Melissa Etheridge Returns to Her Boston Roots

Melissa Etheridge

Citi Performing Arts Center Wang Theatre

Boston MA July 10, 2010

Three dates into her ‘Fearless Love” tour, 49 year old Melissa Etheridge returns to her old haunts of Boston Massachusetts, and performed at the historic Wang Theatre in Boston MA (she opened the tour Wednesday, July 7 in Albany NY and played Friday night July 9 in Hyannis MA).

 

Etheridge entered the theater from the back, walked down the aisle, touching fingers with the adoring crowd then made her way to the stage for the beginning of her two and half hour show.

She opened with “We Are The Ones” followed by the title cut to her new CD “Fearless Love.”  Up next “Miss California” which will probably become one of her signature songs.

She paused to tell the audience she’s been hanging out in Boston, thinking about the one day she played at the Park Street T Station. She told the crowd she was a security guard at Deaconess Hospital and thought she’d open her guitar case to see if you could make some money, “I made $7, more than I made as a Security Guard!” this lead into “If I Only Wanted To.”

She talked about going to her first Gay Bar in Boston—Prelude and dove into “Silent Legacy.” Just before she played “Come To My Window” she told the crowd “You’re the longest relationship I’ve ever had…this one’s for you.” She thanked the crowd for spending money in the tough economy and coming out to see her. She talked about it being her last year in her 40s and how come she keeps making the same mistakes over and over and over again; she jumped into “I Want To Come Over.”

Etheridge is touring band with a whole new band (gone are Mark Brown, Phillip Sayce, and Fritz Lewak) which includes bassist (and pre-show photographer) Dan Rothchild, guitarist Peter Thorn, drummer Blair Sinta and keyboardist Chris Fowke. They seem to be enjoying themselves on stage and appear comfortable playing Etheridge's tunes.

Etheridge, who grew up in Leavenworth Kansas, started playing piano and guitar as a teenager and performed in various cover bands around Kansas; she received her formal training at the Berklee College of Music in Boston MA and she honed her live performances by playing the club circuit around Boston. Her career took off when she moved to Los Angeles, where she met Chris Blackwell of Island Records and was signed in 1986—she wrote the music for the movie “Weeds”.

Since her discovery Etheridge has been a very busy woman. Etheridge has received 15 Grammy nominations and won two in 1992 and 1994 for best female rock vocal performance. In 1996 she won the ASCAP songwriter of the year award and in 2006 she received an Academy Award for Best Original Song for her song “I Need to Wake Up” from the documentary film “An Inconvenient Truth”.

On April 15, 2010 Etheridge and wife Tammy Lynn Michaels announced they had separated. Papers were filed on July 2, 2010 to dissolve their domestic partnership in a Los Angeles court. The couple is seeking joint custody for their three year old twins.

Melissa and Band now heads north to the Hampton Beach Casino for a show Monday night July 12, 2010. A few tickets are still available for this show if you missed her other New England dates.

“Fearless Love” is Etheridge’s 10^th album of her 20 year plus career.
Setlist from the Wang performance included:

We Are The Ones

Fearless Love

Miss California

If I Wanted To

Silent Legacy

Company

I Want To Come Over

The Wanting Of You

Angels Would Fall

Come To My Window                                                                

You Used To Love To Dance

Indiana

I Run For Life

Drag Me Away

Nervous (with a little “Fever”)

I’m The Only One

Bring Me Some Water

Like The Way I Do

Encore:  Gently We Row

More Photos By Nanci posted on Melissa2010