Words of Wisdom

Last night I had the opportunity to see one of the biggest acts on the alt-country scene, a siren of the southern gothic soul, Neko Case, and it was a good show.

The concert took place at Minglewood Hall in midtown Memphis. Though there have been several shows there that I really wanted to see since it opened, this was my first trip to newest mid-size venue in the city. I was impressed with the place, especially when you compare it to other similarly sized spots in town like the New Daisy. It had two bars, along with rows or seating and tables in the back half of the room. I stood for the entire show, which isn’t that easy for someone used to spending their days in a cubicle, in the floor area in front of the stage. I had a great spot, probably only 15 feet or so from the stage and had a perfectly clear view for the entire evening. The crowd demographics were different from most concerts I have attended, with most audience members obviously in the 30 and over bracket, and many couples dancing together throughout the evening.

The opener, Sarah Harmer, came on stage around 8:00 for a 45 minute set, during which time the room steadily filled in anticipation for the main event. Harmer played the entire folk music set on her own with her guitar as the only accompaniment. Though I had never listened to her before (even though I think I recognized her from WEVL or something), I was quite impressed with her organic sound as she sang songs of nature and love and other normal folk music subjects. Though I was not that familiar with her, there were several people in the crowd who obviously were fans and they called out song titles to her several times, asking her to play their favorites. In response, she seemed genuinely touched and said in a surprised tone, “You know my stuff!” Then she did something that I have rarely seen at any type of concert. She played their requests and, though I did not know of her beforehand, I am now a definite fan. You just don’t see that kind of appreciation very often.

Truth be told, I didn’t recognize Neko Case when she came on the stage around 9:15. I guess the pictures I have seen of her on album covers and whatnot have her more made up, with her long, fiery red hair flowing out and dressed in something not so casual, at least more so than the t-shirt and jeans she was wearing last night. Her appearance was earthier than any pictures I had seen before, actually causing her to look like the woman well into her 30’s that she is. I don’t mean to harp too much on appearance, but it really did surprise me. Then the band kicked into the bluegrass-sounding opener “Things That Scare Me” and I didn’t worry about her appearance anymore. It was her golden, soaring voice that mattered and it soon had me in its tight embrace. As I mentioned in passing before, I generally think of her songs as a southern gothic style, with dark and macabre elements, but still retaining their pop sensibilities, and this transferred pretty well to a live format. She went through several numbers from her last three albums, including songs like “Maybe Sparrow,” “Prison Girls,” “Hold On, Hold On,” “That Teenage Feeling,” “This Tornado Loves You,” “Deep Red Bells,” “I Wish I Was the Moon,” and several others that I can’t recall off the top of my head. There were technical problems throughout the night that seemed to frustrate her at times and by the end of the show they had shut their monitors down and were playing, in her words, “campfire style.” She spoke to the audience a fairly good deal, but her backup singer conversed with everyone even more, especially at the times when the technical problems were being attended to. Another thing that became clear during the show was that Case is definitely a perfectionist, seeing that she stopped two songs during their intros because of tuning problems – which, I didn’t think were as bad as she did, but, hey, she’s the professional.

In all, I thought it was a good low-key sort of show and I was really happy to get the chance to see someone that I have been a big fan of for such a long time. If you ever get the chance, I would definitely recommend her.