A disappointment, a surprise and an over-met expectation

This evening, I saw Neko Case, Calexico and Nick Cave perform at the Sidney Myer bowl. The bowl is a kind of a modern concrete bunker with a pretty roof, in a park across the river from Melbourne city. All the concrete and metal didn’t make for wonderful acoustics, but they made up for it my simply turning up the volume. A bit of a hack. **A disapointment** 

I really really really like Neko Case, so having to write this is somewhat painful for me. I don’t know what it was, but she wasn’t herself on stage tonight. I’ve seen her a number of times in Vancouver, and I have the excellent “Peel Sessions” CD. She has a way of connecting to the audience, not just playing song after song after song.

Tonight, however, she barely spoke a word that wasn’t the name of a song. I was really disappointed. Was I expecting too much? I don’t think so. Granted, she was the opening act, playing for a huge, half-empty room on the other side of the planet, but… sigh. Neko…

She’ll have a chance to redeem herself in my eyes tomorrow night when she plays with Calexico at the Hifi bar in the city. A surprise

Speaking of Calexico, why didn’t anyone tell me these people were this good? Hot damn. They rock! A great mix of Southern US rock and Mexican folk. And man, those trumpets. Calexico, in its current incarnation, is a huge band, and they have an equally huge sound. They work together like a well-oiled machine. One song descended into a wall of noise, everyone belting away on whatever they played – after some time, it all somehow sorted itself back out again, and the song re-emerged from the other side, unscathed and feeling really quite good about itself. An over-met expectation

Much has been written about Nick Cave, and particularly about the live version. It’s all true, even the contradictory stuff. He’s a master showman, punk rock’s answer to Billy Crystal. Nick’s an elder statesman of punk, and he hasn’t lost any of his credibility. When a bouncer tried to carry off someone who was dancing in the front aisle in front of the stage, Nick tapped him on the shoulder mid-song and motioned for him to let the girl go. Seeing this, the crowd cheered and many started running for the front rows to mosh and dance and jump and sing. That’s class, Nick.

I’d read a lot about seeing Nick Cave live, and I’d seen some concert footage, so I knew a bit about what I should expect. It was better. Even the lighting was sensational. He did a Johnny Cash (RIP) song as well. The only fault I could find with the show is when he dragged an old Birthday Party buddy (I think) out with him for the chorus of “Bring it on”. The buddy stood around and smoked, and overdid the lines, couldn’t sing. Just bad bad bad.

The ringing in my ears is Nick’s fault. The fact that it’s 1am and I’m still awake is mine.