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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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!!!