Melissa Etheridge By Debbie Brautman February 1, 2025 Melissa Etheridge Breaks In The Newly Revitalized War Memorial Auditorium By Debbie Brautman | Photos: Chris Schmitt Melissa Etheridge brought her 2025 Tour featuring Lisa Loeb and Maggie Rose to the opening night on January 21, 2024, of the newly renovated and revitalized War Memorial Auditorium in Ft Lauderdale. The 65 million-dollar project no longer resembles the former barn-like deteriorated auditorium in the slightest. The new sleek, black interior is ultra-modern and super-cool. It is 43,000 square feet and can accommodate 3,400 people. It is a much-needed venue addition for South Florida. It originally opened in 1950, and the plaque embedded in the floor of the lobby reads, “Dedicated as a living memorial to those whose valor perpetuates our liberty.” There are also other plaques honoring the veterans, which is a beautiful memorial to the local veterans and veterans of all wars. It is situated steps from The Parker (Formerly Parker Playhouse.) For this show, there was a general admission pit in the front of the stage and rows and rows of white wooden chairs behind and on the sides of the main level floor. There are two elegant large bars on each side. They have private VIP floor suites near the stage with leather recliners and their own bar and bathroom. Upstairs, there are cocktail tables with hightops, barstool seating, and premium elevated boxes. Everything looks first class and beautifully done. They have food offerings at reasonable prices from $8 Hot Dogs to $14 Crispy Chicken Sandwiches to a $16 Double Smash Burger. Beer starts from $8, wine $14, house spirits $12, specialty cocktails at $15, and champagne splits at $25. Also available are snacks like chips, cookies, and candies. Large signs with SEATGEEK, the technology ticketing platform, were throughout the venue as SEATGEEK, has scored a multi-year partnership with the Florida Panthers and the team’s owned and operated venues like FLA Live Arena, as well as the War Memorial Auditorium. Free parking is a plus. Beware, only a 4 by 6 inch purse is allowed for women and they are very strict about the size. Maggie Rose opened the show, and it is understandable why she is nominated for 2024’s Grammy for Best Americana Album of the Year. She was tremendously impressive. Highlights of her set were songs from her latest album, including the title track, “No One Gets Out Alive,” “Dead Weight” and “Mad Love.” Kyle Lewis on guitar and Kaitlyn Connor on keyboards complemented Maggie’s stunning vocals. Unfortunately, the acoustics for her set were harsh and tinny at times with an echo. Even with the sound problem, you could tell how great she was. Watch out for her, as she is a winner. Next, Indie singer-songwriter Lisa Loeb came out in a black mini dress with just her acoustic guitar and no band. She joked, “I’m gonna play new and old songs but you probably won’t know the difference.” She looked very much as she did in the 1990’s, when she had her big #1 hit, “Stay (I missed You.)” She talked more than she sang, which annoyed many people. Sometimes less is more. She did a decent job on her hit single which was used in the movie Reality Bites and did make a few funny comments. Her latest album is 2020’s A Simple Trick To Happiness. At 9:27 pm, Melissa came out looking every bit the rock star in her embellished black leather pants, shiny greenish blue blazer, black studded hat, and concha belt with multiple silver chains. She looked slimmed down and energetic. She was also wearing a cool Salvage Station t-shirt from a music venue in Asheville, NC that is currently closed due to extensive damage from Hurricane Helene. As great as she looked, she sounded even better. Her raspy, smoky vocals were spot on and powerful. She hasn’t lost a beat. She announced, “Hello Ft. Lauderdale, welcome to the brand new/old War Memorial. We are the first show here. I am so honored and so delighted. We are gonna have a great time tonight. We are gonna break this place in, shake it and rock it. We’re gonna have an awesome time. We’re gonna sing the songs tonight. Poor choices make great songs.” Her first song was “Ain’t It Heavy,” and it was rock and roll perfection. Yes, it sure is a great song. Her songwriting skills are exceptional. She also played “Angels Would Fall,” “No Souvenirs,” and “Dance Without Sleeping.” By the time she started the popular “I Want To Come Over,” she had completely won over the crowd. She did a strong and confident version of “Yes I Am.” The sound in the venue was corrected by the time they were on and it sounded quite good. Her very capable band of Mac Heart on guitar and keyboards, Eric Curtis on Bass and Eric Gardner on drums were all superb. Melissa changed guitars often and had one in almost every color. She proudly mentioned her 2024 documentary, Melissa Etheridge: I’m Not Broken, which is a 2-part docuseries on Paramount Plus. She explained, “I come from Leavenworth, Kansas. So, I’m happy to be anywhere…Leavenworth is known for federal penitentiaries. We have five prisons within 20 miles of my house… I grew up in the late 60’s, I was like six or seven years old, the man in black, Johnny Cash, came to my town. Nobody came to our town cause we had no place to play. He came and only performed in the prison. At that point, I knew prisons were a place of fine entertainment. Well, I grew up a bit and I actually got to those prisons to perform and bring entertainment to folks. Those experiences were so amazing. They were so appreciative, they just lit up and I could tell it really meant something to them… It took forty years and finally the warden of the women’s penitentiary, in Kansas, Topeka Correctional Facility, said ‘yeah, c’mon on, we’ll do it.’ This project gave Melissa much satisfaction. In 2020, she tragically lost her 21-year-old son, Beckett, to opioids, so she bonded and related to these women prisoners. That is her gift…she connects to her audience. For this project, which also has a live album, she wrote a song called “A Burning Woman” to inspire the inmates. She performed it with passion for the War Memorial crowd and asked them to help her sing the chorus and they had no problem obliging. She joked with the guys, “Tonight, you can be a burning woman.” Then she proceeded with her giant hits,” Bring Me Some Water,” “Come To My Window” and “I’m The Only One” and they were all spectacular. Her youthful exuberance and energy delighted as she remarked, “We broke this place in, yes we did, tell your friends!” She exited the stage at 10:40 and came back three minutes later for an explosive and hard rocking extended encore of her hit, “Like The Way I Do.” She went back to the drum set to join her drummer, pounding the drums. After all she has been through, father time has been good to her. It was just like being in the late 1980’s when she started, and her joy to be here now performing was so refreshing. She was the perfect artist to break in the gorgeous, revitalized War Memorial Auditorium. Share It!