Melissa Ferrick live at the Bitter End - NYC, May 12 & West Strand Grill - Kingston, NY with Blueberry - Aug. 17. A 99.5 percent all-girl crowd of lesbians and lesbian wannabes that filled the Better End for one of the better shows I’ve ever seen advertised for that venue - perhaps that’s why my sub conscious told my brother to meet me at the Bottom Line. (I’m sure I wasn’t the only who made the mistake because the dude at that club practically redirected me before I opened my mouth). Melissa Ferrick seemed right at home on the stage that’s seen every folk guitarist from Arlo Guthrie to Pete Seeger. She played solo in New York, not so much as a tambourine to back her up. She said the room sounded much different full than during the sound check - gee. In the metropolitan appearance, she joked with the audience about CB radio conversations she had on the road - I still don’t know what LGBT stands for (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered - I guess.) - handle for a lesbian trucker... She played Jill Sobule’s “I Kissed a Girl,” a true crowd pleaser and adopting an English accent like her manager, said she was instructed “don’t talk about oral sex.” In the latter half of the hour-long set, Ferrick drifted occasionally into slower tunes while the audience policed itself, ssshing one another to the point where her near whispers could be heard. Ferrick opened with the title track from her new album, Freedom, after a 40 minute set by Blueberry - a Hudson Valley band. A few words about them... They had that wacca-wacca-wacca, wa-wa retro sound complete with the dyno-mite Jimmy Walker style ‘fro on drummer Zach Alfred. The front gals instrument was of the keyed variety, and played a lot more than just the occasional chord, while belting out their tunes. From what I could hear, with the band - as opposed to the from the street where she sounded almost acappela, she was doing a pretty convincing job of it. “You’re allowed to dance, by the way, she informed the crowd - but I didn’t notice anyone take her up on it. Playing to a crowd of about a hundred or so, plus many more listening via simulcast, Ferrick slipped into a near yodel at the end, with stage mannerisms resembling Sinead O'Conner as my friend we’ll call Blondie observed. Ferrick introduced Marika TJelios her bass player and thanked the crowd numerous times for coming out on a Thursday night, while working her way through “North Carolina” - a song written while in... North Carolina, and of course “Everything I Need” which evoked cheers with the first couple of strums. During the second set well after the simulcast ended, Ferrick assumed a more intimate persona, introducing the question of homosexuality - an important element of her songs and her possibly her success. She said she was glad not to be the only gay person in the room - the songs grew more sexual too, like “One Night Stand,” “Will you be the one?,” and “The Stranger.” One of my favorite lines of the night was from one of those later songs. “Will you ask me where I hurt and heal me with your eyes.” Towards the end they played a song Ferrick said Marika hadn’t played in a while. “If my ‘diggity bop’ doesn’t come out so well,” forgive me, she invited. Her ‘diggity bop’ was just fine...