Cat Power!

Yes, she's back...and this time she has left her guitar home. So no more guitar nursing sessions, breakdowns in the middle of the gig or clumsy performances. Chan Marshall a.k.a. Cat Power is stronger than ever when performing with new band, Dirty Delta Blues. Okey, I have to admit that I've never seen her performing on her own during those old days when her shows were more or less dictated by either depression or booze but last night's gig in The Forum, Kentish Town came very close to perfection in every way.

I arrived just in time to have a pint of Guiness before they started playing. The place was packed but not in that inconvenient way - no one was close enough to smell their breath or pour their drinks on my trousers. There wasn't any teenagers with their boyfriend troubles or chavvys jumping around. And weird enough, nobody seemed to be shitfaced like on that Badly Drawn Boy's gig last February (well, might be something to do with the Tuesday night...). But what was even weirder was the fact I didn't mind arriving, staying and leaving alone. In fact I was perfectly fine with it. I didn't even miss anyone to have a chat with after the gig, like usually. It just felt natural to sit next to these Asian girls on a bus completely fallen into my own thoughts.

The gig itself and especially Chan was amazing. Song after song the sound got bigger and braver and I was enjoying every minute of it. She was sincere, giving everything she had and dancing around the stage almost as maniac as the singer of The Rakes (whom by the way I think I saw on the gig:). From time to time she appeared even a bit compulsive with her jerky movements. But all that cohered well with her powerful yet fragile voice. They played more or less full 90 minutes - nothing like these hip indie bands with their "45 minutes and I'm gone" thing.

Several times I was sure I'll break into tears - I know I'm such a cry baby but it's usually limited only to movies. Her voice and whole presence was so touching...The only thing that actually stopped me was the fact I couldn't hear the words of the songs properly. Her voice was mixed too low and most of the time the strong sound of the guitars override her singing. But as it was the only con of the whole concert I think that's unfortunately though forgivable.

And like you might have already guessed, this post is dedicated to the whole work of Cat Power with special reference to the song called Fool from You Are Free album. I love you Chan Marshall!

Ps. to all of you (you know very well who I'm talking about) who are thinking about posting something cynical and oh so clever - just leave it! I DON'T want to hear it...