Lisa Marie Presley

House of Blues, Anaheim

So does anybody know what the F in LMFP stands for? In my brief search of the web, I couldn't find any information on it. Nevertheless, after canceling or postponing one show, Lisa Marie finally made it back again to play the Anaheim HOB at what surprisingly turned out to be a sold out show. I only say surprisingly by the way because as of a few hours before the show it wasn't sold out. Lots of latecomers I guess. Aside from the really irritating late start (8:30 door time; 9:30 opening act) on a Monday night, the night turned out to be a pretty good one. I kind of needed a good show after experiencing some of the most boring shows at the HOB in a long while. The crowd turned out to be almost as much of a surprise to me as the one for Queensryche was .... older, lots of women, and a good number of people you wouldn't really expect to be hanging out in a place where blood, vomit and other assorted fluids, both human and bottled flow on a nightly basis. Standing next to one particularly uptight gal proved to be somewhat of a mischievous treat as I surreptitiously tried to irritate her for most of the night, by being a guy from the wrong side of the tracks, drinking too much, being too loud, and generally standing too close for her comfort. Heh heh. Sometimes it is more fun in the audience. But seriously, the crowd was fairly old and dead and not a whole lot of fun, although it seemed as if they were slightly more alive than their counterparts at the QR show. Enuff said.

Lisa Marie on the other hand was interesting. Having gone to go see her more for curiosity's sake rather than out of any great like for her music, it turned out to be a pretty good show after all. Sporting six or seven (I couldn't see all of the stage, not being up front) pretty damn talented musicians, she sang well and exhibited a great stage presence. I couldn't help thinking through most of the night how much she really resembles her dad. Not that she was in a white coat with sideburns from hell mind you, but what struck me was her eyes and how she looked out at the crowd ... you could totally see the King in there. Weird in a way I think. In any event, she sang well and put on a good hour and a half show singing originals and closing with a cover of Pat Benatar's Heartbreaker. I don't know how well her pop-alternative-rock music went over with the bulk of the crowd, but they seemed happy enough just to be able to see her for one reason or another. Best part of it all ... she seemed to be having a great time and didn't come across with a lot of the attitude you might have expected from someone in her position. All in all it was a surprisingly good performance on all accounts. I can't honestly say I'd go back and see her again in the future (unless she invited me over for some drinks ... she was kind of cute in an Elvis-y kind of way) ... but that's more just because the curiosity has been satiated at this point and I don't think I'll ever be that big a fan of her music ... too light. But if you like her music, she's more than worth the money to see live.

If she's not up in my apartment sharing some cabernet, you just might find LMFP here.