Liz Phair

Liz Phair's music has a wide and continuously-spanning appeal. You could expect to find a middle aged music nerd attending the show (think of John Cusack from High Fidelity - the actor is actually a diehard fan) or you could just as likely find a middle school girl right next to the stage screaming the lyrics to her hit "Extraordinary".
Though her career has always managed to stay within the confines of the "woman singer-songwriter" genre she has exploited every avenue of this style. There is no better way to grasp the breadth of Liz's catalogue of music other than going to one of her concerts. Though Liz's career has shifted into a much more commercial and pop oriented direction she still acknowledges the importance of her early material. Actually a large part of her live material consists of songs from her "Whip-Smart" album and "Exile In Guyville" (sometimes she plays this album in its entirety!)
At her show you could hear Liz performing such musically stripped down and emotionally raw songs as "Fuck and Run" or pop radio chart toppers like "Why Can't I". You will find fans there for her early career and those who are inspired by the success as a pop star. I happen to enjoy both ends of the spectrum. In any case it is obvious that they are there because they recognize the talent of Liz Phair and in spite of her fluctuations in style each audience member will not be let down.

Some friends gave us their tickets so we went. I think the friends made the better choice.

The concert was sort of like a mediocre Liz Phair cover band lurching through her greatest hits after having missed a lot of practices.

She clearly doesn't have the energy or vocal chops of 25 years ago, which is understandable, but instead of having a band behind her that picked up some of the slack, this backing band dragged her down the abyss.

The mix didn't help things either; if you're going to have an insipid drummer and do-nothing bassist, then hide them in the mix, don't crank them up so they drown out everything else out as they attempt to rock out.

The highlights of the show were a new song that was much more a match for where she's at now, and a wonderful number where they kicked all but one of the band members off the stage, brought out the guitar tech on guitar, and she sang a duet with the remaining band-member. That was a sweet moment.

I've been a huge fan of Liz Phair since the 90's but have never seen her live. This show happened to be a Book signing for her first book, "Horror Stories."
The night started of with a reading, great Q and A session and then book signing where you could take a picture and get a personalized signing. Then after a half hour break, we reconveined back to the hall and the show started. She was fantastic and what a great band she's put together. Total pros. They played well over an hour and must have played 11-12 songs.
She's very charismatic and funny in between songs and overall put on a really fun show. If you're a fan and have a chance to see her, I highly recommend.

Show was sold out and I didn’t get in because they weren’t selling tickets at the door even though it said online that they would be. I should’ve sprang when I got the notification when the presale happened. Also I called the venue multiple times and left messages asking if there would indeed be tickets at the door and they never got back to me. Live and learn I guess.

Hmmm not sure who did the soundcheck....but too much reverb in her mic channel.

Sounded way better last time I saw her at Bowery Ballroom.

(This said.....really like the Brooklyn Steel venue, first time I'd been there, nice setup).