Liz Phair at House of Vans, Brooklyn

Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Liz Phair lived her early childhood in Cincinnati, Ohio, until age nine when her family relocated to the Chicago suburb of Winnetka, Illinois. After college in Ohio in 1990, she attempted to start a musical career in San Francisco, California, but returned to her home in Chicago, where she self-released three widely-circulated audio cassettes in 1991 under the name Girly Sound. She joined the alternative music circuit in Chicago and began recording under her own name in 1993. Phair had sold over three million records worldwide. Phair released Girly-Sound to Guyville, on May 4, 2018; the set is a 25th-anniversary retrospective of her debut album, Exile in Guyville, and includes remasters of the Girly Sound demo tapes. Phair resides in Manhattan Beach, California.

After nearly a decade of recluse, Liz Phair re-entered a very different music scene in 2018 than when her debut album perhaps unexpectedly waved the flag of feminist music in 1993. Opening for Blondie at House of Vans tonight, Phair seemed to link the past with the present and possibly the future, showcasing her self-made identity as a solid female rocker without adopting male rock star postures or sexploitative female stereotypes. Backed by four male musicians, Phair played her guitar and sang in a clear voice, her lyrics unapologetically articulating her womanly desires and vulnerabilities. The set consisted of five songs from her pivotal debut and five later songs that with age now sounded more like pop songs than indie rockers. Regrettably, Phair performed only songs from the 1990s; while these songs retained their integrity and significance, it would have been interesting to hear new compositions as well.

Visit Liz Phair at www.lizphairofficial.com.

Setlist:

1. 6’1″
2. Fuck and Run
3. Divorce Song
4. Polyester Bride
5. Stratford-on-Guy
6. Never Said
7. Supernova
8. Johnny Feelgood
9. Extraordinary
10. Why Can’t I?