We’ve all got those albums that nurse us through hard times. You move on from those moments, but they always occupy a special place in your heart. Melissa Etheridge’s self-titled album was one of those discs for me. It was on my periphery on its release, but eight years later when I was a teenager pining over a relationship that never was it all clicked. Melissa’s raw emotion and the lyrics she wrote echoed the heartbreak I felt like nothing else could.
It was that connection I felt so many years ago that took me to the Sydney Opera House on Wednesday night. We’ve bought gotten older, but it was wonderful to cross paths again.
The Melissa of today is much more optimistic than the one that delivered that painful debut. That spirit was encapsulated in her opening number “Fearless Love.” She soars in those strong powerful numbers, but I was thrilled to see she can still tap into that hurt from years gone by. I was floored by a stripped back version of “Precious Pain,” one of the little known numbers from that first disc. The desperation of “I Want to Come Over” was palpable, and the anger of “Somebody Bring Me Some Water” filled the room. Newer positive songs like “Falling Up” can’t quite match the intensity of those earlier tracks, but they bring some necessary balance to her set. So too does her easy banter with the crowd. Her joy at performing in Australia after so long, at a venue she holds in such high regard, was evident.
Melissa closed the night with “Like I Do,” a number that’s everything I love about her. She rocked hard and left her heart on the stage. This tour was a long time coming for her fans, but she gave us everything we could have wished for. Hopefully we won’t be waiting so long for the next go round.
Image source: Angela George @ Wikimedia Commons