Taken for a Spin: A Great Display of 'True Colors'

In the late 90s, Sarah McLachlan launched Lilith Fair, a tour celebrating women in music. The tour, which featured a large array of acts on a rotating basis throughout the tour, was a fun and exciting concept, but due to the complexity of it was shut down after a couple of years.

It was exciting, then, to attend the True Colors stop at Foxwoods on June 6. Although Foxwoods isn't an ideal place for a festival, and therefore was more limited in scope (other stops feature a more full experience), the four-hour concert was still one of the best I've attended in memory, and came together under a banner just like Lilith. This time, however, the theme was equality.

Acts at the Foxwoods stop included The Cliks, Tegan and Sara, Rosie O'Donnell, The B-52s, and Cyndi Lauper. Carson Kressley oversaw the proceedings. All of the acts were a lot of fun to watch on stage, and many were mixing in favorites with new material. Tegan and Sara tried out some more acoustic mixes to their music (and were incredibly funny with their banter on stage). The B-52s mixed favorites like "Rock Lobster" with new songs off of "Funplex," including the title track and "Love in the Year 3000." The B-52s were quite fun, with Fred Schneider leading into "Love Shack" by saying "You've probably heard this at weddings, but we do it better."

O'Donnell debuted some new comedy material, sharing some touching stories fitting the theme of equality, while bringing some well-timed laughs. And Lauper dusted off some of her classics, while playing new tracks off "Bring Ya to the Brink" (CD review follows on the adjacent page). Lauper was incredibly energetic, heading into the crowd quite a bit, singing in the audience and pulling fans who seemed like they weren't having a great time closer to the stage so they could join in with the energy.

The crowd was very receptive, with the new room about three-quarters full, and many people getting up and dancing throughout the tour. Schneider shouted out to the crowd during their set to get up and dance, only further riling the troops.

Something must be said about Foxwoods too. The tour stop was held in the recently-opened MGM Grand addition to the complex. The new building is incredibly beautiful, as is the theater in which the performance was held. Foxwoods appears to have put a lot of emphasis on entertainment and food in this expansion, so it's a great place to eat or catch a show, with a little gambling on the side if you're so inclined. But the theater itself is definitely worth catching a show, with video monitors for people further back and a great sound system. They've also provided ample parking, and have configured easy entrance and exit to the new addition.

Overall it was a welcome visit from the tour at a great location, and was packed with entertainment from start to finish.

At one point Lauper asked the audience who was in the GLBT community, and a portion of the crowd erupted. She then asked who was straight in the room, and the noise was three times louder. She took the opportunity to point out that we all need to work towards the same goal, and also to vote, calling out hrc.org a number of times, and repeating it when she did call them out.