Liz Phair Unveils New Song, Leaves Critics Unimpressed At Chicago Guyville Show
Not exactly the post title you want to be reading as you're whiling away the final hours before hitting Hiro Ballroom for a night of nostalgia, we know. But you're gonna want to hear this new song, and maybe these reactions to last night's Exile redux show, so at least you are braced for it. Tonight's the first of two sets here in the city, promising a full retelling of the album you're getting sick of reading about. It's part of a swing that's taken Phair to San Fran's Fillmore and, last night, closer to the heart of Guyville at the Vic in sweet home, Chicago. Jim DeRogatis was there. His review, titled "Phair enough: 'Exile' 15-year show a clunker" makes it seem like he wishes he wasn't. It's worth a read in full, but here's the denouement:
In fact, as Phair made her way through the disc with her still off-key voice, distinct lack of onstage charisma and forced stage banter about the Cubs and Barack Obama, backed by various combinations of the three faceless L.A. pros who've supported her on recent tours as the Gen X Sheryl Crow, it was hard not to think that while "Exile in Guyville" stands tall on record, it has gained nothing and maybe even shrunk in live performance.Come to think of it, it would have been much more entertaining to hear La Liz play [the Stones'] "Exile" in its entirety. At least she might have felt some connection to that one.
Then, before my two-hour meter on Belmont could even expire, after a few more forced songs as an encore -- including "Polyester Bride" and a truly awful new number with a (no kidding) lyric about "ding dong, the witch is dead" -- it was over, just another car wreck/hit and run in a live career that has never offered anything else.
I believe the technical term for what just happened is OH SNAP. Jim wasn't alone in dismissing the gig, but before we get there, start here with that Obama banter and that "ding dong"ing new song:
So that happened. Now it wasn't just guys who get paid to write about music that were down on last night's Guyville; P4K's Amy Phillips, while admitting that asking for "an epiphany about how to live my life as a twentysomething woman navigating the Chicago indie rock scene, from someone who lived that life (albeit with way more drama) 15 years ago" was asking too much, still deemed the show "anti-climactic," Liz offering "little pride or swagger" and "merely going through the motions." Both Amy and Jim seem to agree the crowd was reverent and mostly into it, but that the set was lacking inspiration (shocking) and Phair's "groan-worthy" banter revealed too little about Guyville (while her skirt/top/red-bra revealed too much). I guess that's as good a note as any to leave you with last night's performance of this song:
"Fuck And Run"
Posted at 5:11 PM by amrit in Concert, Video
Tags: Liz Phair
Are Liz Phair and Weezer the only artists doing (not so) newsworthy things lately? Gettin kinda ridiculous, especially since they're both totally irrelevant now...
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Re: the new song: she cannot blame that one on a major label this time...
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i thought Sheryl Crow was the Gen X Sheryl Crow???
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me too! If Sheryl isn't Gen-X, then what is she?
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she's a walking ipod commercial now, so getting shitted on comes with selling every inch of your musical creditability. nothing she touches will strike a chord, ever. and i really find it sad. love ya liz
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The San Francisco show was pretty great, and she played the new song there as well. Played it better, too.
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I too was at the SF show and I'm surprised by the reaction in Chicago. She and the band played the album very close to how you remember it, including the different sounds and textures. If you like "Exile in Guyville", you would've liked this show. I certainly did, and it seemed that "everyone" else in the audience did as well. A positive review from SF Weekly that echoes these sentiments: http://tinyurl.com/6m85f4
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These Chicago-ans seem to be united in knocking Phair down a notch the minute she gets back into her gear. So sad and kind of amusing.
Weird, the SF show got great reviews. Weirder, Stereogum decides to just focus on the bad ink she got. Oh wait, not that weird. Anyway, just dropping these raves for her live performance in SF which Stereogum kind of ignored.
http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/06/24/liz-phair-marks-15th-anniversary-of-exile-in-guyville-with-first-full-album-show/?rand=14847
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/shookdown/2008/06/last_night_liz_phair_at_the_fi.php
http://www.spin.com/articles/liz-phair-revisits-guyville-sf
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The sad part of all this is that DeRogatis drove to the show ("before my two-hour meter on Belmont could even expire"). The Vic is like, what, 14 steps away from the Red Line. You could use the exercise, Jim. Take the train and walk next time.
I haven't listened to 'Guyville' in a couple years and all I have to remember when I get an inkling to check it out again is that the last time I dialed it in on the iPod, I got about 3 songs in and thought, "Gee, this isn't really all I had it cracked up to be." Then I usually dive into Cat Power's 'Moon Pix'. That shit will stand up for years to come.
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Good heavens, that new song is brutal.
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I'm sorry to say, having purchased Liz Phair's Exile nearly 10 years ago, that I think the album is terribly overrated. While I can understand that Phair's lyrics caught the attention of the indie rock press back in the early 90's, the music is pretty underwhelming and has not aged particularly well. Not that Cat Power sounds anything like Liz Phair, I do agree that her music will likely age far better than Phair's Guyville, Whip-smart, or White Chocolate Space egg (yes, I bought all three.)
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Agree about Exile. But I always liked Whip-Smart. There's something about it.
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She can't sing live for shit but the new song sounds like it could be really good a few edits later.
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i like cat power's moon pix and all. but the greatest isn't so great. and jukebox works then i forget about it. guyville is a classic. it's f-ckin iconic. it's catchy, raw and powerful without being riot grrrl-y. cat power's work can sometimes put me to sleep.
anyway, two other positive reviews for this chicago concert. proving yet again, that critiques are just opinions and everybody has one.
http://illinoisentertainer.com/2008/06/25/liz-phair-live/
http://www.southtownstar.com/concerts/1025165,0625lizphair.article
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Well, um, I read a positive review of another one of her shows. That's good, right? No? Meh. Between Liz and Weezer, this is a really sad time to be a teen of the '90s. :(
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what is this? LIZ PHAIR SHREDS?
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WOW. People love ripping on liz. Wait. Chicago loves ripping on Liz.
No, wait...Chicago WRITERS like ripping on Liz.
See...I was in the crowd. I had three friends. I was surrounded by strangers. and all of us were BLOWN AWAY by her performance. She was bang-on.
if that meant stumbling through some songs and forgetting the CHORDS to others...hell - if you think this is anything new, you've just never seen Liz before.
Par for the coarse.
The show was brilliant. the album was brilliant and i think we were all given a rare treat hearing songs like Gunshy, Shatter and Starnge Loop live for the first time in a long time.
I'm not saying liz can do NO wrong...but with you bitchy critics, she can seriously do NO right.
I for one thought the show NAILED IT - and from the sound of the BOOMING theatre and DEMANDING encore...i KNOW for a FACT I was not alone.
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Wow, getting compared to Sheryl fucking Crow... that's low.
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new song sounded a whole hell of a lot better last night in nyc. probably because the crowd wasn't full of assholes (derogatis and the like, not, you know, the fans).
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1V7pFmoK_1g
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I was in the audience directly behind DeRogatis at the Chicago show, and he had his laptop open the whole time. If you read the commenters on his article, you'll see my and many other audience members' thoughts on the Chicago show. No, she wasn't super-high energy, but she seemed genuinely excited to be back in Chicago, and she played a really good set. Even the P4k writer says the "the show wasn't terrible" in her review. The only one totally bashing her performance was DeRo, and I stopped listening to his opinions a long time ago. By calling Liz Phair's show a "car wreck", he got lots of folks to link to his story (USAToday, this blog, etc.), when the show itself wasn't bad. I used to respect him, but he's no Lester Bangs, just a sad, fat man with a messianic complex.
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Yeah, bad press always gets more attention it seems. That's the only time I ever hear of this guy.
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Hey DeRogatis, isn't it about time for you to get in another feud with Ryan Adams? That'll get some links to your pathetic musings. "The thinking rocker's Paris Hilton?" Bitch, please.
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how was it last night, grambo?
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If you didn't like Guyville in the first place then why would you go see the show.
DeRogatis should win the Lou Reed - What are you, a fucking asshole? - award for this one
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I was at the SF show too, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
If you were going to see Liz Phair expecting to hear a perfect voice (or worse, someone using AutoTune to sound like a perfect voice) and a polished professional rock band show, then you were going with unreasonable expectations for someone putting on a performance of a pretty raw and crappy sounding album. Her entire "deal" was that the lyrics were amazingly honest and blunt and something that 15 years ago you weren't hearing from really anyone at all. Sure, things have evolved and now it's not really much of a big deal to have the concepts of a very strong woman just laying it all out there, but it sure as fuck was in 1993.
And ultimately, that's what you were paying to see. It didn't try to be anything greater than what it was originally. Her voice still sucks, her musical talent still isn't really that talented and she didn't pick a band of slick musicians to tour with her, she just had some guys that knew the songs and could play with her. If you expected something else, you just weren't too informed.
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I saw Liz at the Vic, and it was the most fun I've had at a concert in ages. I thorougly enjoyed the roughness of performance over the flawless, high-gloss typical event. It felt like I was hanging out with Liz instead of watching a concert.
And I'd LOVE to hang out with Liz more often! What an incredible woman.
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LP was a lot of hype ---and still is...
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What is this, and Phair fan site full of Chicago locals? The Jim Derogatis review was SPOT ON! It is absurd to believe Liz Phair had ANY national relevance whatsoever. The only people that give a shit about this pathetic loser are Chicagoans that are completely incapable of objective opinion when it comes to one of their own. THAT is precisely the reason that Chicago is thought of as a total 'homer' city by the rest of the country. To suggest that Liz Phair is a has-been would be generous. Liz Phair is truly a never-was. She is the classic definition of a true 'poseur'. Everything she has touched after Guyville has failed miserably. By the way, to those of you who loved Guyville, which one of the Matrix produced tunes is your favorite? Why can't Liz Phair just go away. What a pathetic local loser.
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Jealousy?
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What? The Matrix and Guyville? What are you talking about?
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