You know something is right and justified in an artist’s success when spending nearly 3 hours with them and their art brings you through a series of emotions quite unlike anything you’ve ever experienced. Meaning, I am fresh off of having an epiphany and making further progress in mourning the loss of my Grandmother to cancer in June, and having clearer thoughts about loved ones, and gaining the motivation to produce amazing work that I can be proud of. In the past year, I have seen some incredible names live and in action doing some amazing work, by the way… the likes of Harvey Fierstein as Tevye for example. Or Academy Award winner, Estelle Parsons giving a dazzling performance in “August: Osage County” last fall. I’ve been tossed to the floor in a fit of uproarious laughter thanks to Kathy Griffin, given a new outlook on adorable puppies courtesy of Janeane Garofalo, had a headache all throughout the mentally blinding Morrissey concert, and even caught Edward Norton introducing “Fight Club” at the Egyptian… but my night with Melissa Etheridge was beyond therapeutic in what I may consider one of the most gracious, nurturing, engaging concert going experiences I have ever had.
In her new tour, promoting her latest album “Fearless Love”, Melissa Etheridge blends both her classics and her latest work together in what seems to be a grand tribute to the woman’s 22 year history moving audiences with her haunting, personal lyrics, tireless and hell-fire wicked guitar playing, and masterful ability to connect with you down to your core. She has always sang about love, about desire, about want, and she speaks freely of this during her concert… each song having a monologue, timed out with an engaging beat from the rest of her solid band, and with her raspy voice that belongs on the shelf of all-time-greats along with Grace Slick, Ann Wilson, and Janis Joplin in the female rock category. She cleverly seduces you into each song, blending humor with wisdom, and lacing it with an understanding admission with graceful hints of solution… She blasted through “I Want To Come Over”, receiving one of the evening’s most astoundingly assured rounds of applause from the wild, dance-friendly audience and her vocals rang through the speakers, over the walls of the Paramount, and dripped down into my ears with blazed passion and endless zest. The emotions stirred up again when she sang her always-moving anthem “Come To My Window”, which she dedicated to the very appreciative audience. This woman is a pure entertainer; the reason she is known and respected as a Grammy Award winner, an Oscar winner, and crusader. When she introduced “I Run For Life”, she spoke about her bout with cancer 6 years ago… and reminded us that she’s still here. And we were gracious. I thought of my Grandmother at rest, and my own mother, and how expert this artist is for taking such a widely felt cause, something so many people have been effected by this disease, and it was a jolt of reassurance that I, as a human being, with all my idiosyncrasies, flaws, moments of genius, and aspects of imperfection, am lucky to be healthy, and am blessed to feel so much, and appreciate my surroundings, and how much I am loved, and how much I love in return. It really was as profound a moment as that. Gushing? Pa-shaw, my friends. You had to be there to believe it.
She ended the night on a high. Not just a high note.. but a high. I left the Paramount floating… not literally, but I promise – upon stepping out of the elevator at my friend’s apartment complex to have a night cap and talk (and giggle and go nuts with wild joy) over what we just witnessed, I could have fallen over, I had such a head rush from it all hitting me once again. Melissa milked “Bring Me Some Water” for all it was worth, giving us a guitar solo, a call-and-response vocal game… charged forward again with “I’m The Only One”, and after a three minute standing ovation, returned to the stage to end the evening with the last track on her new album, “Gently We Row”, which is a heartbreaking, simple picture painted around a young girl’s relationship with her mother.
For several weeks, I have been plagued with dreams, and confused thoughts on how to properly grieve over the death of my Grandmother. Call me a sucker, tell me I’m gushing… but, in all truth, I think I had a break through, and it feels a thousand times easier now. Melissa Etheridge, my friends, is a Queen in modern art.
Her new album is available to purchase on Amazon, or itunes, or straight from the source, where you can also find more information out about her touring schedule and the Goddess herself!
-Aiden Karamanyan
