Melissa Etheridge brought timeless songs and a little storytelling to loyal audience in Chandler

Review by Val Tapia
Photo provided by Steve Mack

It’s hard to believe its been 35 years since I first saw veteran singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge live.  It was at Mesa Amphitheatre in Sept. 1990 on the Brave and Crazy tour.

What immediately comes to mind when I think about that particular show is how much Etheridge commanded the stage and her audience with songs that attendees felt and not merely heard.

Or put another way, her introspective music sent a shiver up my spine on that mid- September night that no other singer-songwriter of Gen X has been able to do.  Since or after.

It didn’t hurt that it was also under the stars at the Valley’s best outdoor (and arguably overall “mid-sized”) music venue at the time.  And remains so– 40-plus years later I might add!

Anyway, in retrospect, it was that memorable combination of factors that made Etheridge’s live shows a “must see” within that first four years or so of her career.

One could say that’s why Etheridge is still at it in 2024, playing and singing her heart out passionately to her devoted fans.  The 115-minute, 15-song set on Sat. Oct. 12 at Wild Horse Pass Casino featured recent material, one new song, and some of her classics.

Opening the show with Must Be Crazy For Me (from 1992’s Never Enough), Etheridge wasted no time getting the small but fervent crowd going, even though most remained seated throughout the entire show.

Next up was If I Wanted To from 1993’s Yes I Am, Etheridge’s biggest selling album of her career.  However, it’s far from her best work— artistically speaking— in this writer’s humble opinion.

Speaking candidly, I contend that most Etheridge fans consider her first two albums her strongest work (her 1988 debut and 1989’s Brave and Crazy, respectively)— to this day.  Or at the very least, they remain the foundation for every other album that followed them.

That was remarkably clear with songs like The Angels as well as “obscure” track Royal Station 4/16 from the aforementioned Brave and Crazy.  The latter song was written during her first tour of England in ’88, which Etheridge reminisced about fondly on Saturday night.

To her credit, she has no qualms about digging deep into her extensive three-decade-plus catalog.  Even if that means dropping more well-known song here and there.

In point of fact, Etheridge is known to rotate her set lists nightly, at times more than half of the songs!  In short order, that must take some serious rehearsing. Frankly, it’s a lesson that all veteran touring acts should learn.  It’s also something that fans should learn to appreciate more. But I digress.

The fifth song, I Want To Come Over (from 1995’s Your Little Secret), is always a sing-along song.  Yet it was a pleasant surprise to hear Shriner’s Park from that same album. It was written from a not-so-pleasant experience (i.e. being ditched on a date) with someone she met “years ago”, Etheridge explained.

A couple of songs from the 2000s were also played, Ain’t It Bad and The Shadow Of A Black Crow, which Etheridge noted was “a song about addiction.”

The sole new song in the set, A Burning Woman, was “inspired” from letters she received from five incarcerated women at Topeka Correctional Facility (or TCF as Etheridge referred to it).  Very anthemic, a little defiant, yet ultimately… hopeful.

That original song is included in a “docuseries” on Paramount+ called I’m Not Broken that’s airing now.  It’s also available on a live album (of the same name) that was recorded at the aforementioned TCF in May 2023.

Back onstage, it’s pretty much the norm for musicians to save the well-known songs for later in the set.  This show was no exception.

Judging by the reaction to classics like Chrome Plated Heart, Bring Me Some Water, and Like The Way I Do, it’s not far-fetched to say that Etheridge’s first album remains the “fan favorite” in her catalog.

Which comes to my biggest criticism of the night. It would be nice if the set list was 20 songs, given the sizable catalog she has.  Still, Etheridge played an (almost) 2-hour show— for that I’ll extend the courtesy.

If songs like I’m The Only One and Like The Way I Do didn’t include the “extended jams”, she might be able to fit in a solid 20 songs per night.  Personally, I think reproducing the original studio recordings onstage live would be perfectly fine.  Frankly, if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.

One more thing: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame… are you kidding me? It’s time— maybe even past time.

The final verdict, you might ask?  Four out of five stars— go see Ms. Etheridge when she passes through your town.  She’s still the real deal on a concert stage.