Concert Review |
Everybody's got a life story, only nobody tells it in song as eloquently and powerfully as Melissa Etheridge.
And what a story it is � from growing up gay in Kansas with an impossible dream of becoming a rock star, to heading to Los Angeles at 21 and having that rock star dream come true, finding love and family along the room, and surviving cancer to become an inspiration to millions.
For well-nigh three hours Sunday night at the Paramount, she and her four-man band made her story come alive in words and music that were moving, energizing, entertaining, funny and ultimately deep spiritual.
Etheridge has always been a rousing, electrifying, sporty performer with a full-on, arena-rock style as granular and tough as that of any male rocker. But now that push is tempered by hard-won wisdom and a sense of role that aims for null less than changing the world.
The by and large female audience that filled the Paramount was with her all the style, exulting in her wallow. Toward the end of the set, ushers and security could not stop a sudden rush toward the stage by zealous fans, world Health Organization soon filled the aisles and the orchestra cavity. Etheridge's smile seemed to bless the happy lawlessness, which simply added to the show's excitement.
Etheridge's songs have constantly been autobiographical, but that was never quite so apparent until this stream tour. Early in her recording life history, 20 age ago, many of her songs were couched in such a way that you couldn't tell she was singing about loving women.
After she came out in the early '90s, her lyrics became more than straightforward. In the context of the show, they all conform to together as a whole, and her story became clear. But the message was universal. Anyone could relate to, and find meaning in, her search for love and purpose.
Etheridge is touring behind her new album, "The Awakening," which deals with the spiritual wakening she experienced while undergoing chemotherapy.
"I'm one of those people world Health Organization think cancer can be a gift," she explained, introducing her uplifting, inspiring anthem, "I Run for Life," which had the whole hearing up and cheering.
"My God is passion, my God is peace, my God loves you, my God loves me," she sang in "The Kingdom of Heaven," a song from the new album, which brought some in the audience to tears.
She added lyrics supporting Obama to "I Need to Wake Up," her Oscar-winning song from "An Inconvenient Truth."
Her hits, like "Bring Me Some Water," "I'm the Only One" and "Come to My Window," were more powerful than of all time in the context of her life story, merely the 26-song set (including a two-song encore) showed she has many other songs that are precisely as good.
Her band, peculiarly guitarist Philip Sayce, was first-rate. Fritz Lewak was on drums, Mark Browne on bass and Paul Trudeau on keyboards and guitar.
Patrick MacDonald: 206-464-2312 or pmacdonald@seattletimes.com
If Extreme is �More Than Words� to you, you might want to decamp this book. On their first album in 13 years, the reunited locals continue their Sisyphean job of disowning the bequest of their cheesy, mega make-out hit with some tough sway. There�s the heavy �Comfortably Dumb� (more Red Hot Chili Peppers then Warrant, the tune shows the band�s finally getting at ease doing funky stuff), the high-harmony driven, Queen-ish �Star,� and one breakneck, chicken pickin�, metallic hoedown, �Take Us Alive.� The ballads remain, most notably the Coldplay-like �Ghost,� but none are as polarizing, corny or catchy as �More Than Words.� Download: �Take Us Alive.�
gftaglineJED GOTTLIEB
The Incredible Hulk has raged its way to the top of the US box office charts after its opening weekend on release.
The Louis Leterrier film, a sequel of sorts to Ang Lee's 2003 movie, took $54.5 million (£27.2 million) in only three days to claim the top spot, knocking last week's number one, Kung Fu Panda, into second.
Edward Norton stars as scientist Bruce Banner in the Marvel Studios film, on the run in Brazil some five years after the events of the first film and desperate to discover an antidote to the gamma poisoning which unleashes the beast inside.
After General Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt) tracks his adversary down, Banner is faced with the choice between ridding himself of his inner hulk and battling with the demonic Abomination, a monstrous being into which soldier Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) is transformed when he overdoses on the gamma supplement.
Dreamworks' animated comedy Kung FU Panda fell to second, despite taking $34.3 million (£17.2 million) while M Night Shyamalan's new film The Happening debuted in third with $30.5 million (£15 million).
Horror movie The Strangers continues to perform well with $4.1 million (£2 million) in its third weekend on release and the likes of You Don't Mess With the Zohan, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Sex and the City all falling two places.
The top ten films at the US box office are: (last week's position)
1 The Incredible Hulk - $54.5 [£27.2 million] (-)
2 Kung Fu Panda - $34.4 million [£17.2 million] (1)
3 The Happening - $30.5 million [£15 million] (-)
4 You Don't Mess With the Zohan - $16.4 million [£8.4 million] (2)
5 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - $13.5 million [£6.9 million] (3)
6 Sex and the City - $10.2 million [£5.2 million] (4)
7 Iron Man - $5.1 million [£2.6 million] (6)
8 The Strangers - $4.1 million [£2.1 million] (5)
9 The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian - $3 million [£1.5 million] (7)
10 What Happens in Vegas... - $1.7 million [£871,227] (8)
16/06/2008 09:01:19
DR WHO writer RUSSELL T DAVIES has stepped down from his role as executive producer on the legendary British Sci-fi show. He will remain in charge of the BBC series until 2009.
GWYNETH PALTROW's new shorter haircut was an emotional transition for the star, because it involved cutting off hair she has had since before her father died.
The actress began growing her hair before film maker Bruce Paltrow died in 2002, and she has since married Coldplay rocker Chris Martin and given birth to their two children.
Paltrow tells the July issue of Harper's Bazaar, "I was very, very attached to my hair. I grew it when I was pregnant. I still had hair from when my father was alive. I made it like a talisman. And then I was ready to let go of it, and so I chopped it off and ... aaah!"
KATE HUDSON and OWEN WILSON have reportedly fallen out and sources close to the couple claim they have split on bad terms.
Eonline reports that the couple are no longer on speaking terms following an argument over OWEN flirting with other women while filming in Miami for the film MARLEY and ME.
The source said: "They haven't been getting along really for most of the time they've been back together. OWEN can be a moody guy, very up and very down. And Kate is so upbeat, it was hard for her to take."
The couple had previously split up last year but reunited in February.
OWEN WILSON was born in 1968 in Texas and has appeared in films such as MEET THE PARENTS, ZOOLANDER, THE WEDDING CRASHERS, RUSHMORE, STARSKY AND HUTCH, SHANGHAI NOON and YOU, ME and DUPREE.
KATE HUDSON is the daughter of film star GOLDIE HAWN and BILL HUDSON.
16/05/2008 16:43:19
Actress KIM CATTRALL dreaded returning to the set of SEX AND THE CITY for the TV show's movie adaptation - because she feared that, at 50, she wouldn't be sexy enough.
The 51-year-old actress was blamed for causing delays in the movie version of the hit TV series, reportedly demanding more money and creative control over the project.
But Cattrall admits it was, in fact, her lack of confidence as an aging Hollywood star that prevented her from immediately signing on to the project.
She needed reassurances from director Michael Patrick King before signing on to play sex siren Samantha Jones again.
She says, "I was quite nervous because it had been four years and I had turned 50. We did camera tests because all of us (cast) have aged. I worried about being sexy enough again.
"I said to Michael, `How can we do this? I want to look great and not feel self-conscious.' And he always said, `We are going to take care of you.'"
STATUS QUO rocker RICK PARFITT is relieved after his wife LYNDSAY safely gave birth to two healthy twins on Monday (26May08).
The couple was overjoyed when they discovered they were expecting last October (07) after undergoing IVF treatment - but just a week later Lyndsay, 47, was taken to hospital suffering from a suspected miscarriage.
But the babies survived and Lyndsay was able to carry the pregnancy to term - giving birth to the boy and girl at a hospital close to their home in Spain.
The proud parents have named the new arrivals Tommy Oswald and Lily Rose.
The guitarist, 59, already has two sons, Harry, 18, and Richard, 29, from previous marriages. The couple married in a secret ceremony in Gibraltar in August 2006.
Legendary late comedian BOB HOPE's wife DOLORES has enraged Los Angeles' residents after selling a huge portion of land to a property developer in a sensational $1.4 billion (GBP520 million) deal.
Veteran comic actor Hope was registered as California's largest landowner following his death aged 100 in 2003 - reportedly owning nearly one million acres of land purchased throughout his lucrative career.
And now, singer Dolores, 99, has reportedly infuriated her neighbours by selling 240,000 acres of the Hope estate's land in the Tehachapi Mountains area to a wealthy property developer.
The developer intends to use the land to build low-cost housing, according to Britain's the Daily Mail newspaper.
But the move has upset local property owners, who insist any further properties in the already built-up L.A. area will ruin their views of Hollywood's infamous skyline.
