Just a few days before rock 'n' roll icon Melissa Etheridge made national headlines after telling CBS News she's cultivating a line of "cannabis-infused fine wines," a not-so full house had a non-stop buzz from her two-hour energized show at the Pompano Beach Amphitheater.
Perhaps it was because of the Thanksgiving holiday, yet most people we spoke with just didn't know that Melissa was coming to town leaving tickets for sale on Groupon and the 2,600 seat outdoor venue only more than half full.
'Twas a shame for those who missed it on November 28 because Etheridge was in howlin' good form.
Touring to promote her new album "This is M.E.," its the first release in Etheridge's career that she has done without major label Island Records, so it's all about her now. Credited for the 12th collection of original songs is her own label ME Records. And so, the night was definitely a way to familiarize folks with the new stuff.
While I am hesitant to admit it, the latest songs, which outnumbered the familiar in the Pompano Beach show, are so Melissa-esque that they meld seamlessly with the classic.
She got right to it, starting off her set with a new song, "I Won't Be Alone," then reeled into the pleading anthem "I Wanna Come Over," a classic from the 1996 album, "Your Little Secret." She followed with new songs, the flirtatious "Take My Number" and "A Little Hard Hearted," a YouTube favorite that features a duet with Sam Tsui.
While the crowd definitely was ready for "M.E." — many had already memorized lyrics and were singing along (the album was released Sept. 30), it was the familiar they went crazy over as she launched into "Come to My Window," and added a little reggae feel bringing in her bass player Fugees bassist Jerry "Wonda" Duplessis, who is also her band leader on the road.
New songs followed with "Do It Again" and "A Little Bit of Me," a song she's been quoted as saying that she wrote while on a plane ride to New York. And then she let the band rock out with her for the hit "I'm the Only One," from the 1993 album "Yes I Am."
She dialed back a bit for the smoldering new song "Like a Preacher," performing only vocals and leaving her guitar behind. She then sailed into "All the Way Home," another new tune that she introduced by saying : "This is a song from a new album, but I swear when I play it, it seems like I wrote it in 1985." Agreed. The guitar-heavy tune had her playing a classic doubleneck electric guitar, while she mostly settled on the 12-string of the doubleneck. The song, which clocked in at about 10 minutes, included a sampling of Bob Marley's "Stir it Up," again with that familiar undertone of Duplessis's bass.
She returned to her hits to round out the night with "Bring Me Some Water," the song from her self-titled debut album that was responsible for her getting noticed 26 years ago when she was 27 and garnered her her first Grammy for Best Female Rock Performance. In case you were wondering, she has two Grammy Awards to her credit and 17 nominations (and an Academy Award for "I Need to Wake Up" from the Al Gore documentary "An Inconvenient Truth").
The rousing "Like the Way I Do," the second single from her debut album released in 1988, had her playing her 12-string Ovation guitar with a vengeance, frankly an odd choice for a rockin' song. But this was a night that Etheridge showed her chops as a guitar player, whether on acoustic or lead — playing lead guitar solos with a technique that could rival the best.
For the encore, she performed "Monster" from the new album – gritty, grindy and loud — one of the most memorable tunes on the "This is M.E.," but the live performance sailed over the venue and felt like it could have created a tsunami on the nearby Atlantic.
Melissa Etheridge remains a rock 'n' roll tour de force.
