Story & Photographs by Diane Fleischman
If there was one message that Melissa Etheridge conveyed in her ‘Merry Christmas, Baby’ concert at The Sands Bethlehem Event Center Thursday night, it was to be joyful and spread it around. For this holiday tour, Etheridge has partnered with the Marines and the ‘Toys for Tots’ drive. She explained that the donations collected would be distributed to children in the Lehigh Valley.
The show kicked off in true holiday fashion as she opened with “It’s Christmas Time”, full of fa-la-la-la-las and smoky guitar jams. As one would expect, there were plenty of holiday songs, but also a great amount of fan favorites performed.
With most of her hit songs now skimming the twenty-five year mark, “I Want to Come Over” slid on with ease, like a pair of the most comfortable shoes. From her second album, ‘Brave and Crazy’, “Royal Station 4/16” offered a harmonica intro, later followed by an intense harmonica solo, and in this extended performance, also included a soulful electric guitar solo which brought the crowd to their feet in a standing ovation. She paid tribute to Tom Petty in a slower and emotional version of “Refugee”, and also included songs standard to her set lists, “Chrome Plated Heart”, “Come to My Window”, “Bring Me Some Water”, and “I’m the Only One.”
There was plenty of banter throughout the show, Etheridge stated that she grew up with “army brats”, as their Kansas home neighbored an Army base, as “Christmas in America”, was written and dedicated to all service men. She performed John Lennon’s “Happy Christmas/War is Over”, and stated that it was her favorite Christmas song. At one point, Etheridge took us back to her church choir days, as she longed to sing the soprano part in “O Night Divine” that she never got. Instead, Etheridge ripped a guitar solo that would make Jimi Hendrix proud. The set closed with a Christmas standard, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”.
Etheridge returned for a one-song encore, “Like the Way I Do”, and rode it for over ten minutes. After performing a smidge over two hours, there was plenty of emotion left for a guitar solo, and also enough energy as she incorporated a drum duet that brought the house down.
At 56 years old, Etheridge stands strong as a rock and roll veteran, and now a 13-year breast cancer survivor. She’s got a lot to feel joyous about, and that was shared throughout the venue.
Want more Etheridge? Join her and Sarah McLachlan along with many more artists set to sail the seas to Puerto Rico March 2018 on Royal Caribbean’s ‘Rock the Boat Cruise.’
Melissa Etheridge Links
https://www.instagram.com/melissa_etheridge/
https://twitter.com/metheridge
https://www.facebook.com/MelissaEtheridge
https://www.youtube.com/user/melissaetheridge
