Samstag, 9. Feb 2008, 21:33
I wish I could pretend to be objective about this Cat Power show, but I know I can't. From the moment she charged on to the stage, Chan Marshall was so masterful and affecting that, really, I don't know who could render a cold-eyed analysis of what followed. If my review seems a bit overly superlative and sentimental, please forgive me.
Though I think I remember J.D. Salinger saying something about how we are only being overly sentimental when we treat something with more tenderness than does God. It's a weak apology, but it's all I can offer.
The club was low-ceilinged and dark, a converted roller rink with a mirror ball in the middle. A few years ago, it would have been hazy and smoky, but the effect isn't entirely lost. As the band started, the stage itself was dimly lit, with no bright spotlight, and a very heavy sound system. The Dirty Delta Blues band was working hard, doing their best invocation of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section from way back. When Chan came out she was shadowed much of the time, her face illuminated only by the glow of filtered stage lights and camera flashes.
As she crooned over the band, I kept getting this nagging thought in my mind, that this was something special, as if I was in a roadhouse somewhere in Georgia in the 50's, listening to Howlin' Wolf or James Brown, or a few years later, in a dark and smoky nightclub in Chicago, listening to Otis Redding or Aretha Franklin. The thought continued to spin around in the back of my mind the whole time, and I can't help but wonder if this what people mean when they say they feel "transported."
I'm sure my sentimental ramblings are too much for some readers, and my allusions might even seem blasphemous. But with this singer and this band, I was moved. She ripped through a series of songs from Jukebox, offering some that were very true to the album versions and some that have continued to evolve as they've toured. The sound was atmospheric and electric, and each individual member of the band shone brightly. The guitar line on Ramblin' (Wo)man was as hypnotic as the keyboard part in New York was powerful.
They opened the encore with Blue, which might have been the most soulful moment of the night.
In the spirit of James Brown, Chan introduced the entire band with fanfare during an extended jam, and she was, in turn introduced as "The Queen of Soul." There was time when that bit would have made me wince, but last night it was true enough. I've seen great soul performances before, and I can't think of any that I could say were more moving or more impressive.
Going in, I remember thinking that I'd be disappointed if she didn't work in a solo set and play "I Don't Blame You" somewhere along the way. She did neither of these things, and I am anything but disappointed. It's strange to think that many people compare Cat Power most readily to Feist. I mean, I do love Feist. But after tonight, I don't think I'll be making that comparison anytime soon. Cat Power has clearly moved into something new, and judging her by the same standards that we used to understand Moon Pix or You Are Free or even The Greatest just won't fly.
On an even more inappropriately personal note, it's great to see her so confident and strong. It's impossible for me not to admire someone who's found their strength and overcome so much adversity and self-doubt.