Concert Review
Melissa Etheridge
Saturday March 28, 2026
del Lago Casino Resort
Waterloo, NY
Photos/Review: Joseph Suto
Melissa Etheridge, the 2026 Rock Hall nominee was just three shows into her tour Saturday evening as she made her return to The Vine Showroom at del Lago. It was perfect timing for her to hit the road as her latest album Rise was released just yesterday. Her 17th album was heavily featured during her near two hour performance.
She started off the night with the hard rockin’ “Don’t You Want A Woman” from Rise. Then she turned the clock back for “Bring Me Some Water” which led directly into a blistering “No Souvenirs. That kind of start let her fans know they were in for quite a treat. That they were. It was when she declared let’s just rock that the crowd went crazy as she strummed the opening of “All American Girl”. Alas she was not done as about half way through, those familiar chords of classic “Ain’t It Heavy” came blasting through. What a moment.
Etheridge seemed to intertwine quite a few songs together throughout the night to kind of give the songs a different flavor. A stellar version of “An Unusual Kiss” featured a little of “Brave and Crazy” in the middle portion of the song which she noted was the first time they had done that.
She was accompanied by a solid backing band that featured Derek Frank on bass, drummer Eric Gardner and Max Hart on guitar and keyboards.
She said a few times during the show that she plans on playing many of the songs off Rise for years to come. Why not as the songs from the new album sounded like they fit in with her classics like a glove. “Come To My Window” followed by “Like The Way I Do” brought the proceedings to a close….or so many thought. She ended with two new songs the latter “More Love” was written about her daughter.
Overall quite a powerful performance which featured nothing but many of her greatest songs. She performed with such a zest as if she was giving it her all while holding nothing back. One certain thing going to one of her shows is the fact that her fans know they’ll get the goods (hits) as well as some lesser known gems she mixes in from show to show. That should keep the diehards coming back for more. The crowd ate everything up as expected.
Setlist
Don’t You Want A Woman
Bring Me Some Water/No Souvenirs
Matches
All American Girl/Ain’t It Heavy
You Used To Love To Dance/ Father Figure (George Michael cover)
An Unusual Kiss/ Brave and Crazy
Rise
Bein’ Alive
I Want To Come Over
I’m The Only One
Come To My Window
Like The Way I Do
To Be A Woman
More Love
