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Last night David and I met up with Darion and Josh for a catch-up dinner at Fat Fish so that we could share the events of the past 3 weeks and just spend time together. Because David and I had been gone for so long, Darion and I decided we needed to hang out as soon as possible. We had a great time and a great meal together. Afterward, Josh and I made our way to The Troubadour to see Liz Phair live in concert.

Last night my friend Josh and I made our way out to the El Rey Theatre here in LA to see Liz Phair perform live on her Funstyle Tour which got underway earlier this week:

Liz is currently on tour in support of her new album Funstyle which she released digitally in July and will release on physical CD on October 19. While she performed a few new songs, the lion’s share of the setlist was made up of classic Liz Phair songs that were the delight of every person in attendance. To be honest, it really felt like a Greatest Hits show to me. After the jump, check out some photos that I snapped of the show last night and check out video of two of my fave performances — Divorce Song and Flower …

On July 4, Independence Day here in the US, rocker Liz Phair released a new album of songs titled Funstyle on her official website without any pomp or circumstance … the songs just popped up on her site for download. Almost as soon as the songs became available, fans began to discuss the newly released songs, critics pounced upon the album (some critics actually got what Liz was trying to convey with the album) and everyone was left wondering what the hell is going on with Liz Phair. Liz has since updated her official website with a message to fans that kind of explains what the release of Funstyle means. Here is that explanation in full:

How To Like It.

You were never supposed to hear these songs. These songs lost me my management, my record deal and a lot of nights of sleep. Yes, I rapped one of them. Im as surprised as you are. But here is the thing you need to know about these songs and the ones coming next: These are all me. Love them, or hate them, but dont mistake them for anything other than an entirely personal, un-tethered-from-the-machine, free for all view of the world, refracted through my own crazy lens. This is my journey. Ill keep sending you postcards.

-Liz

Wow. To be honest, I didn’t know what to make of the album after the first listen … I wasn’t sure if it was meant to be taken as a joke, a serious album or something in between. I had guessed that this collection of songs were outtakes that Liz put together to poke fun at her critics but to learn that these songs lost her management and record deal is very telling. It sounds like Liz was hoping her new record deal with ATO Records would afford her the freedom to write and record whatever she liked … and when she turned in these songs for release, she found that not to be the case. In all honesty, the more I listen to the album the more I see the old Liz Phair expressing herself … while the songs may be very different in tone and subject matter, they sound like they were made in much the same way as Liz‘s first collection of songs (the now legendary Girlysound songs). I am most encouraged by her promise of the songs “coming next” as well as the promise on her website of “TOUR DATES COMING SOON!!!” I’m all for more music and a tour … oh yes, sir, I am.

Additionally, Liz gave an interview to Ken Lee who runs the fantastic Liz Phair fan site Mesmerizing and talked at length about her new music and what’s to come next. After the jump, check out a few excerpts from that interview …

Liz Phair, who some of you may remember set the indie music scene in the 1990′s aflame with her stunning debut album Exile in Guyville and follow-up albums Whip Smart and Whitechocolatespacegg, has come out of nowhere to release a brand new album titled Funstyle on her official website LizPhair.com. Now, before you Phair fans get all excited you have to know that the album sounds to me more like a fun, F.U. to the record label she appears to be pissed off at rather than an serious new album of material. I got to see Liz on tour back in 2008 as she promoted the re-release of her debut album (which was a fantastic tour, btw) and shortly after she finished that tour she revealed that she had signed to Dave Matthews‘s ATO Records label for her next album. Something must’ve went amiss from that time until now because this new “album” is a silly, angry, kind of ridiculous collection of songs:

This Funstyle album costs $5.99 to download at her site and features 11 tracks … I would say only 4 of them are actual serious songs (You Should Know Me, Miss September, Oh Bangladesh and And He Slayed Her). The rest are trippy, weird, sonic experimental things that I believe are meant to be taken tongue in cheek. For the first time in her musical career, Liz Phair raps … and not very well. If you are intrigued, you can listen to the song Bollywood (in which she busts a rhyme) after the jump …

Yesterday was the second day of our Disneyland Gay Days adventure and, let me tell you, it was almost over before it began. It turned out that Michael wasn’t allowed to bring guests into the Disneyland parks yesterday because of the Miley Cyrus birthday bullshizz that was scheduled to take place last night. Normally, he is allowed to bring guests with him to the parks for free since he is an employee of ABC. The guys were almost ready to just call it off and go back home but I offered to just pay for everyone to get in since we were already there and rearin’ to go. We got in line to buy the tickets and, I kid you not, a woman comes over to us and asks us if we want free passes to go to the parks today … she was not an employee, just a woman who had passes that she couldn’t use (yesterday was the last day they were valid) and she thought we could use them. It was just insane … we couldn’t believe our luck. So we got in and were ready to have a fun day … and then I got horribly ill from the previous night’s debauchery. I felt soooooo horrible all day long but, in the end, we managed to rally and have another day of fun at Disneyland:

I also got to meet a few Pink readers at the park yesterday, including Alison who I got to take a pic with:

The day was just really very fun. Michael did a great job planning everything and we had a blast as a result. I gotta say, it wasn’t the Gay Days bit that made yesterday fun … we would’ve had just as much fun on any ol’ day together.

Thankfully, I managed to rally and get better by the time I had to get back to LA to see Liz Phair at The Troubadour last night. It was my first show at the venue and it was awesome. Liz performed her debut album Exile in Guyville in full (like she did in NYC earlier this summer) to a sold-out house … which included Morrissey himself watching from the VIP balcony. Sadly, I couldn’t snap any pics of him but I did get a few of and with Liz:

The crowd was in LOVE with Liz last night. The whole show was basically a sing-a-long with her … she even mentioned how much she loves play to LA crowds. I must admit, tho, that the band was kinda messy last night. I thought they were really tight when I saw them in NYC but played a bit sloppily last night. Honestly, tho, it added to the overall feel of the show. Liz brought Blake Freedman on stage with her to duet on Flower again and she referred to her as her “protégé”. I gotta say, I was not impressed with any of her performances … she’s not a very strong singer and I don’t understand why Liz keeps bringing her on stage. After the jump, check out video of Liz performing Supernova during the encore …

Liz Phair, amazing musician and sexpot, is featured in the new issue of Fashion Rocks magazine which came as a supplement to the September issue of Details magazine. The magazine which marries music and fashion showcases the lovely Ms. Phair in a short piece on her new album and offers some new insight about her previous work that I was unaware of:

In the piece, entitled Dirty Pretty Thing, Liz gushes a bit about her new boyfriend for the early part of the article without offering too much information about him … which I thought was kinda cute. She talks about her debut album Exile in Guyville but it’s pretty much the same sort of stuff that we’ve heard her say over the years … I was more interested in learning that her last album Somebody’s Miracle (which I love) did not feature her on guitar. She wrote all of the music but she claims that higher-ups at her record label (Capitol) insisted on having the guitarist in her band play all of her guitar parts for her:

The album was then barely promoted and ultimately flopped, yet Phair says label president Andy Slater made it as difficult as possible for her to get out of her contract.

The final portion of the article talks about her upcoming return to her “indie roots” by releasing an album on Dave Matthews‘s ATO Records label:

On her upcoming album, she’s happily preserving the “messy, sloppy Liz Phair core of passion” by reinstating spontaneity as the key ingredient. Every sound will be genuine Phair, not just her vocals and guitars but sounds from her everyday life, like the thundering horse hooves of her corral and the waves crashing outside her Manhattan Beach, CA home … “Everything I’ve been doing is coming from a really right place, like I’ve never been this happy …”

To which I say, Hallelujah. Unlike a bitchy group of indie snobs who cast her out and basically spit upon her — metaphorically, of course — after she released her “mainstream” album Liz Phair, I have been a huge fan of hers from the start. Getting to see her perform 2 nights at the Hiro Ballroom earlier this summer was such a treat … I am so ready for new Liz Phair music. I’m excited at the prospect of a totally Phair album … all her, entirely. She is an amazing talent and I know the best is yet to come. If you’re not familiar with her work, I highly suggest you seek it out. She is one of my fave artists ever, I think y’all may love her, too.

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Last night Liz Phair played the second NYC show of her Exile In Guyville Redux Mini-Tour at the Hiro Ballroom in front of another sold out house. This time around, Liz seemed more relaxed and was deffo more spontaneous … she wasn’t quite as chatty as she was on Wednesday night but her encore performance more than made up for the lack of on-stage banter (tho, to be honest, she did banter quite a bit). Here are a few of my pictures from last night’s show:

I’m not sure if I preferred one show over the other but I really loved last night’s performance. Liz looked stunning in her hot pants ensemble and, as I mentioned, appeared much more relaxed than her show the previous night. After the jump, check out more photos from last night’s show, video from her encore performance (she performed Chopsticks, May Queen, Wild Thing and Polyester Bride — I recorded each song) and some of the stuff that she spoke to the crowd from the stage …

Last night Liz Phair played the first of two sold out shows at the Hiro Ballroom here in NYC and I was fortunate enough to attend last night’s show. Because my ticket came thru at the last minute (thanks Tito!), I wasn’t able to secure a plus one ticket but there was no way I wanted to miss last night’s show. Liz Phair is doing a very short tour (only 3 cities) in support of the 15th anniversary redux version of her amazing debut album Exile In Guyville. On Monday she played San Francisco, CA, on Tuesday she played her hometown of Chicago, IL and last night/tonight she plays NYC. Here are a few of my pics from last night’s show:

Liz was in fine form last night. I’ve been lucky enough to see her a few times on tour (in Detroit, Toronto, Grand Rapids) but never in such an intimate setting as last night’s concert. The Hiro Ballroom is tiny and the stage was practically in the middle of the audience … pretty much everyone in the place was close enough to reach out and touch Liz on stage. I loved every second of her performance. She played all 18 of the songs on Exile in Guyville and an extra encore set of 3 extra songs, one of which was a new as-yet untitled song. After the jump, check out more pictures from last night’s show, the full set-list, some of Liz‘s quotes from the stage and a video of her new, untitled song …

Liz Phair‘s debut album, Exile In Guyville, is getting a redux re-release next Tuesday June 24 to mark the 15th anniversary of the album’s initial release. The redux version of the album will come with previously unreleased (well, they were never released officially) bonus tracks and a DVD with a 60 minute documentary kinda sorta thing. Here is the official “trailer” for the docu-whatever:

Additionally, you can head over to Stereogum to download one of the bonus tracks, Ant In Alaska. I cannot even tell you how excited I am for this re-release … Guyville is one of my all-time fave albums ever. Adding to my excitement, I’m planning to attend Liz Phair‘s NYC concerts next week where she will be performing the whole album in its entirety. Woot! I’ve seen Liz a few times in concert but this 15th anniversary Exile in Guyville concert tour thing she’s doing (in NYC, San Francisco and her hometown Chicago) is not to be missed! I can’t wait!!!