Normally, for a show like this, I would have arrived at the venue at 7:00 pm, then had a drink, made my way over to the front of the stage to plant myself there for the rest of the evening in anticipation of one of my favorite acts. However, after a stressful week it figures I didn’t get there until Neko was already on stage. As to be expected, there was no room on the floor, and I had to stand behind the obligatory giants.
My agitation subsided though once she finished the first song, “Fever,” the eighth track off of the new album, Middle Cyclone. And it was a pleasant surprise when aforementioned giants started to sing along to the next song, “Hold On, Hold on.”
As always, one of my favorite things about seeing Neko Case play live is her banter with the band; in particular, Kelly Hogan. This time around, Kelly remarked on her second day in San Francisco, in which she encountered a horny, one-legged pigeon. The dynamic between the two of them is on par with a comedy duo, and if you took away all the instruments, they could definitely hold their own; the two of them and the audience.
The setlist itself was comprised mostly of tracks from the latest album with a few crowd favorites thrown in.
1. Fever
2. Hold On, Hold On
3. People Gotta Lotta Nerve
4. The Pharoahs
5. Middle Cyclone
6. Deep Red Bells
7. I Wish I Was The Moon
8. I’m An Animal
9. Prison Girls
10. The Tigers Have Spoken
11. Margaret Vs. Pauline
12. Polar Nettles
13. Red Tide
14. Don’t Forget Me
15. That Teenage Feeling
16. This Tornado Loves YouEncore:
1. Vengeance is Sleeping
2. Lady Pilot
3. Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth
4. Magpie To The Morning
5. If You Knew
6. Star Witness
I consider Furnace Room Lullaby one of my favorite albums of all time, so I was a little disappointed there were none of those songs included. However, all the encore songs, save “Vengeance is Sleeping” were either requested by the audience or picked by Jon and Paul, the pedal steel and bass player.
Although my geography wasn’t ideal, the power of Neko Case’s voice and the reverb from the pedal steel guitar were as compelling as I expected them to be.
Is the song in Rock Band called Man Eater? Because she definitely played that one Tuesday. So if it is called that, it means she played different sets, which is always appreciated.
No, it’s called People Got A Lotta Nerve. I think the song title “Man Eater” has been used too many times.
So sad that I couldn’t go to either of these… It’s totally time for me to resign!