“Are there any lesbians in the house?” teased Melissa Etheridge during her set at Kings Theatre. The response from the audience was a thunderous cheer, as the Kansas native recalled living and working in the gay community in New York City prior to her international fame as a rocker. Tonight, a rare co-headlining evening with Indigo Girls, was a celebration that would not have been so open a little more than two decades ago in the 20th century, when LGBTQ+ rockers were more of a secret society.
Now 63 years old, Etheridge has come a long way since releasing her first album at age 27 in 1988. In the ensuing 36 years, she has sold more than 13 million albums in the United States, five of them at platinum status. She has collected a cabinet full of Academy, Grammy, GLAAD Media, and other prestigious awards, in addition to having a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Eldridge’s most recent project is a docuseries, I’m Not Broken (Live from Topeka Correctional Facility), which premiered this summer at the TriBeCa Film Festival. She also released an accompanying soundtrack album. At Kings Theatre, Etheridge introduced the title track of the film, a rocking anthem that she wrote for the incarcerated women who attended her concert at the penitentiary. She taught the chorus to the audience for a singalong; she even specifically invited the men in the audience to sign the self-empowering chant, “I’m a burning woman.”
Eleven songs from her set were culled from her first five albums. Etheridge’s gritty, soulful voice carried the songs well, and she played wicked lead guitar on many of her bangers. The band (Max Hart on keyboards and guitar, Eric Gardner on drums, Joe Ayoub on bass) gave appropriate punch to the catalog. Indigo Girls came on stage for one song and harmonized with Etheridge on “You Can Sleep While I Drive.” Fan favorites included “If I Wanted To,” “Come to My Window,” “Bring Me Some Water,” and “I’m The Only One” (with Etheridge playing harmonica), closing with “Like the Way I Do.” Towards the end of her performance, she handed her guitar to her roadie and joined her drummer at his kit for an extended drum duet. Throughout the set, Etheridge warmly engaged the audience with numerous anecdotes between songs.
Like Etheridge, the Indigo Girls are among the LGBTQ+ elders in rock music. Paralleling Etheridge’s career in music, the Indigo Girls – Emily Saliers (61) and Amy Ray (60) – became underground queer icons upon the release of the duo’s first album in 1987. Almost 35 years after the release of the folk-rockers’ first radio hit “Closer to Fine,” the Indigo Girls experienced a resurgence in popularity. This was last year upon the release of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie, in which Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie singing “Closer to Fine” figures prominently in the storyline. Also in the cinema in 2023, the Indigo Girls’ music was the foundation of Tom Gustafson’s Glitter & Doom and Alexandria Bombach’s documentary, Indigo Girls: It’s Only Life After All.
Like Etheridge, the Indigo Girls did not have a new studio album to promote on this tour, so the concert at the Kings Theatre was a career retrospective, primarily spotlighting the peak catalog from the 1990s. Standing before a massive backdrop with an image of a bookshelf filled with books banned in the United States, Saliers and Ray strapped on their guitars, stepped to the microphones, and electrified the theater with “Shame on You,” a song that criticizes immigration deportations. The 17-song set included deep cuts, each given dynamic arrangements that made them sound as fresh as a new song. Lucy Wainwright Roche sang backup vocals on all songs, but also was given a few minutes for a solo song. Curiously, each time the band tore into a strong rocker, Salier and Ray then unstrapped their electric guitars and strapped on acoustic guitars. Folk rock, country rock and pop rock were all in their wheelhouse, and they did a solid job of unifying all these sounds. The duo concluded their set with a handful of fan favorites, including “Galileo,” “Kid Fears,” and “Closer to Fine.” Etheridge joined Indigo Girls on stage for the latter two songs. Indeed, the Indigo Girls sounded closer to fine than ever.
The brief co-headlining tour of Melissa Etheridge and Indigo Girls proved that both are older rock acts that still deliver the goods. The recently released documentaries, It’s Only Life After All and I’m Not Broken, will help the artists reach broader audiences. Hopefully on their next tours they will have new songs to sing.
Indigo Girls Setlist
- Shame on You
- Least Complicated
- Heartache for Everyone
- Power of Two
- Yoke
- Trouble
- Joking
- Pendulum Swinger
- Get Out the Map
- Scooter Boys
- Ghost
- Tether
- Look Long
- Go
- Galileo
- Kid Fears (with Melissa Etheridge)
- Closer to Fine (with Melissa Etheridge)
Melissa Etheridge Setlist
- Must Be Crazy for Me
- If I Wanted To
- You Can Sleep While I Drive (with Indigo Girls)
- I Want to Come Over
- You Used to Love to Dance
- No Souvenirs
- Come to My Window
- Chrome Plated Heart
- I’m a Burning Woman
- Bring Me Some Water
- I’m the Only One
Encore
- Like the Way I Do
