Written By | Cliff Yaun

Opening the show was an artist completely new to me, Taylor Janzen. I heard some chatter in the crowd prior to the show about the opening act, which I hadn’t heard of until that night. I’ll be upfront with you, folks. I love all types of music, but when it comes to rock n’ roll, I usually swing toward the harder side. So, the idea of a singer / songwriter doesn’t always get me excited. That being said, I am happy to say that I’ve discovered a new artist that I added to my collection immediately after leaving the show.

See More Photos of Taylor Janzen HERE.

Taylor’s music started off soft, melodic and melancholy, reaching low and slow valleys when her band exited the stage for brief solo performances. But, the show rose to a knee-slapping high with “New Mercies” toward the end of the performance. Taylor’s music is deep, personal and to be honest, beautiful in its composition as well as delivery. There was definitely more than one new fan made that night at Terminal West.

See More Photos of Liz Phair HERE.

From the opening chat about her time in Texas and running away with “Yeeeehaaaawww” and taking it as her own, Liz Phair’s performance was a non-stop high full of all the raunch and unfiltered topics you’d expect from her. Admittedly, I hadn’t listened to Liz since probably the mid to late 90s, and when I did, the lyrics didn’t resonate with me, as I was but a teenager and probably not even paying attention. Liz had the crowd jumping, singing along, cheering with delight and even laughing at points with jokes and frank conversation between songs. Speaking of the crowd…this photographer learned a valuable lesson that night.

When Liz comes to town, you show up early or you may not be able to see the stage. She absolutely packed the house, with audience members stating this was the most people they had ever seen in the venue. When I saw the opportunity to shoot this show, I jumped! I knew this was going to be an interesting and fun night and that everything from the stage show to the audience members was going to be a spectacle. I was not disappointed.

Photos By | Cliff Yaun