08/08/09 Pacific Amphitheatre, Costa Mesa, CA

[rhondda]

start: 8:02
end: 9:50

All American Girl
Message to Myself
If I Wanted To
Nowhere to Go
I Need to Wake Up
Chrome Plated Heart (electric, on amoeba stage)
Yes I Am (with harmonica)
All the Way to Heaven
The Weakness in Me (on piano)
Brave & Crazy
Come to My Window
Tupelo Honey (Van Morrison cover, on piano)
Kiss Me (on electric, on amoeba stage)
I Run for Life
I Want to Come Over
I'm the Only One
Bring Me Some Water

encore: Piece of My Heart

*rhondda*

[Kel]

Thank you RAIN!!!

Thank you Jibalicious for this picture! It was nice standing with you! Thanks for gathering me up.

Sing it sister! :peace

[hippie]

Aaaaa.......
Muchas Gracias Mi Amigas! Ole`!
(I probably didn't spell that right.)

[ItsAllMagical]

tupelo honey


nice having one song mention the words HONEY and ANGEL

[Janet]

Tupelo Honey!!! I can't wait to see what she plays in Binghamton!!

Thank you once again Rhonda!!!

[rhondda]

Thank you RAIN!!!

Thank you Jibalicious for this picture! It was nice standing with you! Thanks for gathering me up.

Sing it sister! :peace

that's my photo, silly. remember i showed it to you on my Blackberry before i emailed it to you?

*rhondda*

[originalangie]

It was a great show, thank you RAIN for getting that Setlist up and on the board for everyone to see you Rock .

I so enjoyed the crowd vibe last night, every body was really up for the show and really appreciated her, it was great. Nice venue, lots of fast food, MLE seemed perturbed by the chocolate covered bacon .

I always love outdoor venues where you get to see the sun go down listening to MLE how cool is that?

A bit of Van Morrison too, a perfect choice.

Dawn bought a new fedora hat from the fair too LMAO, oh well.

OK onto SF see you soon RAIN et al

[nybabe58]

Nice set list!


Melissa is back on the road and rocking!! Can't wait for the shows ahead!! Hope there are some videos.



Well lookie here videos

I Wanna Come over

http://www.youtube.com/user/magnoliaspo ... tiLRKJqmn4

Come To My Window
http://www.youtube.com/user/magnoliaspo ... rtM_ERdCd4

Brave & Crazy

http://www.youtube.com/user/magnoliaspo ... g2sIVY8tmw

more to come next post

[nybabe58]

If I Wanted To

http://www.youtube.com/user/magnoliaspo ... ScNSKa_Lig


Piece of My Heart

http://www.youtube.com/user/magnoliaspo ... 6xofatXSuY


Speaking of POMH heres a wild one of Janis in Germany..check out all the fans on stage with her....awesome!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEwtvuQO ... re=related

[nybabe58]

Van Morrison cover!!

Here ya go

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq4MBjR7V6U




and Chrome Plated Heart
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3awgnTigJh0

[james0479]

Thanks so much everyone for posting clips and thoughts on the show. What a cool set list!! Sounds like a blast and I can't wait to hear more! MLE looked Great!!

[Giant]

Great seeing everyone this past weekend. Just got back home from California, weather was beautiful, wish I could have bottled up that cool breeze and brought it home with me.

It was a packed house last night, great crowd, very nice venue, security was very good, let us stand where we wanted to. I was happy to hear If I Wanted To and Kiss Me for the first time L&A. I really liked the cover, Melissa said she used to play that in the bars. It was a nice long setlist, and I loved Yes I Am with the harmonica.

For those going tonight and tomorrow, have fun.

[imagine_that]

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Tupelo Honey-what a great cover of that Morrison song! I would be thrilled if she would do this again in AC in a couple of weeks. Thank you nybabe58!

[hippie]

I was happy to hear If I Wanted To and Kiss Me for the first time L&A.

Hippie is jealous of this.



(good grief I need to get off of facebook!)

[james0479]

Kiss Me is SUCH a great song. For some reason, I have had "If I wanted To" in my head for days now. That and "I Want To Come Over".....usually those songs don't harrass my brain the way they have been lately. Maybe the inner MLE is telling me what to look forward to at the Norman show. lol I tell ya what though....if she did Scarecrow....I wouldn't be able to control my weeping. I can't control it when I hear it on cd......if it was live, I might fall out. lol

[Silent Legacy/Born 2 RN]

Kiss Me is SUCH a great song. For some reason, I have had "If I wanted To" in my head for days now. That and "I Want To Come Over".....usually those songs don't harrass my brain the way they have been lately. Maybe the inner MLE is telling me what to look forward to at the Norman show. lol I tell ya what though....if she did Scarecrow....I wouldn't be able to control my weeping. I can't control it when I hear it on cd......if it was live, I might fall out. lol

James don't feel bad when she did The Letting Go on the 14th and 16th of September, 2001, I was let's just say not in my seat... I sobbed so hard the first time my friend Randy was a little concerned... it is always a tearjerker but on those dates... oy...

And there is never a dry eye in the house when she does Scarecrow...

Personally I cannot WAIT to hear your review of this show. I love your enthusiasm.

Good night,

Sue

[hermosagolfer]

This was the second show this summer-Chicago (Indiana?) was first. Although I am a born and raised in California native, I had never made it to the Orange County Fair. I was impressed with the venue and like it better than Universal or the Greek. Great show-I invited the daughter of a good friend to see it with me and she had a good time and we will claim to have tried chocolate covered bacon-didn't really but don't tell. I can't decide on a favorite song but most of my favorites were included. I took lots of pictures and will eventually try to get them on facebook. I already know that I will be so sick the second week of the new school year because I am going to Oklahoma! I was glad to hear Melissa talk about her beach attire for Hawaii because for me board shorts and tank tops are better than swim suits.

[Superfreakin' Sweet]

These are fanfreakingtastic...thank you all so much for bring the concerts to those who can't go.

[SpecTech]

Loved Melissa in Orange County!!!
I flew 1600 miles to visit family...and planned my vacation so that I could see "her" in OC. I took my sister who has never really heard any Melissa songs and she was in awe of her performance! She said...wow she can really play that guitar and sing!! Yep, this I know !!!!
There were many hetro couples there...in fact I have never seen so many men at a Melissa concert before!!
I have only seen her in Dallas/FtWorth/GrandPraire...Nokia Theater. So this was a refreshing change. Loved the cool weather!!

blessing to all
ST

[rhondda]

http://tinyurl.com/q4bzke

Melissa Etheridge stirring as ever in solo show at Pacific
August 9th, 2009, 11:59 am · 4 Comments · posted by Ben Wener

Most artists worth their record contracts are capable of slipping an unplugged segment into shows without falling flat or turning anemic in the process. It's the rarest sort of star, however, who can enthrall an audience for the better part of two hours utilizing nothing but voice, guitar (or piano), a bit of charm and a mess of stories.

Plenty of acoustic-geared heavyweights, from Paul Simon and James Taylor to Dave Matthews and Jack Johnson, don't even dare go it entirely alone -– and you never see Dylan do it anymore. Of the few who occasionally tour all by their lonesome — and aren't just testing out new material in clubs, as Jeff Tweedy often does –- it's almost always a guy who has been around at least a quarter-century: Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Jackson Browne, Richard Thompson, Elvis Costello.

Leave it to boundary-busting Melissa Etheridge, then, to step into this particular spotlight and measure up to anything her male counterparts have managed.

She's certainly not the only woman to have attempted a bravely naked performance –- I've seen notables from Tori Amos to Regina Spektor give it a go. But none have offered anything that compares to the riveting, warmly relaxed performance Etheridge has put together for her current Live and Alone Tour, a revival of her 2001 outing of the same name that once again delighted die-hards Saturday at Pacific Amphitheatre.

More so than any of the aforementioned names, even a chief influence like Springsteen, Etheridge in scaled-back mode comes across like an intimate visit with an old friend. (Well, not that old: she's only 48.)

Yet that familiarity has as much to do with what the native Kansan says as what she sings. Clad in jeans and a blue flannel shirt over a purple top, primarily strumming her black 12-string, the down-to-earth rocker with the stringy blonde hair and the most Joplinesque voice since Janis herself has the ability to deeply connect with faithful fans simply by sharing whatever mundane details pop into her head.

With pal-next-door affability, she spilled out thoughts on everything from vacationing in Hawaii ("it's like here, but moister") to leaving Kansas for Southern California nearly three decades ago ("anywhere I went was better than where I was"), from the nightmare that is the 405 ("why do they even call it a freeway?") to the horrors of fair
food ("did any of you eat the chocolate-covered bacon? Something wrong about that").

As her 18 selections strongly reflected her roots and raising, she naturally offered fond remembrances of her struggling-artist days playing Que Sera ("someday," she hoped, "people are gonna pay more than a dollar to see me") and running wild in the LBC ("I learned everything I need to know about life in Long Beach –- and a couple
things I didn't need to learn"). Evoking the hunger and passion of that time in her life, Etheridge twice slowed the show to sit at a baby grand piano to tenderly perform covers that were part of repertoire back in the '80s, Joan Armatrading' s "The Weakness in Me" and Van Morrison's "Tupelo Honey."

But my fave quote of the night came after she spotted a penis owner jumping for joy: "I love the man fan! It takes a brave man to be a Melissa Etheridge fan."

I get the gag -– in addition to everything else, Etheridge's shows have been de facto celebrations of lesbianism since long before she came out, although the artist herself doesn't always overtly acknowledge it. Even now, with the setback of Prop 8 still an open wound, the outspoken activist felt no need for speeches: "I was gonna
get all political on you but I don't need to. You're not the ones I'm worried about."

Instead, Etheridge achieves something grander via her songs and autobiographical asides, something that transcends sexual orientation or political affiliation. The simple but effective genius of her songwriting lies in its universalism, a foundation Etheridge further solidifies with each new release.

Anyone who has ever known someone suffering from breast cancer can relate to her anthem "I Run for Life." ("Been five years," she noted of her own victorious battle. The rousing cheers and applause drowned out whatever else she said about it.) Likewise, anyone who has ever hoped for a better future ("I Need to Wake Up") or yearned for
lasting love ("Come to My Window") or at least fleeting lust ("I Want to Come Over") or to escape a humdrum existence ("Nowhere to Go") can relate to Etheridge's most well-worn material.

But beyond the all-inclusive approach of her lyrics, only the tin-eared would have trouble recognizing the potency of her raspy soulfulness, evident whether subtly put across (as on the soft and bluesy "Yes I Am," fiery hollering saved for its finish) or made completely obvious (I doubt anyone since Janis has sung "Piece of My Heart" more believably).

Songs dating back the furthest in her catalog were those given the most drastic makeovers here, with "Brave and Crazy" now very Dave Matthews-esque and "Chrome Plated Heart" transformed into a swampy stomper that found her pounding out a beat from atop an amplified platform. But no matter how reinvigorating the rearrangements, the overall mood remained constant -– all-embracing and uplifting, with zero self-indulgence and plenty of quiet thrills for lifelong admirers.

Hard to imagine many other rock stars pulling off such a sparse yet powerful feat.

Main set: All American Girl / Message to Myself / If I Wanted To / Nowhere to Go / I Need to Wake Up / Chrome Plated Heart / Yes I Am / All the Way to Heaven / The Weakness in Me* / Brave and Crazy / Come to My Window / Tupelo Honey** / Kiss Me / I Run for Life / I Want to Come Over > I'm the Only One > Bring Me Some Water
Encore: Piece of My Heart
* Joan Armatrading cover
** Van Morrison cover

Photos by Rod Veal, The Orange County Register.

Last show at Pacific: Three Dog Night, tonight, $12.50-$22.50

[rhondda]

the OC Register has a slide show of photos from MLE's Costa Mesa gig on Saturday.

the slideshow also includes photos of fans going to and enjoying the show - hey, i know the folks in Slide # 2! Dawn and Kel before the show!



Slide # 15: Jib (partial), Camille, Giant, me (partial) and Kel enjoying the show.



head over to http://tinyurl.com/qsbn9s to check out the photos.

*rhondda*

[*edited to remove the extra space from the tinyurl]

[Camille]

Slide # 15: Jib (partial), Camille, Giant, me (partial) and Kel enjoying the show.

YEAH!!!!

[Superfreakin' Sweet]

I wonder about only one thing in regard to those photos...How did they manage to fit all that beautiful into those little pictures ?

Amazing...(((all))) of you...thank you so kindly for sharing and for making us fellow MLE fans proud... way to represent peeps Big time

[Kel]

"Niagara Viagara" is what Dawn was whispering in my ear. We had reconnected Dawn and I for the first time since that last time, and were walking and talking along and this man comes right up in my grill and was like can I please take a picture of you for the something what ... he lost me at picture of you, and I said "yes if my pal can be in it too! I was skeptical about the whole dealiyo right until RAIN dumped that out here on the thread. So thank you RAIN for finding and posting that. This concert was great because of course it was the first one back and to see all my pals in the same space with the same love is an amazing thing. Of course MLE rocks every single time.

Smilen' Steven G go tee looks off the hizzle.

[Kel]

Thank you ((Super)) that is a lovely thing for you to say!

[Janet]

Slide # 15: Jib (partial), Camille, Giant, me (partial) and Kel enjoying the show.

YEAH!!!!

This is a fantastic picture for so many reasons!

[nybabe58]

ITOO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXJxONS- ... re=related


BMSW
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p95aegBv ... re=related



Enjoy!!

[SandyL]

Two beautiful people, both inside and out, caught up in th music, with the lighting just right, and the camera captures it. I would say ditto to what Janet says above!!!

[originalangie]

Two beautiful people, both inside and out, caught up in th music, with the lighting just right, and the camera captures it. I would say ditto to what Janet says above!!!

Hey Sandy indeed beautiful people but three and a half beautiful people you left out Rhondda and the half of Giant's face that we can see.

3.5 beautiful people in the moment

[SandyL]

Oopssss!! Guess I was only referring to the folks in the foreground! Would never intentionally leave Rhondda or Giant out of anything! My apologies, ladies! And ditto for the two of you as I said for the other 2!!!!

[Janet]

which one is Giant?

[Camille]

which one is Giant?

Straight up from my left shoulder is half of her face.

[Superfreakin' Sweet]

Thank you ((Super)) that is a lovely thing for you to say!

You're very welcome ((kelicious))
By the way...that comment was meant for ((((ALL)))) of you...seriously...don't be Bogarting the sugar from Super there kel I'm just teasing...kind of...but I mean what I said was for everyone.

It is wonderful how you can really see the beauty of MLE herself reflected in the faces of all of you...
Y'all freakin rock and are so beautiful...Cam...Dawn...and everyone else...the whole crowd looks awesome...okay enough gushing. Not to get religious but when I first saw these photos I thought...God is in the people big time. I did not mean to but now I care about all of you. It just happened. I love you all in a very safe healthy general way.

Take care and keep all of that good stuff going. It is a wonderful exchange and great ripples to feel and witness...near or far...it is felt....Peace and Love and Light to ((ALL)) that dude Ron Veal did a good job and thanks for passing it along and sharing

[Superfreakin' Sweet]

Two beautiful people, both inside and out, caught up in th music, with the lighting just right, and the camera captures it. I would say ditto to what Janet says above!!!

So then we have established now that it is a lovely group of beautiful people and some awesome photos for sure...
d to the itto on what ((Janet)) and ((Sandy)) said. It looked like a great night and fanfreakingtastic MLE show. Now a few days of rest and regrouping and then onward with August of L&A '09...safe journeys and fun times to all.

[Kel]

Oh NO NO NO bogarting of sugah! I know the people around me are beautiful ... they are a part of me. I just thought what you said in the round about way was a lovely thing to say. Sometimes the way you say and do things are just very cool and one of a kind. Who doesn't love one of a kinds.

Nonetheless ... thank you!

[dischikrocs]

Thank you ((Super)) that is a lovely thing for you to say!

You're very welcome ((kelicious))
By the way...that comment was meant for ((((ALL)))) of you...seriously...don't be Bogarting the sugar from Super there kel I'm just teasing...kind of...but I mean what I said was for everyone.

It is wonderful how you can really see the beauty of MLE herself reflected in the faces of all of you...
Y'all freakin rock and are so beautiful...Cam...Dawn...and everyone else...the whole crowd looks awesome...okay enough gushing. Not to get religious but when I first saw these photos I thought...God is in the people big time. I did not mean to but now I care about all of you. It just happened. I love you all in a very safe healthy general way.

Take care and keep all of that good stuff going. It is a wonderful exchange and great ripples to feel and witness...near or far...it is felt....Peace and Love and Light to ((ALL)) that dude Ron Veal did a good job and thanks for passing it along and sharing

Just thought this was worth repeating... with a lil more emphasis!