track 65: surrounded

an uncharacteristically long post. i recommend hitting play on this video first. (i also recommend pretending there is no backing vocalist)



December 16, 1997


As part of my birthday, my mom, Dave and I went to Lilith Fair when it came to Florida for the first time. There was an amazing line up that included Letters to Cleo, Missy Elliot, Luscious Jackson, Indigo Girls and Sarah McLachlan. The standout moment for me was Chantal Kreviazuk singing this song.

About a month earlier, I had quit Toys R Us after 5 years (and two weeks) and was quite happy to just be spending the Holiday season with my family instead of Geoffrey the Giraffe. This is a review I wrote at the time, parts of which actually made me blush a little.

Subj: Lilith Fair Holiday Show- rundown
Date: 97-12-17 02:23:50 EST

Hi everybody- back & barely awake, but since my capacity to remember things is
embarrassingly small, thought I'd post this now.

3:35- Village Stage- Mary Karlzen
Just Mary & Mark (?) playing acoustic guitars. Don't remember any of the
titles, but I loved the songs. Will actually be going out tomorrow to hunt
down "SHOUTING AT MARY" I don't think I ever did. Very funny coupla people. (note: cute guy on stage)

4:05- Village Stage- Kacy Crowley
Hmmm. Jury's out. I liked the first song, not the second. Liked the third,
not the next. Was kind of taken aback when she was about to start & I turned
around & swore for half a second that it was Ani Difranco. She's just a wee
little thing.

4:25- B Stage- Chantal Kreviazuk
Okay, big surprise. I had 2 of her songs on compilations- "Hand" which I
didn't like at all, and "God Made Me" which has grown on me. The songs she
sang that were NOT "Hand" I fell in love with. Sorta reminded me of a calmer
Paula Cole. Nice lady, too. Will look up her album. Under These Rocks and Stones

5:05- B Stage- Letters To Cleo
My first big thrill of the day. They're favorites of mine. Set list more or
less: Fast Way/Awake/I Got Time (!!!)/Anchor/something i forgot/Big Star (!!!)/Here
& Now. It's quite possible there was another song in there, too, but that's
mostly it. Kay gave me this whole vibe that for some odd reason made me recall
seeing Belinda Carlisle & the Go-Go's back when I was in sixth grade. Rockin'
band. First time I got to see 'em live. Very cool.(note: cute guys too)

5:30- Village Stage- Ana Gasteyer
Ana (of SNL fame) was playing a character named Kimber. She was basically
doing a parody of ultra-serious PC folk singer-type people. Hilarious! She did
the "Basted In Blood" song that she performed with Sarah McLachlan on SNL a
few weeks ago, as well as an anti-frankfurter song called "Sausage of Pain".
She also did a whole monologue routine-rant about the Holidays that made me
laugh my ass off & wonder if she's been lurking on the Indigo Girls mailing
list lately...

5:50- Main Stage- Luscious Jackson
Another group I like a lot. Their setup was a lot like the one Joan Osborne
had when I saw her @ Lilith in Atlanta. I love it when there's a band and a
DJ- it just makes things feel funky. (that was a little joke for anybody who's
actually met me & heard me say "feel funky") Set list- Here/Strongman/Mood
Swing/Naked Eye/Deep Shag/Why Do I Lie/Surprise. Kate S. is a kickass
drummer!! I liked 'em, but I think I prefer their studio stuff.

6:25- B Stage- K's Choice
This is the part when I ate dinner.

7:00- Main Stage- Missy Elliot
Ok, I dig Missy. But apparently no one else did. The only time the crowd was
even slightly into her was when she did "The Rain"- I really felt for the
girl- She was feeling sick & giving it her best, but I don't think many people
appreciated what she does. :( I don't think she even did her full set. What
she DID do was: Sock it to me (!!)/ Beep Me 911/ some other song.../Supa Dupa
Fly (the rain) There were dancers & they actually started the set by dancing
to The Prodigy. I love you, Missy!!

7:50- Main Stage- Indigo Girls
The best show I've seen. This was the first time I got to see A&E with Jerry
on the drums & Sara Lee on bass. Very cool. (No Romeo & Juliet, sorry) They
also brought out the others to play with 'em, which I loved. Here you go:
Shame on You/Least Complicated/Shed Your Skin (with Missy Elliot hoppin'
around & Kate from Luscious Jackson on drums!)/Get Out The Map/Tried to be
True (with Sheryl Crow on accordian & backups)/Water is Wide (with Sheryl Crow
& Sarah McLachlan)/Keep on Rockin' in the Free World (with K's Choice)/Scooter
Boys/Galileo/Closer to Fine (with Sheryl, Sarah, K's Choice, Kacey, and
Luscious Jackson) No broken strings, Amy wore the same outfit I saw her in
last time, Sara lee played keyboards on Rockin' in the Free World.

9:00- Main Stage- Sheryl Crow
Pretty groovy performance. By this point I was tired of standing, but she
got me swinging again. But then again, I fall for anyone with a harmonica.
Set:
A Change/Sweet Rosalyn/If It Makes You Happy/Home/Every Day Is A Winding
Road/Hard to Make a Stand/Leaving Las Vegas/All I Wanna Do (that's in no
particular order) Hard to Make a Stand was the highlight, imho. ;)
Also, Sheryl had a cold :(

10:10- Main Stage- Sarah Mclachlan
Uh-huh!! My girl rocked. A much better performance than the Atlanta LF, I
felt. Before she even stepped out, we were all on our feet. Amazing energy for
a buncha freezing Floridians (tech note: A freezing Floridian is a Floridian
in weather under 60 degrees) I may feel that she was better cuz I loved the
set: Sweet Surrender/Wait/Hold On/Building A Mystery/Angel/Good Enough
Possession/Ice Cream Definitely my Mom's favorite act. (Mom also thought that
Kacy was sort of like Bob Dylan -not a compliment from her- Didn't dig Missy
(shock), thought that Luscious Jackson were talented but not her style, Loved
Mary Karlzen & Chantal, thought LtC were "very energetic"- Loved Ana G's act,
Sheryl Crow, and most importantly the Indigo Girls. ;)

Finale- Main Stage- Everyone but Missy E & Ana G-
"Big Yellow Taxi". Highlight of the night, for sure! And I laughed my ass
off when the girls behind me asked if that was one of Sarah's songs. The
answer- "No, not hers, but I think it's one of those chicks" sacrilege.

next time: i'm on a lonely road that leads to nowhere

track 61: Ladder • b/w track 62: Building a Mystery

August 1, 1997
My mom, Dave and I set off for another visit to my Aunt Charlotte's in Cleveland, Georgia. However, Dave and I made a stop along the way in Atlanta, where we stayed with Lisa for a couple of days to attend the first Lilith Fair. I mean, how could I possibly resist when 80% of my musical love is for girls with guitars? On that day, we saw Fiona Apple, Susanna Hoffs, Joan Osborne (who sang an amazing version of her song "Ladder"), Jewel and Sarah McLachlan. Emmylou Harris was there as well, but at this point I wasn't much of a fan and I think we used that time to visit the food stands. It was the first time I got to see Sarah live and the only time I've ever seen Fiona Apple play.



Whenever a track from Joan's album Relish plays on my ipod, I remember how much I liked it. I also really liked some of the songs from her second disc, Righteous Love even better.

next time: if someone like you found someone like me then suddenly nothing would ever be the same

track 49: joking / track 50: cradle and all

In the Spring of 1996 I made the acquaintance of two women who both became important parts of my life. Okay, sort of. I mean, I've never met one of them personally, and the other one I had known for some months via the wonderful world of AOL. As I mentioned previously, when I arrived on the internet, the first thing I did was look up more information about Christian Bale and the first people I became friends with online were Baleheads. One was a girl in California, a high school student called Brianne. Eventually she introduced me to another Balehead from Atlanta, Lisa Dupre. The three of us would usually be online around the same time every night and we'd hang out in a private chat room talking about Christian, movies, musicals and music. Eventually we'd mail each other mix tapes, too. I totally clicked with Lisa and I remember praising the music of Sarah McLachlan and the Indigo Girls to her. I know that at the time she listened to mostly musicals; we bonded over Andrew Lloyd Webber and our love for Michael Ball from Aspects of Love. So at one point, I made her a mix tape: One side had Sarah McLachlan, the other had the Indigo Girls. She loved it.



While my brother was on Spring Break that year, he and my mom and I were going up to visit my Aunt Charlotte & Uncle Bill in Cleveland, Georgia. Lisa and I made plans to meet up in Atlanta for lunch. We finally met face to face at Rainy Day Records, a local store that was a favorite among the people on the Indigo Girls mailing list I was part of. At the record shop, Lisa asked me which Indigo Girls album she should start with and I told her Rites of Passage, since it was my personal favorite. (so there! see?) We both ate our favorite meal, chicken fingers, at Grady's and posed for a photo, with Lisa holding a photo of Brianne, the third member of our nightly trio. Whenever I'd visit Lisa, we'd usually end up going back to Grady's for a meal, but I think Rainy Day Records is probably gone by now. I know people usually say stuff like "Oh their music changed my life!" or whatever, but that little act of making a mix tape for my friend actually ended up having a giant impact on her life. Because now Lisa (who has seen the Indigo Girls probably hundreds of times, traveling to see them play) helps run the official IG and Amy Ray websites. In fact, earlier this year Lisa and Dee came up to NYC for a show Amy did at Housing Works. After the show, Lisa introduced me to Amy as the person who introduced her to the Indigo Girls. Amy smiled, said "Wow! Good to meet you!" and shook my hand. Life can be pretty awesomely strange sometimes, no?




However, it was at Rainy Day Records that I also made the acquaintance of another longtime companion: Ani DiFranco. Through the IG list, I kept hearing about other musicians: Dar Williams, Michelle Malone and Ani DiFranco, who seemed to be mentioned above all others. Not long before our trip to Georgia, I had heard one of Ani's songs on WVUM and decided to give her a try. At the record store, I discovered that she had recorded tons of albums. I chose the most recent one at the time, Not a Pretty Girl. From the opening effect of swirling guitars on "Worthy" I was hooked. Ani had a sound that was absolutely her own. Especially her guitar work which is sort of muscular and bold - I can't explain it better than that, but she's one of the few artists whose guitar playing I can recognize because it seems to have its own unique voice. Lyrically, she was smart and witty, brash and fierce. I loved the fact that she had released all of her albums on her own label, and in fact, she has continued to chart her own course during her career. I became a huge fan.



While Not a Pretty Girl is still one of my favorite Ani albums, it is the one she released a few weeks after I discovered her, Dilate, that is my all-time favorite. It's one of those beautiful and heartbreaking albums that always seemed to me to be about unrequited love, which is my area of expertise. I immediately delved into Ani's backlist as well, her first few albums are just her and her guitar, but sound just as rich as the rest of her work. However, some of the best Ani stuff are the live recordings, especially Living in Clip. Her music continues to push boundaries and even when I'm not completely transfixed, it is always worth listening to the little folk singer who could.

next time: get out the map and lay your finger anywhere down

track 44: elsewhere

One of the problems with remembering all of this is that sometimes the timelines get mixed up. This song rightfully belongs a few spaces up. Track 42, where it would have been between Jeff Buckley and the Indigo Girls. Because I know that I listened to Sarah McLachlan before getting the Boys on the Side soundtrack.



Discovering Fumbling Towards Ecstasy was another case of reading so many reviews that I decided to take a chance on an album. I remember having liked Sarah's song "Into the fire" from her previous album, Solace. I remember the first time I heard it, one afternoon on WVUM, I thought it was a new Sinéad O'Connor song. I had probably also heard Fumbling's big single, "Possession" at some point before buying the album. In my mind, Fumbling Towards Ecstasy is a perfect album. It's also the only perfect Sarah McLachlan album. Because of course, I immediately dived into her back catalog, and as much as I love Touch and Solace, they have their flaws and can be a bit pretentious and flowery. Further on, Surfacing would suffer a bit, despite being her giant breakthrough to popular music, because anything following a perfect album will be a disappointment and Afterglow would be a bit dull.

Regardless, I was obsessed with Fumbling and with Sarah and soon my love for her and my love for the Indigo Girls would lead to big things: Discovering Joni Mitchell and introducing my friend Lisa to the music of Sarah and the Girls.

next time: i would dial the numbers just to listen to your breath