denise

Glen Phillips was the opener at Skipper’s on Friday night.  Do you know who he is?  A few of you, but probably not many of you.  If I gave you a hint and said "Toad the Wet Sprocket" would you have more of a clue?  Now more of you are nodding your head, right?  And with links to this and this I’ve probably got almost everyone up to speed on who I’m talking about… so anyway, he was the opener. 

I had no idea Toad had broken up, even though it happened a really long time ago.  Shows how up I am on alternative bands who hit it big, eh?  Well whatever, Toad’s loss was Melissa’s gain.  I am guessing that having Glen on tour with her has been better for her than having Tegan & Sara with her.  There were an awful lot of Glen Phillips people in the audience (or Toad people) – folks who had not heard of Melissa and were there just for Glen.  That simply doesn’t happen very often – even on the rare occasion that someone comes for the opener and only the opener (Tegan & Sara and Michelle Malone would be the big two – Anne Heaton, Erin Mckeown and Edie Carey to a lesser extent) they’re still the same "type of music fans" so she’s reaching the same type of people with those openers.  So – way to go Fleming and Melissa and Glen – because I assume Glen is reaping the same sort of benefit here.

Anyway back to Glen – good show.  He was cute and sang a good mix of his songs and songs from his past life.  He talked softly about his family (I hope his wife is feeling better, his kids haven’t starved and his friends are still his friends when he gets home) and he talked softly but firmly about Walmart (they’re *****) and Costco (they’re big box but pay a living wage).  He held up under the strain of not knowing if he was going to have a crowd of unhappy dykes to deal with.  He played an incredibly long set in front of a very mixed crowd of people – couple hundred there to see him, 3xs that many who weren’t there to see him.  He didn’t wear socks.  I liked him.

Visit his website and while you’re there click his myspace link – music is there and it’s good stuff.  Visit his blog it’s new and nice and quiet, post a comment so he’ll update more often.  And most importantly, if you’re in the Charleston SC area – I suggest you hurry and grab any remaining tickets for the show at the Windjammer (my only favorite bar in the world) and go see him (and Melissa while you’re at it) – tickets may still be available for the Freebird show as well for you Jax/St Augustine folks.

**edited to add…Melissa has cancelled her shows through the 11th but is scheduled to appear (I’m guessing this isn’t a performance) at the Delray Film Festival where Decade will be screened.  Both the cancellations and the film festival are good, in my opinion.   FYI Glen Phillips will still perform at the previously scheduled events so don’t get a refund, go and enjoy Glen!**

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