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By Dave Miller

XZo

If Tom Skilling worked late Saturday, he would have picked up a reading on his WGN weather radar on Roosevelt Road in Berwyn. A force of nature touched down at FitzGerald’s and nearly blew off its roof.

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Let’s get this out of the way first. Cathy Richardson has the best female voice in rock today. I can’t think of a comparable one. I might allow Ann Wilson, but Richardson consistently digs deeper and is a sure bet these days to break on through to the other side during a performance. The voices of the contenders for her newly ascended throne go to 10. Richardson’s voice goes to 11. During the past few years while portraying Janis Joplin in a musical and fronting Jefferson Starship in the role vacated by Grace Slick, Richardson has developed and matured into a bona fide rock goddess of her own.

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Richardson lived in San Francisco for a stint, but moved back to the area last year and has played a number of shows around town in 2010 in between her outings on the road. She had been billing her concerts as Cathy Richardson and her San Fran Band with Anne, but Saturday’s show was billed as the Macrodots, Richardson’s new project with guitarist, writer and producer Zack Smith. They recently released an album called the Other Side as the Macrodots. They’ve enlisted the help of Richardson’s San Fran Band -- guitarist Jude Gold, bassist Jonathon Herrera and Jefferson Starship drummer Donny Baldwin along with Chicago ace fiddler Anne Harris – to make the new songs come to life.

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Saturday’s performance showcased the Macrodots material. The first half of the two-hour set saw Richardson lead the band through the Other Side’s 11 songs in album order. “FitzGerald’s, are we ready to do this?” Richardson announced after taking the stage. “I feel excited.” She performed like it. The title song provided a big opening and the band continued rocking the new material, which is a mix of classic ‘70s rock and ‘60s psychedelia brought up to date by Richardson’s personal lyrics and Smith’s musical touches. The first songs presented featured an array of rockers as the band worked to find its footing as it played together for the first time in awhile.

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Richardson had played gigs the previous two nights in Texas and New York, but she showed no signs of fatigue. She seemed capable of lighting up the city with the power of her vocals. As the band jammed on “I Am” it dawned on me that the United Center would be most equipped to handle its big rock sound. Fully warmed up, Richardson unleashed her voice on “If I Could,” and the game was on for the rest of the night. Richardson noted that three years was spent making the Other Side and it’s apparent by its songs being so fully realized. The Led Zeppelin-like “Rock and Roll Part II” was a highlight with Baldwin’s pounding drums keeping up with Richardson’s belting vocals.

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After the Other Side was played, the band took a breather offstage while Harris played a long, spiritual solo on her fiddle. The band returned and the show saw a welcomed change in dynamics with Richardson sitting to play keyboards on a pair of songs from her 2007 album Delusions of Grandeur, “G.O.D.” and “Ain’t No Home” -- the latter featuring an extended instrumental jam with Richardson occasional guiding Baldwin with hand gestures. Beyond having an awesome voice, Richardson is a commanding frontman and band leader. She segued from “Fly” into a cover of “Aquarius” from the ‘60s musical Hair. Her confidence allowed her to have her band tackle an improvised jam that she noted was simply listed as “free form” on the setlist. The journey turned out to be worth taking. The second set saw a contagious, combustible energy that had Richardson’s whirlwind foil Harris jumping higher than I’ve ever seen. When the band concluded the main set with “Over Your Shoulder,” Richardson had the last word. “Rock and roll forever,” she said before leaving the stage.

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But Richardson had two treats left for the encore, beginning with the band taking a stab at Cheap Trick’s “Surrender” for the first time. “Okay, we’ve never done this before so if it totally sucks, please don’t put it on YouTube,” she said. No worries. It turned out to be a killer cover that jazzed the crowded roadhouse. Then came the closer, Jefferson Airplane’s “Somebody to Love,” with Richardson diving so deep into the song that she temporarily made it her own.

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Remarkably, the final setlist contained 11 different songs from Richardson’s powerhouse 24-song show at FitzGerald’s in January when she previewed some of her new material. The local hero has an overabundance of quality material now. She’s in peak form as a singer and performer. Financial considerations and long-term security may understandably prohibit this, but I’d sure like to see her take this band on the road for a long tour, play shows as long as her voice allows each night and see what happens. Greatness deserves a full hearing.       

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The setlist:

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the Other Side
Beautiful Girl
Everything is All I Want
Not Too Late
Piece of Me
I Am
Every Time
If I Could
Kiss My Ass
Rock and Roll Part II
Save Me
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Anne Harris solo
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G.O.D.
Ain’t No Home
Tiny Particles
Fly/Age of Aquarius
- free form -
Making a List
Over Your Shoulder
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Surrender
Somebody to Love

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Start: 10:36 p.m./Finish: 12:37 a.m.
Totals: 21 songs, two hours and one minute

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