I've been listening to the music of Chan Marshall, aka Cat Power, since the mid 1990's, way before she was this famous, but it was the first time I saw her perform - at the baroquely decorated Avalon in Los Angeles, with its carved columns and red lights. For a rock and roll touch, I wore red lipstick, my silver jeans, layered black and white tank tops and a pair of Converse.Maybe I was expecting too much, but the concert was something of a disappointment, despite her beautiful voice and her very fine musicians. She never addressed or even looked at the audience, never seemed to want to give. She paced the stage back and forth, moving awkwardly. Much to my astonishment, she sang "Lilac Wine" by my dear, dear Jeff Buckley. That was great.
I did like the opening act, a trio called Entrance Band, with their super cool bass player, Paz Lenchantin. She rocks.
Emily Dickinson
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26 comments:
You went to a Cat Power concert? I am majorly jealous. I l-o-v-e her!
Lovely photo Mary-Laure, red lipstick looks great especially with Valentines day almost here. I had a similar experience with Catpower a few years ago. She seemed almost distracted. The only song that gave me an inclination of what she was capable of was when she sang 'the Greatest'. It was the only time where she seemed invested in the moment and it was completely perfect. I got chills hearing it. It was my first time hearing her in person and it was also at the Avalon! :) My good friend has seen her several times and he told me that he's seen very impressive performances by her and some less than impressive ones. I also suspect the pretty Avalon might have bad sound in it for the artists?
Your little spot in blogatopia is a pleasure to the eyes. I had fun peeking around. Thanks
I really love some of the Cat Power songs, never seen her live though...Entrance Band sounds pretty cool!
LYNN PAGE - I love her too, even if the concert was a bit of a letdown.
GABBI - it's funny how some great singers are really not great performers. My sister just told me she also heard that Cat Power was very inconsistent in concert.
I wish she had sung The Greatest, she really didn't sing any of her hits.
MICHIKO - they are pretty cool; check out their My Space page to hear some of their songs.
You rock too!
I love Cat Power, got to see her last year in Barcelona and was great. Plus I share most of your icons and I'm a vegetarian too. :)
Hi there,
sorry to hear the concert was a disappointment but good that you could hear her sing! :-)
That lipstick is really nice, I am myself not much of a red-lipstick kinda girl, but maybe should try it sometime....
also missed your previous post, lovely cards and nicely displayed, so interesting to see.
have a great weekend Ms Mary-Laure!
WORLD IN A PAN - :)
AGNES - isn't it great that through blogs we get to connect with people with whom we have so much in common?
SOLANGE - I used to never wear lipstick, especially red, then last year I tried it and loved it.
just heard cat power on the radio this morning and was reflecting on how much i love her music. too bad the concert didn't live up to your expectations. we went to see her last year when she was in boston, and she gave a great performance. i guess she's known for being unpredictable though!
Ça ne m'étonne pas finalement qu'elle ne soit pas extraordinaire en concert... Ce rouge te va à merveille!
Mary-Laure
Thank you so much for your lovely comment. Always nice to receive kind words.
Am a regular visitor to your site, interesting review of the Cat Power gig, friend of mine saw her here in Dublin and said the same thing.
Anyways, all the best.
Tris
Ooooo, so sophisticated!
lovely photo of you! i love cat power ("the greatest" is a great song!!!).... lucky you and how fabulous dressed that you were...;)
nancy
Mary-Laure, I just sent you a tag on my blog. One you might have done already? :)
JILL - I'm glad you had a good experience. I heard that when she's good she's just extraordinary.
MISS GITZY - merci du compliment!
GABBI - I'll check this out right away.
That's Cat Power's thing, though, isn't it? She has trenendous performance anxiety and recently has been working (or so I read in an interview) to try to overcome it.
I heart Jeff Buckley too . . . though I love k.d. laing's cover of "Hallelujah."
MISS CAVENDISH - oh, how interesting, I had no idea she had that problem. DO you remember where you read that? Was it an interview of her?
Ah, Jeff Buckley. I'm such a huge fan. I was devastated when he died back in 1997.
But it's true that k.d. lang's Hallelujah rocks, too.
TYT - nan dessu ka? TYT wa, dare desu ka?
Je suis toujours etonne que tu puisses encore lire le chinois et le japonais apres ces quelques annees ecoulees depuis notre retour d'Asie....Tu es formidable.
really? oh no... i am so sorry to hear that, there is nothing as disappointing as that... i have seen chan twice, the first time was incredible and very generous, but the second, about a year ago, i must admit, it wasn't as good as the first time... maybe she is not liking her tour this time, maybe she is tired... i don´t know...
Hmm am not familiar, excuse me while i nip off to itunes store to check her out.
JO - well, Miss Cavendish (in a comment above) said she raid Cat Power was experiencing tremendous performance anxiety and has been working to try to overcome it. So I guess this explains that.
LITTLEBIRD - check out her album The Greatest, that's a perfect introduction to her music.
Ojalá Cat Power viniese pronto por aquí.
It was indeed in an interview--but where? Perhaps the New Yorker? (I don't read any music magazines . . .)
And by the way, to answer an earlier question, I tend to avoid stacked heels because I've had the unpleasant experience of the wood chipping. But that may have been the quality of the heel.
j'aime la courbure douce et fragile de tes paupières.
TRAVELER'S SOUL - grazie; cela me fait plaisir. Moltissimo. Davvero.
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