The Roots Report: Indigo Girls

Okee dokee folks… Thursday night the enduring duo Indigo Girls performed a show, accompanied by Francisco Noya and the RI Philharmonic, to an enthusiastic audience of about 2,300 at Providence Performing Arts Center. The Indigo Girls dominated the Newport Folk Festival during the early ’90s and were a fan favorite for most of that decade. They have played the area many, many times over the ensuing years and this recent show had 65+ musicians playing along with them. I believe this is the second (maybe third) time that they have performed this show at PPAC. Each time they present this show it is a treat. Thursday night was no exception. The “Girls” played a 17-song, two-set show that included selctions from some of their 30+ year catalogue of recordings: Swamp Ophelia, Beauty Queen Sister, Poseidon And The Bitter Bug, One Lost Day, Rites of Passage, 1200 Curfews and, of course their eponymous release Indigo Girls. Unfortunately, performing with a band of such size and type has its limitations and restrictions — no requests, no encore, much to the dismay of the screaming fans — but on the other end you hear songs with strings, brass and woodwinds like you have never heard them before. Though the orchestra rehearses the arrangements in depth before the performance, they only get a once through rehearsal with the Indigo Girls in advance. Amy Ray goofed a little during one song, she stopped and they all started over again. It was all fine and they had a laugh. The song of resistance, “Go” took on the feeling of a Bond theme with the help of the Francisco Noya and the RI Philharmonic. The biggest songs of the night were, of course, the more popular ones such as “Galileo,” which brought the first set to a close with the audience singing along so loudly it almost drowned out the large band. Other songs such as “Kid Fears,” “The Power of Two” and “Chickenman” were also big hits with the audience. There was quite a bit of “hooting and hollering,” something that you would not normally hear at an orchestral show. The musicians just happily drank it all in! No Indigo Girls show would be complete without their signature song, “Closer To Fine.” This one always has Indigo Girls turning a verse or two over to the crowd to sing and they never miss a word. That ended the 90-minute show to the dismay of the legions of fans who wanted more, but as I mentioned before there isn’t much wiggle room when an orchestra is involved! I have been a fan of the Indigo Girls since I first heard their music back in 1988. I saw them open for Neil Young around that time and they were still just performing as a duo. Though the duo is still my personal favorite incarnation I enjoy all they do and have seen them live maybe 30 or more times in 30 years. As with any musical act time takes its toll and unfortunately Emily Saliers’ voice is starting to falter a bit. She still has power and showed it by belting out a long note but her vocals were somewhat wavery. Oddly, on the other hand, Amy Ray’s voice seems to have gotten stronger and more powerful over the years. Regardless the duo still sounds great and the vocal and guitar interplay compensate for each other. Their songs are still strong and have stood the test of time. Hopefully they can endure for many years to come.   

That’s it for now. Thanks for reading. www.JohnFuzek.com