here is an approximate set list that I found on the web:
Flower
Polyester Bride
Rock Me
Help Me Mary
6’1”
Never Said
Divorce Song
Chopsticks (solo on piano)
Supernova
Johhny Feelgood
Uncle Alvarez
Red Light Fever
Extraordinary
Favorite
Love Hate
Why Can’t I
Hurricane Cindy (solo)
My Bionic Eyes
Fuck and Run
Mesmerizing
H.W.C.

It was one hell of a show. You should have seen her ‘screwing’ her guitar during Rock Me (That one picture from Philly was taken during Rock Me) or grooving to Favourite. At the end, everyone came out and Liz played a little improvised cover with Rachel and champagne was passed around. Liz even gave a sip to the girls right in front of me. UGH!!! Creepy guy tried to get a taste, but they gave it back to Liz too quick. I was gonna try to get my shirt autographed again this time, but by this time it was nearly 11:40 and the Metro stops running at midnight, so I was pretty much resigned to the fact that I wasn’t going to get my autograph. But much to my surprise, Liz was doing something near the back of the stage and said something to the effect of “Let’s embarrass everyone in the audience,” and threw something into the crowd. As it turned out, that thing was a little red teddy bear with some modifications and I caught said teddy bear with a mighty leap. WOOHOO!!! It had been laying on a piece of equipment throughout the show, along with another white bear, but she didn’t throw that one. If you know anything about this bear’s history, please email me. Anyway, we rushed home and managed to catch several last trains along the way. The End.