"Rock music should be played in grungy little pubs with small crowds, no offense-- thats just what I think. Look how far away the stage is, I can't get in the mood this far away, I like standing when I'm listening to live music." So stated the Irish tourists sitting behind me at the Cat Power concert last night. Clearly they weren't aware of who Cat Power is and what kind of music she plays. Though the venue was probably not the most obvious choice you've got to admit the Opera house is impressive just to be in, people go to the opera house to listen to music, not throw beer bottles and heckle (ala Blues Brothers and *erhem* grungy little pubs), and of course people listened. With little noise coming from the audience except for the wall of noise created by the applause after each song the audiences silence may have been disconcerting to Cat Power, who whispered into the microphone at one stage "are you nervous to be here too?".
The moment she broke into her set, supported by the brilliant Dirty Delta Blues band I and seemingly the rest of the audience were entranced and attentive. The Irish tourist behind me shut the hell up-- except at one point in the middle of the first set when they whispered to each other "I didn't think it would be like this!". Even now, a day after the concert I'm having a King Lear moment-- being unable to say exactly how amazing it really was, I could easily say "you had to be there" but for the purpose of this sad excuse for a review I won't be that annoying and cheapskate about this. After all Cat Power's performance deserves more then "it was amazing, but you had to be there".
Every song she sang was captivating, she has the ability to pull you into this strange, strange world in which these songs emerge with every lyric she sings-- as though you were there. But even so, without knowing the background struggles of Misses Chan Marshall you're... transported emotionally from beginning to end. Before you give up reading this because it sounds as though I'm trying to be poetic and professional, I don't intend to make you cringe-- I can only really describe last nights concert in this way, giving it the approach it deserves.
When the concert was seemingly over the applause kept going and alas! after 5 minutes of clapping, shouting (finally!) and foot drumming they returned from backstage and generously played about 5 more songs... each one as brilliant as the last. I didn't think there were any sound problems, I thought it sounded great-- unlike Cat Power who kept walking up to the sound desk and asking them to fix something or other throughout the entire concert. I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for the guys on the sound desk. There were a couple of faster, more "rock" songs in this set, as well as some sound-scape songs as opposed to the soulful blues she played in the first, however it was a wonderful combination that tested the skills of the band (they were great in everything) and when combined with Chan's beautiful voice heartbreaking... even though I'm not particularly sure why.
Given the chance to go to another of her concerts I would like a shot. Her music is magnificently good but so underrated. When telling people I was going to her concert the majority didn't know about her, but I predict that more people will. Even with her 15 years in the industry her sound is so new and different, yet so obviously inspired by blues, folk, soul and perhaps even pop. I'm not sure how that even works but it's interesting to watch and even more to listen to. Given 3 more years Cat Power's presence will be more prominent the ever, I don't doubt it for a minute that her fan base will grow to "Indie famous" proportions but for now, it's nice to know I've at least seen her live before her tickets start selling out in minutes.
