Review: Indigo Girls and Melissa Etheridge make a natural pairing at sold-out State Fair concert

Some things go together naturally at the Great Minnesota Get-Together.

Like chicken in a waffle cone, Sweet Martha’s cookies with all the milk you can drink and, somehow, Soft Serve Royal Raspberry Beer. Who knew?

It’s no surprise that Melissa Etheridge and the Indigo Girls teamed up at the grandstand. That’s a natural pairing of artists who made their debuts in the late ′80s, blossomed in the ′90s and maintained followings ever since.

And it’s no surprise that their Yes We Are Tour, a co-headlining trek, drew a sold-out grandstand crowd of 13,929 Sunday for sounds that are divergent but compatible.

The scene: Maybe the stage backdrop for the Indigo Girls, who opened, set the scene from the get-go. It depicted the wall in an elementary school classroom under Donald Trump’s administration. Not only was there a map prominently showing the Gulf of America and a photo of Education Secretary Linda McMahon, but a blackboard had the phrase “don’t say gay” written over and over in chalk as if by a punished student.

The messages were pointed and not surprising, considering that both Etheridge and the Indigos are LGBTQ icons. And the backdrop fit the vibe at the grandstand, where the crowd seemed to be there for community as much as for the music.

The music: It was 90 minutes of heartland rock vs. 90 minutes of folk-rock, though Amy Ray brought rock ‘n’ roll fire to a few Indigo Girls songs, namely the searing “Go” and seething “Laramie.”

In the Indigos’ set, Emily Saliers took a few guitar solos on electric and acoustic, but the standout soloist was guitarist/dobroist Jeff Fielder, one of six musicians who accompanied the Georgia folk-rock duo. They had a special guest on background vocals, New York singer/songwriter Lucy Wainwright Roche, who also sang her own “Open Season,” during which she forgot the lyrics midsong.

Biggest takeaway: This is an obvious and smart pairing of co-headliners, whose philosophies and personalities not only mesh but whose music complements each other. It’s prudent for compatible artists who are no longer arena headliners to pair for a double-bill that’s perfect for the amphitheater and state fair circuits.

Coolest moment: When Etheridge, in her studded cowgirl hat, waltzed onstage in dark shadows in the middle of the Indigos’ “Kid Fears,” the crowd went crazy. She not only sang a verse but stayed for the next number, the inevitable finale “Closer to Fine,” a sing-along from 1989 that has become more epic thanks to its prominence in the 2023 “Barbie” movie.

Another memorable moment was Etheridge’s late-in-the-show one-two punch of the belt-along “Come to My Window” and the revved up “I’m the Only One.”

Low point: Saliers’ voice was noticeably diminished, with both her range and potency limited. As for Etheridge, she has a propensity to extend her songs with long rhythmic jams, featuring her strummed guitar or bluesy harmonica. Typical was how she elongated her finale “Like the Way I Do” into a meandering 14-minute jam.

Even though she performed only one song, Wainwright Roche took the opportunity to share her experience about the fairgrounds: “I just took my 2-year-old on the kiddie rides. The elephants go up and down. She loved it.” But Wainwright Roche said it scared the you-know-what out of her.