Reviews: Melanie at the Cutting Room

Related Sites:

Melanie

By Tiffany Razzano

t may not be 1969, but Woodstock's hippie chick Melanie is still writing folk music, as well as playing old fan favorites, that bring listeners back to the summer of love.

She, along with her adult son Beau, performed two shows at the Cutting Room in New York City on June 16 and 17. At the second show, she was introduced by the original cowboy from the Village People. The first words out of Melanie's mouth when she walked on stage were, "I always wanted to be one of the Village People."

She opened with the wonderful Be So Careful, followed by a cover of Uncle Pat by Irish group Ash. Melanie turned the upbeat tune by the Brit-rock/punk-pop group into a ballad that made the transition beautifully.

Aside from that, she played some other newer songs, including Jammin' Alone and Smile, though she closed the set with Save Me, an awesome, emotional and empowering song and staple from back in the day.

Beau

Rather than an intermission, her son Beau, who had been backing her up on guitar, played about five songs on his own. All but one of his songs were instrumental in the style of classical guitar playing, which showed off his skills. Nepotism certainly was not the only reason Melanie was touring with her son backing her up; he's an amazing guitar player. However, it seemed as though most people were there to see Melanie, hoping to hear the "hits." Many people got restless towards the end of his turn in the limelight.

When Melanie came back on stage she immediately launched into Ruby Tuesday, a Rolling Stones tune that she made her own back in the sixties, which really got the crowd going. She played a few more newer songs, including Make It Work for Me, Ordinary Rain, Crazy Love, Rock 'n' Roll Heart and I Tried to Die Young (which during a story prior to beginning the song she did a spot-on impression of Joan Rivers).

Then she got really heavy on the old material. She played Peace Will Come (According to Plan) followed by the jaunty and energetic Look What They Done to My Song, Ma. Melanie told the audience that if a bio-pic were ever made about her life, this would be the song played during the opening and closing credits. As funny as she ever was, at a lull in the song, Melanie said that in the movie, that would be the point where she went crazy and had her meltdown, yelling out to the audience, "Mama? ... Pap? ...What the hell do you people want from me?" Then she picked up the song where she left off.

For an encore she played Lay Down (Candles in the Rain), which she is known for playing at Woodstock. Just when the audience thought that might be the final song of the evening, she told the story of her biggest hit, a tune her husband and manager decided was hit material and should be sped up. This tune was the boppy Brand New Key, easily her most well-known song, having been played during a Fisher-Price commercial some years back.

She ended the night with Beautiful People, which she dedicated to "all of the beautiful people in the audience."

0 6 . 2 5 . 0 6