Lisa Loeb and Joan Osborne
EJ Thomas Hall, Akron, Ohio
By Rob McCune

In the ’90s, singer-songwriters Lisa Loeb and Joan Osborne crossed paths living and performing in NYC and on the concert circuit on such era-defining stages as Lilith Fair.

Now, the two are touring together for the first time, marking the 30th anniversary of their first studio albums: Lisa Loebs’ “Tails” and Joan Osborne’s “Relish, both released in 1995.

This tour isn’t like the last time Lisa and Joan were on the same ticket, in August of 1998 on Lilith Fair stops at stadiums and arenas. It’s a much more intimate affair, at performing arts centers on college campuses and smaller music halls in largely secondary cities, with dedicated fans who shout out requests for the lesser-known songs and casual fans who can still sing along to the hits.

These settings, like at The University of Akron’s EJ Thomas Hall, the third stop on this tour, lend a cozy, conversational atmosphere to the performances, which are presented more as a two-act play with a brief intermission than a typical opener-headline format.

Act one features Loeb with her signature cat-eye glasses, youthful charm, and an acoustic guitar.
Loeb, who DJs on SiriusXM station 90s on 9, interspersed song selections from “Tails” and others across her 15 studio albums since 1995 with storytelling and cute quips about fashion and tech mostly left in the past: Cassettes and VHS and brads (the pointy brass fasteners that used to bind movie scripts).

For its storytelling and intimacy, the show feels a lot like another staple of the 1990s: “VH1 Storytellers.”

Loeb’s “behind the music” stories included a roller-coaster of an experience writing a song for the 1996 movie “One Fine Day,” starring George Clooney and Michelle Pfeiffer, which (spoiler alert) ultimately didn’t get into the movie – though director Michael Hoffman years later told her that song, “Truthfully,” was his favorite of hers. The song did make Loeb’s second studio album, “Firecracker,” released in 1997, and she performed it for a crowd who, she said, could imagine it’s about anyone—not just Clooney or Pfeiffer—who fell in love “accidentally.”

Of course, she also performed her breakout hit, “Stay,” released on “Tails” as well as the soundtrack for the 1994 movie “Reality Bites,” which starred her NYC neighbor Ethan Hawke, who directed the music video for the song. She spoke with gratitude and a bit of incredulity about the staying power of “Stay,” including a tongue-in-cheek interpretation by comedian Craig Robinson in “Hot Tub Time Machine 2,” in which she herself makes a cameo.

Opening her set to audience requests, Loeb also performed the hit single “I Do” and the lesser-known “Jake,” off the “Firecracker” record, as well as a song off one of her six children’s albums, “The Disappointing Pancake” (“Camp Lisa,” 2008).

For act two, Osborne, dressed all in white, is backed up by Will Bryant on keys and Jack Petruzzelli on guitar, while playing her own acoustic guitar and even percussion on some songs.

Bringing her soulful blues and folk style of rock, Osborne stunned with her powerful vocals, sometimes deliberately strained for effect, such as on “Help Me,” a true blue cover of Sonny Boy Williamson.

File Photo

She told stories of smoky blues joints like BB Kings’ in NYC, where she absorbed by osmosis the style of the greats. She talked about how she came to collaborate, literally face to face on a shared microphone, with Bob Dylan after he heard her interpretation of “Man in the Long Black Coat” on her first album. She has since recorded a full album, “Songs of Bob Dylan,” and toured with a show called “Dylanology” that is also a live album out this year, on which she collaborated with artists Amy Helm, Jackie Greene and Robert Randolph.

One of the most intimate parts of her set was her song “Nobody Owns You,” which she wrote for her daughter and is the title track on a 2023 album.

Closing with a reflectively soulful and almost somber rendition of “One of Us,” her breakthrough radio hit off “Relish,” she expressed gratitude for the faithful fans who have allowed her to make music a career and a life for 30 years.
We can only hope that both of these incredible singer-songwriters continue to make music for another 30 years.

Rob McCune is Every_Thing_After_Photo on Instagram, where he shares his concert photography and reviews, as well as clips from his “Every.Thing.After” podcast, with interviews with musicians and bands.

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