See here for photos and comments from people at the show:
http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2006/07/cat_power_hiro.html#comments
also: link to Bao's photos on Flickr
http://flickr.com/photos/baonguyen/sets/72157594212262966/
CAT POWER
Hiro Ballroom - http://www.themaritimehotel.com/hiroBallroom.html
The show was nuts. I felt like ANYTHING could happen at any moment. There was no opening act (unusual) and Chan Marshall came out at 9:00pm. She immediately seemed very friendly...talked to a couple of people and looked around and said "why doesn't everyone sit down so you can see? everyone sit down." The problem is you cannot sit down when everyone is standing up against each other...so everyone started to slowly back up so the person in front of them could sit down.... Eventually almost everyone in the place was sitting...with their knees to their chests or Indian-style. Except four people in the front had no room to sit, so they were stuck standing...and people started yelling at them "sit down! sit down!" They were helpless and looked it. They couldn't move, they were stuck. Then Chan said "why don't you sit up here, come up here." So they went and sat on the stage. Everyone applauded. There were two older people (I would say in their 50's or 60's) and they couldn't or didn't want to sit..and she was like "Mademoiselle, mademoiselle you can sit here, on this bench" (there was some sort of ledge by the front of the stage I think)...but I don't think this couple wanted to separate, or move to the front...plus there was no way to walk anywhere...everyone was sitting all over the place....eventually the couple moved to the side and stood in the entrance way....
Then she sat down with her guitar (Danelectro - the one you see her with in all the photos) and started to play. As soon as she started singing Merin started to cry. Chan's voice is incredible! She played a really nice, slow version of Love & Communication...and then House of the Rising Sun. It is just like on her old records...the songs start out all disjointed and with her just noodling around...and then she gets into a groove and it just becomes this incredible gelled sound. She was reading the music or the words to House of the Rising Sun off to the side...but as soon as she got going she stopped looking over.
The music was great, the sound was fantastic. You could hear a pin drop in the place. Just Chan and her guitar. After a few songs she moved to piano, and then switched back and forth for the remainder of the set.
But people were uncomfortable sitting on the floor. I couldn't hack it. I had no room. The person behind me had his foot up my butt, or down the back of my pants or something. M had a skirt on. A person behind me kept complaining that his foot was asleep...his girlfriend kept telling him to move. He kept saying "I did move." Eventually I had a panic attack...I get panic attacks when I feel trapped...you couldn't get up or out if you tried...there was no path, no room to move, people sitting every inch of the place. We got up and stepped over people until we reached the entrance way/hallway. We stood there for the rest of the concert. Not as good a view / not as good sound.
People started to build up in the hallway where we were. You had to scale a small wall and jump a railing to walk through the seating area and cut through the back to get to the bathrooms...which apparently a lot of people were doing. M went out at one point to try and find the bathrooms and security said she had to go to the other side of the ballroom...M said "there is no way to walk, everyone is sitting, there is no path" they said "step on someone." I got really mad and was about to throw a fit, but M stopped me. I almost got into three fights while we were there.
The hallway got more and more crowded until it filled up... People were jumping the railing and making noise... But overall it wasn't that bad.
Chan stopped in the middle of (I think) "Willie" and hung her head and complained about the sound. Then she looked as if she was going to bang her head on the piano. But people started cheering and saying "It sounds great! Please don't stop" so she continued. I am sure if people had started heckling it would have been all over. She is definitely a loose hinge...meaning she can become unhinged at any moment. All someone has to do is knock into her or throw her for a loop.
She did a little acapella thing, complete with little dance-y moves and hand signals. She made lots of references to the fact that she is "sober"...but she also made a lot of references to doing cocaine ("This is a...song...so you can go to the bathroom....or cocaine"...also later announcing that she was getting a cold and then motioning as if she were snorting cocaine...etc.). There was an obnoxious guy at the bar screaming and yelling (mostly "I love you" type stuff)...and the two of them went back and forth for a while until he threatened to come up on stage and Chan said "oh, fuck" and said she was going to call security.
At one point she started to swing her guitar around (like in "I Don't Blame You" maybe?
Last time I saw you, you were on stage
Your hair was wild, your eyes were bright
And you were in a rage
You were swinging your guitar around
Cause they wanted to hear that sound
But you didn’t want to play
And I don’t blame you
People were screaming "Smash it! Smash it!" some "Don't smash it!" Eventually she sat down and started playing again. I knew she wouldn't smash it - she must love that guitar.
She did a few covers, a lot of originals, and ended with the Everly Brothers "Dream" ("All I Have To Do Is Dream" -listen b-side of "Could We" 7-inch single). She didn't come out for an encore (also unusual)...she made believe she was wiping her tears and flinging them into the audience. Waving goodbye and disappearing.
She is a bit crazy. It is hard to tell how funny she is. She is either hilarious, or completely nuts. Much better guitar player than I thought, just because it sounds so nice. She makes so much out of so little. Just picking out the bass notes with her thumb and strumming over simple chords. She is obviously better at piano. But great on both. I would love to see her with that band of Stax musicians she has been playing with.
I would see her again. It was an experience for sure.
PS - The Hiro Ballroom is beautiful. Even more so than the photo on the website.
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