In Melissa Etheridge’s hit song “Like The Way I Do”, she asks, “Does she know just how to shock and electrify and rock you?” On this blistering hot night in Biloxi, this woman did just that. Bringing forth a plethora of soul exposing songs skyrocketed to the brim by a red hot band featuring guitarist Peter Thorn, bassist Dan Rothchild, drummer Blair Sinta and keyboardist Kristopher Pooley.
It’s amazing what one little woman from Kansas can do when the lights shine on her and her guitar as she stands in front of a room full of people anxiously awaiting her first breath through a microphone. Before she even hit the stage, they could smell her, shouting out her name in anticipation, cheering when the rhythms started creeping through the sound system, her band slowly taking their places in the dark. And from somewhere in the back, she came; through a crowd of admirers she reached out and touched them before ascending her throne with arms raised in triumph.
Starting her set with three songs from her latest album FEARLESS LOVE, you knew this was not going to be a melancholy night. With her private life popping up in the tabloids, she showed no sign of breakage, instead succumbing to her lyrics of the past and setting them on fire. Melissa came to strut and holler and praise, telling us that she was “going to rock for the next 2 hours”.
The biggest highlight of the night had to be her tear down of “Bring Me Some Water”. By this time, near the end of her set, she was electrifying, shouting “we’re just warming up” before exploding into great guitar sex with Thorn, the strings of their respective guitars touching and squealing in ecstasy before she slid in behind him, reaching around the tall guitarist to fret as one.
Her powerful new autobiographical “song about dreams”, called “Indiana”, and “Miss California”, both off the new CD, were big hits with the crowd, as well as “Come To My Window”, “I Want To Come Over” and “I’m The Only One”.
Before launching into “I Run For Life”, she yelled “Where are my survivors?” and mentioned her bout with cancer. “I’m alive!!” she said with a victorious smile. Mentioning nearby city Mobile, Alabama, she said that her very first ever fan letter was from someone in Mobile. And while thanking Biloxi for being so nice to them, she did admit receiving – “a sunburn on my shoulder. It was alright until I put on a guitar strap”, and then jumped into a frenetic “Nervous” with a swerve into “Fever”.
I do want to make mention of guitarist Peter Thorn, who rocked and socked out some stellar guitar solos on his Les Paul, especially on “Miss California”, “I Run For Life”, “I’m The Only One” and “Bring Me Some Water”. He has played alongside another great vocalist, Chris Cornell, and should be a force to be reckoned with in years to come.
And if one thing can be said about Melissa Etheridge, it’s that the lady knows how to rock!
Setlist
We Are The Ones, Fearless Love, Miss California, I Want To Come Over, The Wanting Of You, Come To My Window, Indiana, I Run For Life, Nervous, I’m The Only One, Bring Me Some Water, Like The Way I Do
