3 posts tagged “cat power”

I really should be asleep. Let's see... Muse. well, I spent 2.5 hours in heavy traffic trying to actually get there and missed the support act, which apparently wasn't a great loss. I weaved my way through the audience and found my mates. Great to see them again, it's been so long! As for Muse... I am not convinced. They have great songs, with brilliant beats and yer man has all the moves and plays guitar and piano quite well, but... he's ust so introvert. He doesn't talk, play with the audience, in fact, barely even acknowledges them. Instead, it's the drummer that occasionally throws in a "thank you". Despite all that, the audience still went berserk, so maybe it's just me having been spoilt the last few months with small venues, musicians that are also entertainers, front rows and maybe even the occasional backstage pass. However, after having been stuck in traffic for another 2.5 hours on the way back, I'm not entirely sure I even want to see them a second time in Antwerp. If it weren't for a couple of friends going that I haven't seen in ages, the decision would be easier. Wait and see, I guess.

And just a couple of mental notes. Jarvis goes on sale December 9. Isobell Campbel and Mark Lanegan goes on sale December 2. Oh, and Cat Power confirmed today for the All Tomorrow's Parties festival. Excellent!

Sleepz.

So I've been out of commission for a while, suffering from this slipped disc thing. Something that happens far too often to my liking. It had me very very very restricted for a good while, and frankly, it hurt like hell, despite so called painkillers, that didn't work at all. What is it with doctors these days, and being unwilling to actually help you? My monthly insurance fees are enormous, which I never use, because I never actually go see a doctor, and then when I do, he goes "Just take a couple of aspirins, and you'll be fine". Twat. I wasn't fine. I could barely get out of bed in the morning or put on my socks or anything. People were really forthcoming in helping me out with Solon, help which I grudgily accepted. I really have to learn to accept people's help more easily, but at least this was a start. I even managed to get him clipped last friday. First time for him (and me), but I must say Himself is looking very smart in his short coat. Almost like a real horse :) I did feel a little down about everything though, as everyone seems to be having fun with my horse lately, except for me. And they all keep telling me how great a horse he is. Pfft, like I didn't know that!

The back pains caused me to miss seeing Kashmir last wednesday. Then I was faced with the Nick gig last Saturday. An 85 euro ticket, I bought ages ago, thinking, Hey, it's a Saturday, so I can take my time driving into Germany and Mainz (about 4 hours), bimble around a bit and then go see this gig, not knowing that a few months later, I'd hardly be able to walk. I ended up doing what every other sensible person would do, overdose on painkillers, and drove down to Mainz. Getting in and out of the car was interesting, and frankly, I was in pain during the entire gig, but... it was still worth it! Nick was in great form, joking around, really drawing in his audience, taking the piss out of everything, first and foremost, himself. As a little extra, the new Grinderman single was played. A little side project? Or maybe just the follow up of the Bad Seeds? Who knows... The song "No Pussy Blues" is brilliant. I like the heavy guitars and the more throbby feel of the song, which seems a little more like "old" Nick Cave. The lyrics describe exactly how Nick has come across on stage lately. Loose, and taking the piss out of being a so called aging rock star.

The good news is I didn't feel nearly as bad as I thought I would the day after. Some strength seems to be seeping back in my leg, and I actually seem to be able to stand upright and walk in a straight line. I even sinned and managed to climb onto my horse's (bare) back, which actually helped to loosen the muscle. Something to do about the movement of the horse, or whatever. Climbing down was a different matter... So glad Solon is such a superhorse though, cause he stood stock still as I clamped onto him for dear life, slowly letting myself slip from his back onto the ground.

Just before my back broke down, I did go to see Nina Nastasia one night, and Cat Power a few days after that, but didn't have time to put them up yet. Nina was gorgeous, but still remains oddly underappreciated. She played the small Paradiso upstairs place, and that was maybe only half filled. They even put tables down. Very very strange setting, but it didn't matter, the gig was great either way. I'd love to see what Nina does with a somewhat more involved audience, as opposed to a very quiet, but attentive audience. She tried to reach out, but got very little back, which was a shame.

Then Chan Marshall, or Cat Powerrrrrr! Her sound has changed a little, I thought. Not surprising, really, considering where she came from. The last few times I saw her, she was on stage, bottle in hand, and she'd actually finish that bottle during the gig. Fidgety, flightt and nervous, she'd start and restart a song three times, and then break it off completely during the fourth. She's still fidgety and insecure on stage, unsatisfied with the way she sounded, and letting that overrule her performance, but not like she once was. She's just Cat Power and her little insecurities make her who she is and it's what makes her charming. I really enjoyed the gig and hope to see both again at some later date.

I took pictures at both of the girls' gigs, but not at Nick's gig.  They're up on my flickr page, for anyone interested.

What is it with this day? Bloody hell... Last day before a break, I usually end up taking things easy, but everything's been kind of mad, to be totally honest. Playing around with ACLs (geek stuff), which is messy and complicated and takes a lot of attention, then someone's trying to push through some project they forgot to get resources for... and I'm trying to be nice about it and help them... which is quite easy knowing I won't be here all week. Heh.

Next week is scheduled for configuring some hardware for our new branch, but guess what, it hadn't been delivered yet this morning. Now it has, and there's 7 Cisco boxes sitting under my desk, waiting for me to come back from Dublin. So I ran off to lunch screaming, bought myself a ticket for the Cat Power gig in the Paradiso soon as well as a couple of long sleeved shirts to take to Dublin and a couple of pairs of socks (I don't know what is with socks, theoretically speaking, I should have about a million, but I'm always short of them).

Popped off an email to Vika about Halloween. She's rented us an appartment in the city center of Budapest for EUR 16/person. Somehow I reckon I'll end up sharing with Fedja, Petra, Lee and Matija which would rock. Haven't seen most of them for a while... It's a shame we can't stay over with Vika herself this time, but no can do now she doesn't have the huge embassy house anymore. Whatevah... downtown Budapest sounds brilliant.

I had an intake interview for this course I'm taking later this month. Very intense interview, in which a lot of inner, inner, really inner stuff got dragged up. Since I'm kind of a mussel (soft, weak and miserable on the inside, tough shell on the outside) it was quite tough to do. Curious what the course will be like... I'm a bit nervous about it.

Also got onto Andy today. Haven't spoken to him for ages... the gayest non gay man I have ever known, I think (it's the bleached hair, I think). He's gonna go to NYC too next year, and on for maybe doing the whole thing and making a holiday out of it and maybe sharing an apartment or something. Sounds brilliant... Hopefully we'll be able to find something neat. I'd kind of like to do Manhattan in style.

And hey, hey, whaddya know... hi hoppy!

As a complete afterthought. I've been listening to a lot of Leonard Cohen lately and I kept thinking about this QotD question from a while ago, about covers and original. While Cohen's "The Partisan" is a stunner, I can't help thinking 16 Horsepower's version rivals it. It's just beautiful... raw, sensitive. Incidentally, I ended up playing Nick's version of Tower of Song in the car, which is nothing like the original, which makes it all the better.