PLAYFUL FEMINISTS

Well, if you’re gonna preach to the converted, it makes sense to do it in a church. That’s what happened at downtown’s Metropolitan Community Church on Saturday, when Diane Lindsay and Sue Fink played to a full house of Women’s Music fans. That audience is possessive of artists who cater to its politics and life style, but its undiscriminating adulation for Lindsay and Fink may encourage their shortcomings as much as their talents.

The two covered a broad range, going from a funk-style tune to a new-wavish synthesizer workout to a melodic pop song to a saloon-type lament--in the first four songs. But the flamboyant, playful Fink pleased the crowd by overdoing nearly everything, from her mock arrogance to the melodramatic political statement “The End Is Near.” Lindsay’s intimate, introspective love songs were more understated and generally more effective, though the keyboards-and-drum-machine arrangements didn’t have the range or grace of her recordings.