Spokane Has Been A Barometer For Melissa Etheridge’s Career
To chart the trajectory of Melissa Etheridge’s career, just plot her Spokane appearances on graph paper:
1989: Plays to small but appreciative crowd at The Met.
1990: Plays to average-sized crowd at the Opera House.
1992: Plays to large crowd at the Opera House.
1995: Sells out Opera House two hours after tickets go on sale.
Melissa Etheridge has broken out, big time. After touring incessantly and single-mindedly for six years, her popularity has soared geometrically this year. She is now a mass-market phenomenon, not a cult attraction.
Not bad for a woman who, the last time she was in Spokane, said, “I have never been in the Top 40. It would be nice to have one, but I don’t resent it.”
When reminded of that remark last week, she laughed and said, “Be careful what you ask for.”
Etheridge is a staple of the charts now, with such songs as “Come to My Window,” “I’m the Only One” and “All-American Girl.” But as she has discovered, popularity is not without its drawbacks.
“Sure, it’s great,” she said by phone from California. “But along with it comes a whole new set of rules. It’s a serious public thing now. It used to be I was in this kind of safe fan haven. It was the people who loved my music and loved me, and it was all very safe and sweet.”
Don’t get her wrong. She still loves her audience. It’s just that - it’s so much bigger than it used to be, she’s not sure she knows it as well.
She dates the change from the day she performed at Woodstock ‘94 last summer.
“That was sort of the beginning of the big change, the big step,” she said. “I went into Woodstock with a very open mind, thinking it could be just horrible, it could be great. Whatever, I’m just going to do it.
“There were definitely some fans there, which really helped. And then there were a lot of people who kind of knew me but had never seen me, and I could see them getting into it. And then there were the ones who were like, ‘Oh, who’s this? This is good.”’
That young Woodstock audience discovered what many have discovered before - catch Etheridge live on stage and you’re hooked.
“I’d like to think that I laid the groundwork for that for years,” said Etheridge.
All of this mass popularity has also planted her in the public eye far more than before, but she has gotten off surprisingly lightly, considering that her personal life is not exactly orthodox. She announced in 1993 that she is a lesbian, and she has a relationship with Julie Cypher, a film director.
“I’ve never been in the Enquirer,” she told Entertainment Weekly recently, with mock sadness. “They never hunted me down because I’ve been totally upfront. What good is it if everyone knows?”
One positive thing about being a star: It’s easier to make your dreams come true. When the MTV people asked her if there was anyone she wanted to sing with on her “MTV Unplugged” special, she said, “Bruce Springsteen,” almost as a joke. She assumed it would never happen. But it did.
“They called him, and he said, ‘Absolutely,’ and I did cartwheels,” she said.
Stardom also gives her a chance to give exposure to artists who deserve it. She heard a young rock singer named Joan Osborne singing on the radio in L.A. one day, and she was deeply impressed.
“She just has this great, rough, bluesy, earthy soulful voice,” Etheridge said.
So she signed Osborne to open the first leg of the tour, including the Spokane show.
Even though the Spokane show is sold out, there’s hope for Etheridge fans willing to drive a little. Etheridge opens her tour at the Sundome in Yakima tonight at 8. Tickets for the Yakima show are still available through Ticketmaster outlets at DJ’s Sound City at University City and NorthTown malls and downtown at the Crescent Court.
MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Melissa Etheridge Location and time: Opera House, Saturday, 8 p.m. Tickets: Sold out (A few tickets may become available on the day of the show; call 325-SEAT or (800) 325-SEAT.)