Has it really been 30 years since Liz Phair turned the male-dominated indie rock scene upside down with her swaggering debut Exile in Guyville? Phair is in the midst of celebrating that album with an 18-date national tour, joined on each stop by Blondshell, and on Monday she headlined the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Built as a church in 1892, the Ryman was later transformed as the original home of the Grand Ol Opry, and the building’s legacy was felt by Phair as she apologized to the spirits of the church for the explicit lyrics in some of her songs. She performed all of Exile, as well as an an encore consisting of “Supernova,” “Johnny Feelgood,” “Spanish Doors,” “Polyester Bride,” and “Why Can’t I?”
For her opening set, Blondshell was joined by songwriter Samia, covering “Deceptacon” by Le Tigre. The influence of Phair’s music on both Blondshell’s Sabrina Teitelbaum and Samia has certainly been significant, despite the fact that neither were born when Exile was released (in fact, Samia first caught our attention back in 2019 when we debuted her striking cover of Phair’s “Never Said”).
FLOOD photographer Skylar Watkins made the journey to Nashville to document this special night. Check out her highlights below.
BLONDSHELL
