AUGUST 5, 1994 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE 9

ENTERTAINMENT

Yes, we know: Show was summer's high point

Melissa Etheridge

Nautica Stage

July 19

Reviewed by Brynna Fish

Melissa Etheridge is an outstanding vocalist, a riveting rock-n-roller, an entertainer confident on stage, and a real person. That's what makes her the incredible lyricist that makes folks wild about her. Etheridge opens up in her songs. She speaks to us. She doesn't hesistate to be painfully honest, embarrassingly revealing, sensuously passionate, or pure raw unadulterated energy. And, she doesn't hesitate to share. All this was more than obvious in her stage performance at Nautica July 19.

The show was magnificent. The Indigo Girls, a mere week and half earlier, seemed only a warm-up compared to Melissa's power on stage. The audience--both sold out for the Girls and Etheridge also seemed more mature. At Etheridge's show the fans came in slower, more self-assured, not wanting to bother with the opening act (my apologies to him on behalf of the entire greater Cleveland area).

Etheridge ripped through her first song and then roared out, "Hello, Cleveland!" The audience cheered. Fans waved signs. Etheridge took it all in, squinting and leaning forward to read the message on a large sheet, musing “What is this? Did you all have a sheet-painting contest?" She looked over the house, stopped, leaned and squinted again, before declaring "Oh, I signed that," referring to the fan waving a Cleveland Pride '94 T-shirt.

Etheridge relates to her audience. She did the first time I saw her at the Southern Women's Music and Comedy Festival in 1986. She did at the Peabody's Down Under lunch break concert many years back. She did two summers ago at her debut Nautica Stage appearance. And, she didn't disappoint us here. "I love Cleveland. I love this place," she beamed to her fans.

Her two-hour nonstop show gave the audience 22 songs, including two encores.

Melissa Etheridge

She shone in solos, as in "Never Enough" and "You Can Sleep While I Drive." And she shone with her band, in this case drummer David Bayer, bass player Mark Brown, and on keys and guitar John Shanks.

A concert highlight occurred when, during "Chrome Plated Heart," Bayer hopped

COMMUNITY FORUM

Continued on facing page Gay People's Chronicle. What impressed me most about these Phoenix folks, however, happened about a month ago.

One afternoon a young man came in to promote his tape of original music. Seems he'd heard that owner Joan Felice was booking entertainers and he wanted to land a job. Joan wasn't expected back for a while, so I suggested he grab something to read and make himself comfortable. He picked up an issue of the Chronicle and sat down. Moments later he returned to the counter all flustered and threw the paper down, exclaiming in horror, "This is a gay paper!" Turned out that Mr. Musician was a fundamentalist who had heard through his grapevine that the owners of this coffeehouse were Christian (which I believe they are) and assumed that they indulged in his own brand of religiosity (which they absolutely do not). I will not bore you with all the details of the lively conversation that ensued. Briefly, I just attempted to explain the philosophy of our coffeehouse to him since it seemed rather apparent that an atmosphere of tolerance and inclusiveness would probably not be a real comfy place for this fellow to work.

When I related this incident back to owners Joan and Tony, they were floored. Without a

Community Forum

moment's hesitation, both clearly stated that neither Mr. Musician nor anyone like him would ever be on their payroll, and that this type of attitude was exactly the opposite of what they believed in or wished to promote within the coffeehouse. Many times and in numerous ways since then, I have seen Phoenix Archwood strive to keep to their goals.

I'm writing to tell you this because I believe that the new Phoenix Coffeehouse at Archwood deserves to be recognized for their commitment to our community and also because they need our help. As a new business in the Archwood-Pearl area, they are struggling right

now.

I personally believe in voting with my dollar and would encourage the Chronicle readership to do the same. If you're in the neighborhood, please come see us. If you don't live or work in the neighborhood, plan a field trip and c'mon over! Phoenix Archwood cannot make it without the support of the community they created this coffeehouse to serve. As lesbians, gays, and bisexuals, we are a real and vital part of this vision.

So, for a great atmosphere, and a terrific cup of coffee, bring a friend ortwenty and visit

us soon.

Patty Mihalek

The Chronicle encourages everyone to write and express your opinion about the community or the paper Please, however, keep letters constructive, and avoid name-calling and personal attacks. Please be brief. We reserve the right to edit letters. We will print your name unless you specifically ask us not to

Address letters to the Chronicle, PO Box 5426, Cleveland, Ohio 44101, or e-mail chronohiola.aol.com, or fax to 216-621-5282 (24 hours) Include your address and phone number so we may contact you to verify the letter

down and started playing on Etheridge's Ovation, then on the other guitar and bass, and then a wild eruption of seething rock burst forth with the entire band up on the drum riser playing drums.

She closed the show with an outrageous 12-minute version of "Like the Way I Do" as

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her first encore. "Ain't you a wonderful bunch of folks I'll do one more song and send you on your waybe good to each other see you again," she said, before the final encore, "Keep it Precious."

From a woman who has had four successful full-length releases in eight years, earned a Grammy for Best Female Rock Performance, and whose favorite car is a Jaguar, one might expect a little, well, snobbiness, a little ego. But no, Etheridge is simply Etheridge.

The stage lighting, in hues of purple and greens, complemented each song with just the right amount of punch, verve, swerve or shadow. Etheridge commented on the "totally cool industrial" setting and, seeing a tanker passing on the adjacent Cuyahoga River, urged its pilot to blow the horn. "Blow your horn, blow your horn," she had us all chanting to the "large hotel," as she called it.

She had us on our feet, she had us singing, she had us spellbound with her charisma and

her genuine sincerity. She worked the stage like a pro-leaning down and shaking hands, pumping up and down on the monitors, and inviting us to "get low" as she sank to the ground writhing to her own seductive beat. And she talked to us so sincerely, I'm sure hundreds of fans drove home repeating Etheridge's closing message to us over and over in their minds. "Be strong, speak true, and have a good time!"

Backstage, before the concert, Etheridge graciously signed a few posters and Pride Tshirts. She also made a phone call. This phone call answered a request by a member of our community for Etheridge to do something for a special person with AIDS.

She didn't have to make the call. She didn't have to talk to anyone backstage. She didn't have to sign a few dozen autographs and get snapped in fan's photographs. She didn't have to donate merchandise to Pride, or honor my backstage request, But she did.

Etheridge's current release Yes I Am is more than a coming out and it's not in any way self-aggrandizement. It's an affirmation in which we can all share.

And, by the way Melissa, yes you are!

Sweet

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