Cat Power @ The Vic/Chicago - 02.10.2008

ok, i had two "firsts" yesterday, one of them was hell, the second made hell worthwhile...

the first first, "hell" was driving into and then hanging out in -2 degree weather (-42 w/windchill, the "good" news, it was supposed to be -8 ) in the legitimately named "windy city", the second was the cure for "hell" (and the sole reason for deciding to drive to a frigid chicago in early february for "fun")...spending the evening w/the talented and lovely chan marshall, aka: cat power.

she and the dirty delta blues band came out after a (too long) set by the completely dreadful opener "appaloosa" and played about a 2 hr set culled mostly from "jukebox." the vic is a pretty rundown older theatre in the lincoln park neighborhood of chicago, kind of a nice dive with great sound kind of place.

we chose to sit in the balcony when we figured out that we would be able to score front row up there as opposed to standing with about 1,200-1,300 people downstairs. as i said the audio was great, the audience was great, quiet, and most importantly, respectful and very appreciative. the set was mostly from "jukebox" and a few songs from "the greatest." the band was pretty amazing, w/judah bower and greg forman as standouts on lead guitar and keys respectively. and chan, what can i say, she was brilliant, mesmerizing...perfect. from the voice (i mean "the" voice), to her awkwardly sexy movements/dancing, she performed the majority of the show from the very front of the stage (standing in front of the monitors) making eye contact, smiling and waving at those down front (ok, maybe the balcony wasn't such a good idea ) and the rest of the show she danced, glided, slid, sat, rolled and made full use of the large and open area of the stage. basically, she (they) nailed it, every aspect of the show, nailed. perfect. excellent.

they played for about 1:50 and didn't do an encore but after she walked offstage and came back a couple of seconds later with an armful of tour t-shirts and started throwing them out to the audience, smiling, laughing and playing w/the crowd, nobody really seemed to mind.

i've been a fan of her's for quite a while, since "you are free" and this was the first time i have had the opportunity to experience her live. it will not be the last.