Concrete Blonde will tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of Bloodletting.

Concrete Blonde 20 Years of Bloodletting Tour
Jun 8 Boston, MA Royale Boston Write a review
Jun 10 New York, NY Webster Hall Write a review
Jun 11 Columbus, OH Newport Music Hall Write a review
Jun 12 Chicago, IL The Vic Write a review
Jun 15 Washington D.C. 9:30 Club Write a review
Jun 16 Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse Write a review
Jun 18 Dallas, TX Granada Theatre Write a review
Jun 19 Austin, TX Emo’s Write a review
Jun 21 Arvada, CO Arvada Center for the Arts Write a review
Jun 22 Salt Lake City, UT The Depot Write a review
Jun 24 Seattle WA Showbox Write a review
Jun 26 San Francisco, CA Grand Ballroom-Regency Write a review
Jun 28 Hollywood, CA Henry Fonda Theatre Write a review
Concert information is up to date at time of publication

former member of The Weary Boys, a band that never impressed me as much as they did the general Austin populace – I wasn\”t feeling moved by this incarnation until I realized I really liked them, I did – they\”re founded in harmless country rock but there\”s just enough Southern rock and jam band posturing to make them just up my alley

Chelsea Handler was an unbelievable treat. She was raunchy and loud-mouthed and unapologetic. The biggest surprise of her hour-long set was how far away from her show she took her live act. There wasn’t much in the way of celebrity dish (except a rant of all things against Angelina Jolie). Most of her act was made up of stories about people she met on on her book tour, guys she dated, and her family. She would nail a punchline and then pound it into the ground like a spike, often cracking herself up in the process.

Her delivery of the jokes was something to experience. She would tell a story of rubbing cake on her bedsheets and accusing her boyfriend of shitting the bed. But it’s not just the story but her acting out a scene that makes it work. Her boyfriend reaches into the bed with two fingers, rubs the “shit” and puts it up to his nose and yells at her, “It’s fuckin’ cake.” She apparently thought about breaking up with him a lot. The day she did, he told her, “You’re three weeks sober. You’re not thinking right.”

She also told the audience that she refused to apologize for her act because, in essence, she made fun of everyone. And she certainly ran the gamut of targets during her set. She talked about, then joked about, Asian stereotypes, black stereotypes, stereotypes about guys, gays and Mormons. The centerpiece of her act was dissection of the differences between the bathroom habits of men and women. She was amazing from start to finish.

For a mid-sized venue, Mohegan Sun Arena is actually a nice place to see a show. Even for a comedy show, it wasn’t so totally cavernous that you lost sight of Heather McDonald standing on stage. But it was good thing the large screens were projecting her act because there were nuances of McDonald’s performance that had to be seen to be appreciated.

I wasn’t expecting the bulk of the show to be impersonations, but McDonald’s take on various Housewives (of VH1 reality fame), the Kardashians (sisters and mother) and Drew Barrymore were dead on. She also bagged on Marlee Matlin (and chided us for laughing then panned, “She can’t hear us anyway”).

McDonald was a laugh riot. As crude as she was at times, she made you feel like just one of the girls. The rest of her 30-minute set was dishing on her family life. She deftly used physical comedy to make her point (a lot of faces, a lot of kicking) and she was amazing.