Richardson would never last as a slot machine in Vegas. Her payoff is too much of a sure thing these days. Blessed with a voice that other performers would sell their soul for, Richardson has unlocked the key to her instrument’s potential. It’s been declared here before but it bears repeating: Richardson has the best female voice in rock today. And, as anyone who’s seen her over the years can testify, she knows how to put on a show.

While Richardson continues to moonlight as the singer for Jefferson Starship and Big Brother and the Holding Company (which should tell you what those who have played with Grace Slick and Janis Joplin think about her vocal chops), the 42-year-old local native has her own band, The Macrodots, with co-writing guitarist Zach Smith. This concert saw a new drummer and bassist joining the group alongside fiddler Anne Harris and guitarist Jude Gold. Together, they rocked the roadhouse that has become Richardson’s home club.

Richardson surveyed the packed room when she took the stage. “This looks good,” she said, and the band launched into the colossal crunch of “Rock and Roll Part II” from the Macrodots' debut album, the Other Side. It’s a tremendous opener that’s a relative to “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” Richardson looked to be on a mission from the start and her windmills confirmed that. Her recent shows at FitzGerald’s have featured some of the best starts to shows I’ve seen and that continued with “Piece of Me,” “The Wait” and “the Other Side,” a psychedelic trip that has become a calling card for where Richardson takes her voice. “How you guys doin’?” she asked before the song. “Fuck yeah! Happy birthday, America!”

A main ingredient of Richardson’s show is Harris, the best foil anyone could hope to have onstage. She is Richardson’s Clarence Clemons. Her playing, singing, dancing and good vibes lift the show to greater heights. Gold feeds off Harris on the right side of the stage and elevates the presentation, too. With Richardson throwing herself physically into her performance to match the strength of her singing like never before, there was enough explosiveness on the modest stage to power a Fourth of July fireworks display.

A new song called “Good” soared thanks to Gold’s guitar and Richardson’s vocals. Richardson poured herself into “Beautiful Girl” and sang the hell out of the ballad, “If I Could.” Then she sat behind a keyboard placed onstage and “I Am” took off like a 747. In fact, you can pick any song from the setlist and Richardson vocally knocked it out of the park. Late in the set, a couple of her friends told her that Marcia Ball invited her to come join her on the festival’s outdoor stage. Richardson would have none of it. “Maybe she should come in here and sing with me,” she said playfully, but firmly. Richardson praised Ball, but there was an underlying truth in her initial retort. It might have been just a coincidence, but the subsequent “Making a List” was the highlight of the show.

Richardson introduced "Cadillac Woman" with a long, funny and touching story about how she grew up in Burr Ridge when it was poor and attended school with the rich kids in Hinsdale, being embarrassed when her dad picked her up in his tow truck until one day he arrived in a Cadillac in gift-giving mode. Her mom wound up with the car and she received Donna Summer’s Greatest Hits. After an encore of “Kiss My Ass,” Richardson yelled “Rock and roll!” and flashed the peace sign before leaving the stage after yet another amazing performance at the club.    

Cathy Richardson and the Macrodots setlist:

Rock and Roll Part II

Piece of Me

The Wait

the Other Side

Not Too Late

Everything is All I Want

Picture This

Good

Beautiful Girl

If I Could

I Am

Save Me

Making a List

Cadillac Woman

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Kiss My Ass

Start: 10:14 p.m./Finish: 11:37 p.m.

Totals: 15 songs, one hour and 23 minutes

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Following Cathy Richardson is not what you want to do. After the local hero ended her show and most inside the club ventured outside to catch the end of Marcia Ball’s set, Michelle Malone walked from the back of the room to the stage.

Malone had been scheduled to start earlier, but after setting up and a quick-but-thorough soundcheck, the Georgia native stayed onstage and started her show immediately a few minutes past midnight. What followed was something to witness, a walloping mixture of raging guitar, wailing vocals and sexual current. The swaggering, blues rocker charged out of the gate with startling passion and fury on “Tighten Up The Springs,” breaking it down with her slide playing, and then ramping up her guitar on “Undertow.” “It’s past my bedtime, too, so we thought we’d rock like fuckers to stay awake,” Malone said. A monster version of “Miss Miss’ippi” followed with a huge ZZ Top “La Grange” riff as she shimmied and wailed.

That’s how it went all night. Malone talked about growing up with parents who became born again. “My parents found Jesus and fucked me all up,” she said, and then continued to show why she earned the nickname “Moanin’” as she dove deep vocally into “Teen Lament (the Jesus Song).” A duet with keyboardist Tim Tucker on his “Go Easy On Me” gave everyone a chance to catch their breath. Malone strapped on an acoustic guitar for “Winter Muscadine.” She played almost as many guitars as songs, and used all of them like they were an extension of her body. A performance of “Lafayette” oozed sexuality and featured jaw-dropping guitar and singing. An over-the-top rave-out on “Feather in a Hurricane” saw Malone take her intensity even higher. “Oh my God,” someone in the audience gasped. She was in such a zone that she almost fell off the stage when she lost her balance as she stepped on a pedal at the end of the song.

Malone introduced a stomping via Bo Diddley beat “Restraining Order Blues” by announcing it will appear in an upcoming episode of HBO’s True Blood. “Preacher’s Daughter” closed the main set in epic fashion. Malone began by playing alone before moving to the side of the stage and letting each band member have a go at it. She rejoined the band, sitting on the floor and playing as the music took a trip into an extended dream before Malone picked herself and the music up for a big finish.

Then the band left the stage and it didn’t look like it would come back. But the scattered diehards remaining in the club wanted more. After prolonged clapping and shouts for an encore, the band returned with Malone looking wiped out. “Seriously, don’t you think you should go home?” she asked good-naturedly. She played a request for “Weed and Wine.” The crowd received its encore, but now Malone wanted more. “Alright, that did not satisfy me,” she said, and played “Rooster 44” and finished with “Travelin’ and Unraveling” as everyone took turns soloing. As the song ended, Malone rested her case, placing her guitar on the floor and walking off the stage to feedback. It was one of the best performances I’ve seen in my life.

Michelle Malone setlist:

Tighten Up The Springs

Undertow

Miss Miss’ippi

Camera

Teen Lament (the Jesus Song)

Go Easy On Me

Winter Muscadine

Lafayette

Feather in a Hurricane

Beyond the Mountain

Restraining Order Blues

Preacher’s Daughter

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Weed and Wine

Rooster 44

Travelin’ and Unraveling

Start: 12:04 a.m./Finish: 1:48 a.m.

Totals: 15 songs, one hour and 44 minutes

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