GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE JULY 22, 1994

ENTERTAINMENT

Girls give a solid show to a wet but loving crowd

Indigo Girls

Nautica Stage

Friday, July 8

Reviewed by Brynna Fish

"Pretty heavy." That was the take of the promoter of this appearance by the Indigo Girls, when asked how many of us were there. Had I asked him about the chances of rain, his answer would have been just as apt.

The Indigo Girls, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers, seemed prepared for both kinds of spiritual intensity--the thick crowd and the flood gates of heaven. The audience was ready too.

With much ado about their latest release, Swamp Ophelia, the Indigo Girls seared through the crowd, singing 18 tunes to an audience that could have cared less about chairs, or the rain for that matter. A bouncer said there were several hundred fans in the standing-room-only section due to overselling the house by 300 or 400 tickets.

The audienceat least 50 percent lesbian, a small percentage of 'wannabes,' and tons of 18 to 24-year-old heterosexual couples danced, sang, swayed, and yelled, and didn't budge when the rains fell just after the sixth song, "The Power of Two." And what power. So passionate, so present, so raw, so moved were these two song sirens that their emotion shocked the cosmos. And did it ever rain.

Umbrellas were contraband at Nautica Stage, but the audience didn't care. No one left. No one complained. No one whined. The Girls conferred a moment, walked off, then right back on, saying “We really want to play for you. Just give us five minutes talk amongst yourselves." Twenty minutes later they came back to a very drenched but loval and patient crowd. Despite intermittent

Emily Saliers and Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls

light drizzles, the Girls played the remainder of their two hour show non-stop. "We owe you, Dave," they told the sound engineer returning to the stage, and Amy added, "I'm glad I wore my rubber boots!"

The concert spanned their musical ca-

reers, highlighting their hit, "Swamp Ophelia," along with "The Fugitive," "Galileo," "Secure Yourself," "Woodsong," "This Train," and "Hammer and Nails." Playing solo-just girls and guitar-did not detract from their performance, energy or pre-

sentation. This was quite a different show compared to their 1992 appearance at the State Theater with full band, effects, different backdrops and Ferron as the opening act. This show's opener, Caroline Aiken of Atlanta, only provided background chatter to an audience brimming with anticipation for the Girls.

Amy and Emily later brought Caroline back out for their last song, and she stayed with them for their double encore of "The Water is Wide" and "Closer to Fine".

The Indigo Girls have grown. They may be youthful in age and appearance but their voices, artisty, musical ability and performance shine with maturity, confidence and inner peace.

The reverberation of energy among the audience and back and forth between the audience and the Girls was resplendent with awe, respect, and the high of a large communal karmic cosmic orgasm. I did get a few whiffs of clove cigarettes and even some pot that took me back a few years, but not for long, because each song took the audience higher and higher.

Who knew just six years ago that these girls would come so far? In 1989, while I was working on another event at Nautica Stage, a talent agent asked me about the Indigo Girls. He was flabbergasted that I'd never heard of them. He said they were bound to be the "next Tracy Chapman."

Since then, I'm happy to have heard of them and their four-record career, and I'm glad they're not the next Tracy Chapman, because she sure came and went pretty quickly. Something I hope the Girls don't do.

Amy and Emily are destined to stretch to new challenges lyrically and musically, and their track record proves it with one platinum release, Indigo Girls, and three gold. If you don't own Swamp Ophelia yet-go get it. And don't forget Strange Fire and Rites of Passage either.

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