Photo Credit: Brianna Cravatzo at the first stop on the “Yes I Am” tour in Tucson, Arizona.
By Shannon Miller
In September, Melissa Etheridge kicked off her tour at the Fox Tucson Theatre in Arizona. Conveniently named after her 1993 hit album, “Yes I Am,” the tour will visit the Tilles Center on the LIU Post campus in Brookville on Oct. 7.
The tour marks the 30th anniversary of Etheridge’s first album release. Since then, she completed 14 albums, five of which are platinum, and landed herself six singles on Billboard’s Top 40.
In 2004, she placed her music career on hold to successfully battle breast cancer, which motivated her involvement in cancer awareness for women.
Etheridge is an openly gay female using her fame to advocate for the LGBTQ community. Her success won her a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Yet, Hugh Fraser, a student at LIU Post, said, “Never heard of her; is she a singer?” And he is one of many in his generation to share in this unfamiliarity.
Others on the LIU Post campus, though, are quite familiar with Etheridge. Dan Cox, director of broadcasting at WCWP Radio, who graduated from LIU in the 1980’s, is one of them. “She’s got kind of a rock-folk sound,” he said.
The singer/songwriter’s career reached its peak when MTV still played music videos. She thrived through a decade of music filled with boy-bands and grunge. “There’s a song of hers I really like, it’s from the 90’s, called ‘I Want to Come Over,’” Jeff Kroll, an LIU alumnus (’75) who works at WCWP, said. If “I Want to Come Over” doesn’t ring a bell, Etheridge’s top selling single, “Come to My Window,” should.
“Fans should expect an amazing show,” Brianna Cravatzo, a devoted Etheridge fan who attended the show in Arizona, said. “I noticed a lot of places she is going [on tour] seem to be smaller venues. I think she’s getting back to her roots so you get a more intimate show. The venue in Arizona seated 1100-1200 people,” she added.
Fans on Long Island can expect a similar experience in a smaller venue such as the Tilles Center. The theater seats approximately 2,250 people, guaranteeing anyone in the audience the chance to get up close and personal with this guitar-strumming rock star.
“I can’t think of a better way to celebrate your success with your fans than to perform in an intimate setting,” Cravatzo said. “She [Etheridge] thanked us all. She is aware — without her fans she wouldn’t be where she is today. I love that about her.”
This article was originally published in the Pioneer, the award-winning student newspaper of LIU Post, www.liupostpioneer.com, and is republished here by Blank Slate Media with the permission of the Pioneer.
