Indigo Girls rock Page Auditorium

Last Wednesday night in Page Auditorium, the campus controversy over the Indigo Girls headlining the Last Day of Classes Concert was forgotten as the band entertained a crowd of 1,200 in the packed hall.

True to their activist reputation, Emily Saliers and Amy Ray played several songs with political messages-for example, "Go" and "Faye Tucker," both tracks from the 1999 album Come On Now Social. The former was composed in response to the cancellation of an Indigo Girls concert at a South Carolina high school because of their outspoken lesbianism; the latter to draw attention to the execution of born-again Christian Karla Faye Tucker in Texas last year. During their encore, the group-to scattered protest-asked the audience to write Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., to stop a bill allowing the transportation of nuclear waste across the continental United States.

But the two women, who used a variety of acoustic guitars throughout the evening, drew their most enthusiastic reaction from the crowd with classics such as "Jonas and Ezekiel," "Galileo" and "Closer To Fine," which the group dedicated to an audience member. Ray and Saliers gave each other breaks by performing two songs on their own. Ray played "Sister," a vigorous banjo solo, while Saliers offered the softer "Philosophy of Love," a hidden track on Come On Now Social.

The first opening act, Agents of Good Roots, was rather sparsely attended, but seemed to have a few devoted fans in the audience. Nevertheless, lead singer Brian Jones kept repeating the group's name and pointed out that his brother had been a student at the University.

In contrast, the second opening act, Michelle Malone, met a more enthusiastic reception, especially when Saliers and Ray joined Malone and her percussionist for two songs. After this act, the doors of Page were opened to let in students who had not been able to get tickets in the afternoon, and every seat in the auditorium was filled.

-By Norbert Schürer