Indigo Girls Live in Kansas City at Harrahs’ Voodoo Lounge: July 19, 2012

Emily Saliers and Amy Ray from the Indigo Girls, image from coverlaydown.com

Last night my wife and I went to see the Indigo Girls at Harrah’s Voodoo Lounge in Kansas City. We’ve both been fans since pretty much the beginning, but neither of us had ever seen this alternative rock/folk duo from Georgia. The genre tags are key here – I’ve viewed Amy Ray and Emily Saliers as more folk-rock singers. Consequently I expected a stripped-down affair with a lot of focus on acoustic guitar and, quite possibly, no additional musicians.

Instead, they were backed by a five-piece rock group called the Shadowboxers (who also opened). Who would have guessed the Indigo Girls would put on a show with four guitarists on stage? Then again, they had to make use of the rack of thirty-something guitars which sat behind the keyboardist. It also kept Melissa, the grungy fifty-something guitar tech busy since she brought Amy and Emily a new guitar for every song. I joked with my wife that at some point Melissa should hand the same guitar back and see if anyone noticed.

Indigo Girls in concert in Kansas City

The more rock-oriented show was better suited to Amy’s grittier voice and slightly more animated stage presence. The folksier Emily often appeared to be going through the motions, often looking bored and even annoyed. My wife and I both thought the highlights were the two songs which Amy and Emily performed with no one else on stage – “Power of Two” and “All That We Let In.” The latter, which Emily dedicated to a recently-deceased fan, nearly drew me to tears.

Part of the fascination of the show was seeing a group who is well-established, given their dozen albums released in their 25-year history. However, without a lot of airplay over the years, they are blessed with not having to commit to a set list dominated by songs which fans would never let them get away with skipping. Frankly, the only song I figured they never jettison was “Closer to Fine,” but even then the closing number – and the one which garnered the loudest crowd response – was actually “Galileo.”

Understandably five of the songs were from the most recent album Beauty Queen Sister (2011), but the set list was a nice representation of the duo’s entire careers with cuts from 9 of their 12 studio albums. Here’s the full set list with footnotes referencing the albums from which the songs came.

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The Set List

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1. Least Complicated ⁵
2. Heartache for Everyone ⁹
3. Gone ¹²
4. Get Out the Map ⁶
5. Tried to Be True ²
6. Feed and Water the Horses ¹²
7. Mariner Moonlighting ¹²
8. Power of Two ⁵
9. Shed Your Skin ⁶
10. Trouble ⁷
11. Moment of Forgiveness ⁸
12. Virginia Woolf ⁴
13. Making Promises ¹²
14. What Are You Like ¹¹
15. Share the Moon ¹²
16. Love of Our Lives ¹¹
17. Tether ⁹
18. Closer to Fine ²
19. Go ⁷
20. Galileo ⁴

ENCORE:
21. All That We Let In ⁹
22. Tangled Up in Blue *

Closer to Fine (live in Kansas City)

ALBUMS:
¹ Strange Fire (1987): 0 songs
² Indigo Girls (1989): 2 songs
³ Nomads Indians Saints (1990): 0 songs
⁴ Rites of Passage (1992): 2 songs
⁵ Swamp Ophelia (1994): 2 songs
⁶ Shaming of the Sun (1997): 2 songs
⁷ Come on Now Social (1999): 2 songs
⁸ Become You (2002): 1 song
⁹ All That We Let In (2004): 3 songs
¹⁰ Despite Our Differences (2006): 0 songs
¹¹ Poseidon and the Bitter Bug (2009): 2 songs
¹² Beauty Queen Sister (2011): 5 songs
* Bob Dylan cover (appeared on 1995’s live album 1200 Curfews)

Indigo Girl’s 2010 live album Staring Down the Brilliant Dream

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Resources and Related Links:

• Indigo Girls’ DMDB Music Maker Encyclopedia entry
• IndigoGirls.com (official site)

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Indigo Girls charted with “Closer to Fine”

Closer to Fine Indigo Girls

Writer(s): Emily Saliers (see lyrics here) First Charted: June 17, 1989 Peak: 52 US, 48 AC, 48 AR, 26 MR, 53 CN, 57 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 6.7 video, 35.76 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Amy Ray and Emily Saliers met in elementary school in the Atlanta, Georgia area. As the duo Indigo Girls, they walked “the musical line between R.E.M. and Tracy Chapman” SG and were signed to Epic Records. Their 1989 self-titled sophomore album, but major-label debut, was a two-million seller which nabbed them a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album and a nomination for Best New Artist. Blues singer Michelle Malone, who knew the duo “up-close and early on” SG said the album “captured the essence of that thing Amy and Emily have always done so well: vocal harmony weaving through well-written, sincere songs.” SG On one hand, there was Ray’s “husky alto…digging through the rubble of she was” SG while Saliers’ “lighter touch [served] as a counterweight to Ray’s fiery passion.” SG The album kicked off with “Closer to Fine,” a song featuring a penny whistle, a reference to Rasputin, and the Hothouse Flowers. SG It became “much more than just a folk song: it is joy, hope, and validation set to music.” SG The duo have played it at every concert since its release, eventually making it their show closer. Singer Matt Nathanson calls it a “magical unicorn of a song wrapped up in these campfire chords that anyone can play.” SG Saliers wrote the song sitting on the front porch of a cabin in Vermont while on vacation with her family. As she said, “whenever you’re in such a bucolic setting, it can make you feel very philosophical.” SF As a recent college graduate, she was wrestling with the impact of academia and, essentially, the purpose of life. In the song’s lyrics she “looked to the children” and “drank from the fountains” in search for answers, only to conclude that “the less I seek my source for some definitive / The closer I am to fine.” It served as “a testament to the spiritual notion that we each have all the truth and wisdom we need right here inside of us.” SG Resources: SF Songfacts SG Kelly McCartney (2/28/2019). Stereogum “Closer to Fine at 30: The Legacy of Indigo Girls’ Spellbinding Singalong” Related Links: First posted 10/20/2020; last updated 9/22/2022.

Indigo Girls released self-titled album

Indigo Girls Indigo Girls

Released: February 28, 1989 Peak: 22 US, -- UK, -- CN, 64 AU, 17 DF Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, -- UK, 2.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: folk rock

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts. Closer to Fine (Saliers) [4:02] (6/17/89, 52 BB, 48 AR, 26 MR, 1 DF) Secure Yourself (Ray) [3:35] (4 DF) Kid Fears (Ray) [4:34] (6 DF) Prince of Darkness (Saliers) [5:21] (2 DF) Blood and Fire (Ray) [4:38] (10 DF) Tried to Be True (Ray) [2:59] (5 DF) Love’s Recovery (Saliers) [4:23] (7 DF) Land of Canaan (Ray) [3:57] (9 DF) Center Stage (Ray) [4:46] (10 DF) History of Us (Saliers) [5:27] (7 DF) Total Running Time: 44:36 The Players: Amy Ray (vocals, guitar) Emily Saliers (vocals, guitar)

Rating: 4.125 out of 5.00 (average of 26 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About Indigo Girls Indigo Girls are a folk-rock duo comprised of Amy Ray (born 1964) and Emily Saliers (born 1963). They met in elementary school and started performing together when they were high school students in Decatur, Georgia. W-I They took on the name Indigo Girls when performing at a bar called The Dugout while they attended Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. W-I In 1987, they independently released the album Strange Fire. They signed a deal with Epic Records the following year and released their major-label debut, Indigo Girls, in 1989. About the Album “The Indigo Girls come on strong with an outstanding batch of tunes, watertight harmonies, impeccable musicianship, and flawless production.” AM “Crisp guitar work and haunting harmonies became the stock-in-trade of this powerful duo of ‘girls with guitars.’” AZ It “captures the passion of their youth with voices that are a little cloudy, untamed, and raw, but the power that surges through them suggests a maturity far beyond their years.” AM The songs “resound with a profound sense of honesty and raw emotion.” AZ “The same can be said of the songwriting – sheer poetry. To attempt examinations of these songs would not do them justice, for the layers of meaning and emotion unfold best upon repeated listening.” AM The album went platinum and won a Grammy for Best Folk Recording. The duo also nabbed a Grammy nomination for Best New Aritst. Their Influences and Impact The duo “followed the lead of such greats as Laura Nyro and Joni Mitchell…[and] pumped social conscience and self-esteem into ringing acoustic anthems.” AZ “Entering the folk-rock music scene on the successful heels of R.E.M., Tracy Chapman, and 10,000 Maniacs,” AM the pair’s music was perfectly timed to “catch the rising tide of feminist rock.” AZ They would set the stage for even more confessional singer/songwriters who treaded ground between folk-rock and alternative rock, helping pave the way for artists like Tori Amos, Sheryl Crow, and Alanis Morissette. The Songs Here are thoughts on individual songs. “Closer to Fine” “The eponymous release kicks off with the upbeat jangle bounce of Closer to Fine, a modest hit, all-time fan favorite written by Emily Saliers, and a tune the Girls still play at every concert. A particularly fascinating point is that the Indigo Girls never write songs together, but they compliment each other perfectly.” AM Amy Ray Songs “The difference in styles becomes immediately apparent when the more dark and brooding Amy Ray steps up. Her remarkable contributions include Secure Yourself, Kid Fears, and Blood and Fire, spiritual ruminations of life, love, pain, and faith which bury themselves deep inside your core whether invited or not.” AM Emily Saliers Songs “Weighting the opposite scales, Saliers offers a tender balance to Ray with two beautiful ballads, Love's Recovery and History of Us. (Ray's Land of Canaan was once a ballad, but then she heard the Replacements and it became a bit of a rocker.) Chiming in with musical support are Hothouse Flowers, Luka Bloom, and fellow Georgians R.E.M.” AM Notes: A 2000 reissue added live versions of “Land of Canaan” and “Center Stage.”

Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Indigo Girls AM AllMusic.com review by Kelly McCartney AZ Amazon.com review by L.A. Smith WK Wikipedia page on Indigo Girls album W-I Wikipedia page on Indigo Girls Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/24/2008; last updated 12/3/2024.