From: owner-support-system-digest@smoe.org (support-system-digest) To: support-system-digest@smoe.org Subject: support-system-digest V8 #158 Reply-To: support-system@smoe.org Sender: owner-support-system-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-support-system-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk support-system-digest Thursday, November 10 2005 Volume 08 : Number 158 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [support-system] Liz at the Fillmore, SF - 11-08-2005 [Kenneth Lee Subject: [support-system] Liz at the Fillmore, SF - 11-08-2005 Hi folks, Just returned from the SF show. Details: FYI, Australian Missy Higgins opened up for Liz. She did a 45 minute set. Liz's set started at 9:25pm. She was wearing a red t-shirt and blue jeans. Setlist: Abracadabra (brief acapella rendition of Steve Miller Band song due to the fact the song was playing) Stratford On Guy (acoustic - Liz by herself) Baby Got Going (acoustic - Dino joins Liz) full band comes on stage Shitloads Of Money Rock Me 6'1" Help Me Mary Polyester Bride Liz comments on the smell ("only in San Francisco!") Extraordinary/Mesmerizing goof up (Liz plays Mesmerizing while the rest of the band was doing Extraordinary) Never Said Extraordinary Mesmerizing Lazy Dreamer Hurricane Cindy or Perfect World (opening chords only) Girls' Room Cinco De Mayo H.W.C. Divorce Song Supernova Liz and band leave the stage around 10:20pm 10:25pm encore Why Can't I? Fuck And Run Chopsticks end of show (despite a raucous crowd asking Liz come back for a second encore) I finally met Liz face to face after the show. - -Ken kenmlee@ix.netcom.com MeSmErIzInG - AnOtHeR LiZ PhAiR WeBsItE http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/2471/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Nov 2005 11:59:39 -0800 From: "Christine Hademan" Subject: RE: [support-system] Liz at the Fillmore, SF - 11-08-2005 I had to give up my ticket to last night's show because of strep throat. :( You can't imagine how bummed I was. I'm glad you finally got to meet her Ken! C :) - -----Original Message----- From: owner-support-system@smoe.org [mailto:owner-support-system@smoe.org] On Behalf Of Kenneth Lee Sent: Wednesday, November 09, 2005 1:12 AM To: support-system@smoe.org Subject: [support-system] Liz at the Fillmore, SF - 11-08-2005 Hi folks, Just returned from the SF show. Details: FYI, Australian Missy Higgins opened up for Liz. She did a 45 minute set. Liz's set started at 9:25pm. She was wearing a red t-shirt and blue jeans. Setlist: Abracadabra (brief acapella rendition of Steve Miller Band song due to the fact the song was playing) Stratford On Guy (acoustic - Liz by herself) Baby Got Going (acoustic - Dino joins Liz) full band comes on stage Shitloads Of Money Rock Me 6'1" Help Me Mary Polyester Bride Liz comments on the smell ("only in San Francisco!") Extraordinary/Mesmerizing goof up (Liz plays Mesmerizing while the rest of the band was doing Extraordinary) Never Said Extraordinary Mesmerizing Lazy Dreamer Hurricane Cindy or Perfect World (opening chords only) Girls' Room Cinco De Mayo H.W.C. Divorce Song Supernova Liz and band leave the stage around 10:20pm 10:25pm encore Why Can't I? Fuck And Run Chopsticks end of show (despite a raucous crowd asking Liz come back for a second encore) I finally met Liz face to face after the show. - -Ken kenmlee@ix.netcom.com MeSmErIzInG - AnOtHeR LiZ PhAiR WeBsItE http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/2471/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 09 Nov 2005 15:25:58 -0800 From: Kenneth Lee Subject: [support-system] Somebody's Miracle review (Prefix Magazine) From Prefix Magazine: (http://www.prefixmag.com/reviews/cds/L/Liz-Phair/Somebodys-Miracle/1722) Liz Phair "Somebody's Miracle" Release Date: 2005-10-04 Label: Capitol Records Rating: 2-1/2 stars (out of 5) by Kate Collier After a five-year hiatus, Liz Phair released a self-titled album in 2003 that was almost universally despised by critics. It was also her first record to garner significant mainstream attention. After years as an indie favorite, Phair unapologetically made an album that reflected her desire for radio play, and "Liz Phair" came out overdone, as if there were too many production hands in the pie. As apparent as it was that Phair wanted to be a pop star, it wasn't quite clear what kind of pop star she wanted to be (Avril Lavigne? Sheryl Crow? A dirty-talking Michelle Branch?). On "Somebody's Miracle", Phair seems much more settled with the idea of herself as someone who writes songs that could be hits, and that makes this album much more consistent. There's a definite "adult alternative" vibe here. Phair's oldest fans may not find this very interesting, but it certainly suits her better than did the pop-rock aspirations of "Liz Phair". A few songs -- "Got My Own Thing" and "Why I Lie" -- wouldn't be out of place on "Whitechocolatespaceegg", making "Somebody's Miracle" feel like a not-completely-illogical follow-up to that album, released in 1998. Still, though it's easier to believe that the songs on "Miracle" are Liz Phair songs (albeit squeaky clean, polished Liz Phair songs), I was left wishing that the personal imprint translated into more distinctive music. And the ambivalence that marked "Liz Phair" is not gone entirely. The three tracks co-written and produced by John Shanks aren't quite out of place, but they are noticeably different than the rest of the songs, most of which were produced by John Alagia (Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer). Shanks worked on Lindsay Lohan's album, which is probably where "Count on My Love" really belongs. That song would also sound better if Lohan were singing it. Part of the fun of Phair's earlier albums is how easy they are to sing along to, but "Miracle" resists tapping into the refreshingly everywoman quality of Phair's voice. Instead, she gets overpowered by the instrumental production on lead single "Everything to Me", then strains to carry the quieter ballad "Closer to You". "Somebody's Miracle" is a collection of pleasantly catchy, if unremarkable, pop songs. For longtime Phair fans who thought listening to Liz Phair was like running into a friend from high school who you genuinely miss and having her get drunk and puke on your shoes, "Somebody's Miracle" will be a far less awkward run-in. Sure, you don't have that much in common anymore, but at least you can be relieved she got her shit together. The fact that she made her own choice to play by someone else's rules isn't so heartbreaking anymore. - -Ken kenmlee@ix.netcom.com MeSmErIzInG - AnOtHeR LiZ PhAiR WeBsItE http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/2471/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 09 Nov 2005 15:44:32 -0800 From: Kenneth Lee Subject: [support-system] Somebody's Miracle review (Bumpershot) From Bumpershot: (http://www.bumpershot.com/content/view/363/28/) Liz Phair "Somebody's Miracle"  (Capitol) Rating: 5.2 (out of 10) I find Liz Phair frustrating as hell. I really do. In fact, I'm not sure why I bother at times. I can only conclude that, on some level at least, I'm madly in love with her and just can't let go of the past. Really, she's like a girlfriend that I just can't let go of. Okay, you may have guessed that I'm just clowning around but Liz Phair's place in rock and roll is just sosowell, "high school". She's the friend that secretly wanted to be in a more popular crowd the whole time she was hanging with us dorks -- and when she got the chance she took it. Ouch. She's the bright girl that sold out her sensitivity and intellect and traded them in for designer clothes and a hairy boyfriend (named Dino Meneghin -- her guitarist whom I'm pretty sure I can beat up, not the Italian basketball star whom I'm pretty sure I can't. See? "High school"!). Now, hearing a new Liz Phair CD is like bumping into that person on the street years later and coming to the conclusion after a few words that you really have no idea what to say -- even if you're willing to put forth the effort. Uh, yeahlook at the time. Gotta run. "Somebody's Miracle" is such an encounter. There's a familiarity here that does strike a chord  notably Phair's not-technically-great voice which I always thought had a great genuine quality to it (that could be a fancy way of saying it turns me on -- why else would I listen to the sappy "Lost Tonight" more than a few times? I guess I am in love after all. Sigh.). Then there are songs like "Got My Own Thing" and "Why I Lie" which have a cocky swagger that sits just fine. I say "fine" only, because the musicians Phair surround herself with are more sterile than sterile, matching John Alagia's production. Phair's records have always sounded "produced" for the most part (remember, you gotta give Brad Wood some credit for "Exile In Guyville") but in this case it just means that we get sonically precise and very clichid arrangements. Nowhere is this more evident than on the first single "Everything To Me", which is quite possibly the worst piece of music to carry Phair's name. Okay, I've laid blame on the producer and the band but that doesn't mean that Phair's off the hook. When you have lines like, "Your mind is a place, I don't need to embrace, What you've got in your heart, Is enough for me to start" you cant help but think that "There once was a man from Nantucket...". And then there's her announcement on the title track that "Each frog has a prince, Just waiting inside of him". Okay. Liz Phair has repeatedly said that those hanging on to "Exile In Guyville" should just get over it  her pop star aspirations, that is. It is a fact that the person that wrote "Help Me Mary" and "Fuck And Run" doesn't exist anymore, but the people that made the emotional investment in it do -- and people will continue to "discover" her early material for years to come. But if anyone actually pops this one in his or her stereo a year from now, it'd be a miracle indeed. - -Ken kenmlee@ix.netcom.com MeSmErIzInG - AnOtHeR LiZ PhAiR WeBsItE http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/2471/ ------------------------------ End of support-system-digest V8 #158 ************************************