|
|
|
Johnette Napolitano seemed a little tired when she took the Tin Angel’s stage for Friday night’s late show. See, two weeks ago, she turned half a century, and she celebrated by partying every single night in September and into October. No matter. Dressed in a black leotard, Chucks, and a sheer gold skirt that kept threatening to fall off, Napolitano held forth on Burning Man, Miss South Carolina’s geography gaffe and Halliburton’s infiltration of New Orleans. Then she went a couple rounds with a rose-bearing female fan who seemed to be pimping out her husband. Of course, what Napolitano does best is belt, and in such a small room, the microphone was superfluous. She dipped into her new solo album, Scarred, but the lion’s share of songs came from her work with Concrete Blonde, including “Little Conversations,” “Joey” and “Mexican Moon.” But nothing topped “I Don’t Need a Hero,” when she ripped into the chorus: “I don’t need a hero / I don’t need a soldier / I did when I was younger / But now I’m so much older.” When it first came out, on 1987’s Bloodletting, Napolitano probably didn’t envision singing those lines two decades later, but she drew out the last word and dunked it with “I’m 50, bitch!” She set fire to “Ghost Riders in the Sky” and made herself choke up on the a cappella AIDS lament “Tomorrow, Wendy,” which she turned into a vigil for Iraqi children and senior citizens before spazzing out on President Bush and abruptly ending the show. The lights came up, the house music came on and someone filched her setlist, but much of the adoring audience stuck around waiting for an encore that never materialized. She was gracious, funny and most likely toasted. And when she was done, she was done. Fuck 30. If this is what middle age looks like, 50’s the new 20.
- Activism
- Arts
- — Arts Events
- — Books
- — Dance
- — First Person Fest
- — Last Chance
- — Museum
- — On the Fringe
- — Philly Artists
- — The Curator
- — Theater
- — Visual Art
- — Arts News
- — Artist Profile
- — Arts Preview
- — Street Art
- Been There, Done That
- Big Ups
- Comedy
- — LOL With It
- — Stand-up
- Critical Mass
- DVD
- Events
- Friday Fill-in
- Ice Cubes
- In Memoriam
- Interview
- Just Do It
- Just Opened
- Kaleidoscopic
- LGBTQ
- — Art Phag
- Mailbag
- Movies
- — Film Fest
- — Movie Review
- — On set
- — Scenester
- — screening
- — trailer!
- Music
- — 10 Track Mind
- — Album
- — Album Review
- — Concert Review
- — DJs
- — Local Support
- — Now Hear This
- — One Track Mind
- — Philly Bands
- — Show
- — Somebody Else Was There
- — Song
- — The Showdown
- — concert photos
- — jazz
- — DJ Nights Blogged
- Night Watch
- Now See This
- Poetic License
- Printed Matter
- Radio
- Shopping
- — Coveted
- — Fashion
- — What We Heart
- TV
- — 24
- — Idol Hands
- — Mad Men
- — ProjRun
- — True Blood
- — Useless Lost Recaps
- — Couch Potato
- — Shore Trash
- — Turned ONN
- — TopMod
- Video Games
- — Free Online Game
- — PSP
- — PlayStation 2
- — The 1-Upper
- — Wii
- Web Junk
- — CAGE MATCH
- — Free Online Toy
- Weekend Omnibus
- Win
- May
- April
- March
- February
- January
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
