The show is the season finale of the Performing Arts Center’s 25th anniversary season.
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“It took almost a year and a half to get Melissa Etheridge here in Springfield,” said Adele Adkins, executive director of the Clark State Performing Arts Center. “She always puts on a fantastic concert, but this one will be next level. This concert comes on the heels of her new album which harkens back to her sound from the ’90s which made her a household name.”
Etheridge emerged in the late 1980s as a fresh voice, with the single “Bring Me Some Water” receiving a Grammy nomination. She’d later earn Best Rock Vocal Performance Grammys in 1993 and 1995 respectively for “Ain’t it Heavy” and “Come to my Window.” The latter became something of an Etheridge signature song, and heard recently in an Applebee’s commercial.
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Renowned for her musical talent, Etheridge is also well known as an activist, bringing awareness to several causes and issues over the years, from gay rights and breast cancer to the environment. The latter captured her the Oscar for Best Original Song, “I Need to Wake Up” from the global warming documentary “An Inconvenient Truth.”
Several songs on “The Medicine Show” reflect current issues affecting Americans including the opioid problem (“Here Comes the Pain”), hope and healing (“Human Chain”) and even the Parkland School shootings (“Last Hello”), which includes the haunting lyric “No child should see what I have seen.” She rocks out too with “Love Will Live.”
Tickets are still available for the performance.
HOW TO GO
What: Melissa Etheridge
Where: Clark State Performing Arts Center, Kuss Auditorium, 300 South Fountain Ave., Springfield
When: Wednesday, May 8, 7:30 p.m.
Admission: $40-$105 (plus fees)
More info: 937-328-3874 or go to http://pac.clarkstate.edu/events/calendar/melissa-etheridge/
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