Tanya Takes Tempe

Charles C. Labenz Arizona Daily Wildcat Tanya Donelly performs an acoustic version of "The Bees," a song from Belly's last album, King, last night at Gibson's Bar in Phoenix.

And shine she does. Tanya, of course, has a much more colorful musical history, playing as a member of Throwing Muses, the Breeders and finally Belly before striking out on her own. She opens the show at Gibson's in Tempe on Monday night with a solo acoustic version of Belly's "The Bees." Belly songs are still fair game for her, since she wrote most of them herself and owns the rights to them. Later in the show, we get "Low Red Moon" and "Dusted" as well, more lively shouts from the past.

After the opener, the rest of the band takes the stage. Dean comes out, as do live components two, three and four - guitarist Rich Gilbert, keyboardist Elizabeth Steen and drummer Dave Narcizo. They make it clear that although this is Tanya's show, she can't do it alone. Plus, they seem set on making sure that almost every past era is represented on stage. Gilbert is the '70s. He is an extremely odd-looking fellow, dressed in full mod gear, bearing a strong resemblance to comedian Harry Anderson with a shag wig on. He provides (unintentionally, I'm sure) the comic relief for the show; with his jerky dances and hopeless attempts at kitschy rock-stardom, he appears to have been hypnotized and told he was a chicken and then never recovered.

Steen is the '80s. She's got the look, right down to the teased-up blonde hair and the pink lip gloss. She plays keyboards and sings backup vocals just like a Go-Go or Banarama girl should. Only without quite as much joie de vivre; that's Tanya's department, after all. She even whipped out an accordion for a bit.

Narcizo is early '90s, the prototypical indie-rock drummer, and that's only natural, since he joins Tanya as another former Throwing Muse. They've got history, these two.

But this is still Tanya's show. The crowd's eyes are all on her, only momentarily distracted by Gilbert's ridiculous antics. Aside from the three Belly songs, most of the remainder of the set is made up of songs off Tanya's recent debut solo effort, Lovesongs For Underdogs. Although she is famous for her girl-like antics, there's no denying now the woman who stands on stage. Some of her old trademark bouncing and stomping still shows up, mostly on the older songs, but for the most part she takes on a more experienced, more powerful presence tonight.

Which isn't to say she's not enjoying it anymore. Tanya is an almost mythical siren during the songs, but in between, she's all smiles, as we've come to expect. After playing "Human," a b-side off her Sliding and Diving EP, she says, "That was a mean song." She can't even sing a snide line without feeling guilty.

"Mysteries Of The Unexplained" is another acoustic number, which Tanya explains is made up of verses about things she doesn't like and a chorus about things she does (which include raining fish and crying statues). "It's halved," she quips.

But the best moment of the night, without question, is when the disco ball effect kicks in, Tanya puts down the guitar and all four microphones on stage are put to use for an entrancing cover of The Zombies' "Time Of The Season." Tanya slinks around like she's all alone in the room, transported back into the past, to a time before any of her previous bands existed, a time where Mr. Gilbert wouldn't have looked quite so silly and everything is as groovy as it can possibly be. You couldn't ask for a better way to end a night.