Tuesday night saw Cat Power stop in at the Perth Festival Gardens for the first of two shows. It was her second show of the tour in Australia, following a run of two shows in New Zealand. I can’t say it was the best performance I have seen from Chan Marshall, but was by no means her worst performance, and her admission that she’d “done a terrible show and was embarrassed” seemed like a tough self-assessment.
The main problem seemed to stem from sound issues; Marshall’s mic at times was far too low in the mix, and for a few songs her band were drowning out her beautiful and ethereal vocals. Opening track “The Greatest” promised great things, building from a single chord, to a fantastic climax. However, apart from a few moments the show never quite lived up to the potential of that opening song.
Despite the sound issues, Marshall’s vocals were always going to be one of the shows highlights for me. It was beautiful vocal, ethereal and tinged with melancholy; but with a little added edge. It was a vocal that was doing double the work, with Marshall singing into two microphones, and looping her vocal to re-create the harmonies, and guitarist Adeline Fargier harmonising in the background as well.
The band worked hard to expand and build upon the sparse arrangements of the original tracks, fleshing the sound out, creating something that was moody and atmospheric. A number of the songs were accompanied by projected visuals; some of which were visually interesting, and some, notably the montage of third world imagery, that were just a little baffling.
Marshall for the most part maintained an air of aloofness, only on occasion talking to the crowd, or engaging with sections of the audience. There was no encore, but Marshall did stay on stage after the final song, a brilliant rendition of “Ruin”, taking in the applause, chatting with a few audience members down the front, and finally throwing flowers into the audience.
All in all it was a good show, not a great one, but with plenty of redeeming moments. When she is at her most engaged and into a performance, Marshall is one of the best in the business; and that showed at times throughout the evening, unfortunately just not consistently.
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