Certain bands and artists have songs they just have to play in order to make their gigs complete. It doesn’t matter whether or not you like the song, but a Black Sabbath show without ‘Paranoid’, a Meat Loaf show without ‘Paradise by the Dashboard Light’, a Springsteen show without ‘Born to Run’ and an Iron Maiden show without, say, ‘Iron Maiden’ would be a let-down. Likewise, Melissa Etheridge has to play ‘Like the Way I Do’. In fact, she needs to end her show with it. Because what can come after that song and not be an anti-climax?
When I found out that Melissa Etheridge was coming to The Netherlands to play three shows, I thought to myself, Well, I got all her albums, why not go see her show?
So I mailed my sister, as she likes her music too—which doesn’t happen to often, as apparently I was the one who got the decent taste in music—and got us two tickets for the Heineken Music Hall. The show was last thursday, and I had a blast.
It was much, much better than I hoped it would be. The crowd was totally into it from the first second, and Melissa really seemed to enjoy herself. Perhaps she got a bit carried away with the call-and-response crowd interaction bits, but hey, who cares? The set contained a few tracks for her current album Fearless Love, and a whole bunch of classics. Hell, we even got the world premiere of a brand new song, called ‘You Will’:
And then, in the end, it finally happened: a long, drawn out, ten minute plus jam-fest version of ‘Like the Way I Do’. It was an awesome, uplifting moment: imagine Survivor playing ‘Eye of the Tiger’ or Europe kicking out ‘The Final Countdown’. Wickedly magical.
- Seen live
- Melissa Etheridge at the Heineken Music Hall on February 23, 2012
- Set list
- Fearless Love / If I Wanted To / Chrome Plated Heart / I Want To Come Over / Keep It Precious / The Wanting of You / Come To My Window / Meet Me in the Back / Silent Legacy / You Can Sleep While I Drive / You Will (new song, world premiere) / Drag Me Away / Must Be Crazy for Me / Nervous (incl. Fever) / Bring Me Some Water // Like the Way I Do