Ditto's voice was rough and apparently suffering from the effects of an incoming or perhaps outgoing illness - nothing terribly tragic, but bothersome enough for Ditto to acknowledge. Most remarkable about whatever ailed was the omission of the scratchy rasps during her actual singing. I’d be lying if I said I could hear evidence of holding back at any time besides when she addressed the crowd when dropping quips. Later in the show, when it wouldn’t have been unexpected for vocals to thin out after an evening of antagonizing, no matter how much she belted out everything mostly managed to stay together. If not for the highest, toughest notes occasionally met with an empty throat, it was as close to a flawless singing performance one could ask for. Sick or not.

The second half of the show consisted of the band sneaking teases of the Modern Lovers's "Roadrunner”, including Ditto spitting a coy spin on the lines of Massachusetts adoration. Later in the set the Gossip presented a montage of mass appeal pop tunes including segments of the Talking Heads’ "Psycho Killer", Labelles’ "Lady Marmalade", and others. Encore selections took a decidedly karaoke fantasy route. Tina Turner's iconic "What's Love Got To Do With It" and a solo Beth Ditto taking back "the queerest song of all time from the jocks" before leading a sing along to Queen's "We Are the Champions". You get the feeling that as much as Ditto is in her element with the punk-soul-blues hybrid of the Gossip, she does not want to stray far from pop indulgences serving as vehicles for her soaring abilities. If the wide smiles of her rapt audience is any indication, those indulgences appear to be equally shared with the fans.