Hats off: An Evening with Juliana Hatfield

Nicholas Valenzuela Arizona Daily Wildcat Juliana Hatfield lights up the stage during Friday night's concert at Gibson's in Tempe. Hatfield is currently touring in support of her new EP, Please Do Not Disturb.

The veteran songstress strolled casually on to the stage, clad entirely in denim, accompanied by her back-up band, and briefly apologized for the openers' no-show before starting her extended set. At 30, Hatfield still exudes a youthful innocence and charm, a blessing she has always thought of as more of a curse. With her new EP, Please Do Not Disturb, Juliana is aiming for a more grown-up sound, trying to throw off the little-girl image and stress the woman she has become.

"I Got No Idols," off Hatfield's breakthrough 1993 album, Become What You Are, (with the Juliana Hatfield 3) started the show off with a burst of rocking energy, full of heavy bass and power chords, setting the tone for a night of in-your-face, aggressive, yet supremely melodic music that longtime fans might have been surprised by.

The shy, almost inhibited, Juliana of the past was nowhere to be seen. Playing off her band, Hatfield did her best to have a real stage presence, although she still came off as slightly cute. That's part of her draw, though. And as much as it may pain her, coming across as five years younger than you really are isn't something most women would complain about.

The other folks on stage were the always-enthusiastic drummer, Todd Philips, who has been with Hatfield since her first solo release, Hey Babe, keyboardist Lisa Mednick, who seemed extremely unnecessary, doing little to enhance the songs and newcomer Mike Welsh, the bassist who played well, but unfortunately looked like a Green Day reject. Philips should, and will, stay on board. The others can go.

Crowd interaction was at a Hatfield high. Juliana frequently responded to shouts from the audience, and even engaged in a repartee regarding her original home state of Massachusetts, only to cut it off abruptly to say, "Enough of this chitchat. Let's rock."

And rock they did. The majority of the set was made up of tracks off Hatfield's last two albums, Universal Heartbeat, and Become What You Are, featuring her two early hits, "My Sister" and "Spin The Bottle" to great response from the crowd.

There were also previews of some newer tracks, from the forthcoming God's Foot album, a couple of selections from the new EP, and a snarling cover of X's "Unheard Music."

Before beginning the encore, Juliana took a minute to speak to her fans again. "You've been a great audience," she said, "and I'm not just saying that."

She went on to complain about the crowd at her last show, in San Diego, telling us that we were at least 95 percent better than them, before starting in on "Trying Not To Think About It," a new song which begins appropriately with the line, "Southern California is bad for the soul."

Ultimately, despite the negative outlook of some of the songs, the mood in the club was lighthearted and fun, emphasized by the Marshall amps on stage which had most of the letters in the brand name painted over so that, together, they read simply, "ha ha ha ha."

At one point, between songs, a female fan shouted out, "Julianaaaaaa!" prompting Hatfield to pause in amusement and respond: "What?"

Caught off guard, searching for an appropriate response, the fan settled simply on, "You're cool!"

Can't argue with that.