Live music review: Neko Case returned to the Paramount Theater in Austin for Thanksgiving
Neko Case first entered my musical consciousness through her work as a member of the indie-pop super group, The New Pornographers. Starting with their second album, Electric Version, I was instantly a fan but it was her distinctive vocal delivery that had me enthralled. I had to find out more. So over the course of 20+ years, I immersed myself in a genre defying musical catalog that encompassed country noir, folk rock, indie rock, spoken word, bluegrass, and Americana. Through all it all, Case has always maintained her own unique point of view. Imbuing her songs with a poetic style of songwriting that is both unsparingly brutal and yet heartbreakingly beautiful. The topics of so many of her songs reveal a loving reverence for the animal kingdom as well as a deep respect for the forces of nature.
So on a warm Tuesday night, two days before Thanksgiving, Neko Case and her touring band returned to the Paramount Theatre in support of her latest album, Neon Grey Midnight Green, her eighth studio album, which also follows her recent bestselling memoir, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You. I’ve been lucky enough to have seen the New Pornographers on a couple of occasions but have only seen Neko Case solo once at the Paper Tiger in San Antonio. While I haven’t always thought of the Paramount Theatre as my go to place to see live music, I will concede that certain musical artist do benefit from its historic ambience, which can lend a sense of intimacy and warmth that you can’t find at any other venue.
Opening for Case was John Grant, who was once the lead singer, primary songwriter and cofounder of the alt rock band, The Czars before becoming a solo artist in 2010. He entered the stage alone, with only a synthesizer and keyboard as his instruments. I have long been aware of his presence as a celebrated musical artist but somehow never took the time to delve into his music before this performance. His songs are unflinchingly confessional, exploring personal aspects of his life ranging from drug addiction, self-destructive behavior, homosexuality, and low self-esteem, balanced out with a sardonic wit, not unlike that of Father John Misty.
Sung in a deeply rich baritone, sometimes augmented with a vocoder, over a chill electro beat, his music has a lush and majestic quality about it that effectively softens some of his sharper lyrical barbs and harsh language. In between songs, he regaled the audience with stories about living in Iceland and his fluency in several languages. It was a relatively short seven song set, including songs like “Grey Tickles, Black Pressure”, “Queen of Denmark”, and “Is He Strange”, but definitely one that piqued my interest to check out more of his music.
Neko Case and her touring band arrived on stage soon after, with only a backdrop image of a building with words You Are So Powerful written on it. No fancy light show or choreography involved. Starting with “Bracing For Sunday” it was clear the evening would focus primarily on the commanding force of her voice and the musical proficiency of her more than capable band, thus allowing the songs to expand and evolve in a live setting. She focused mostly on songs from her current album, which deals with the loss of many of her musical allies. The audience seemed generally receptive to her new songs but really came alive when she pulled out many of their favourites like “People Got A Lotta Nerve” and “This Tornado Loves You”, both from her album, Middle Cyclone.
Case coupled two of her bird related songs together, “Maybe Sparrow” and “Magpie To the Morning”, which was also met with favorable applause. She occasionally bantered between the songs to offer insight or to drop a clever thought. Before she launched into “Little Gears,” a song about the exquisite beauty of a spider building its web and its fragile impermanence, she suggested the audience should get over their fear and “get on the spider wagon”. After treating the audience to 19 songs from across her many solo albums, Neko and her band brought the show to a close; breaking the magical spell we didn’t realize we were under.
But much like a Thanksgiving meal, this audience had left room for dessert, as evidenced by their rapturous applauses and proclamations of love. Neko, along with her band, returned and gave us four more songs, including favorites like “ I Wish I Was The Moon” and “Hold On, Hold On”. Before charging into a cover of “Loretta” by the Nervous Eaters, Neko stated that they don’t usually do this song anymore but “what the hell”. It was truly a real barn burner. She ended the night with the song “At Last” from her album, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood. And with that, the show was over and fans shuffled out of the theatre into the night knowing they witnessed something truly extraordinary. Neko’s creative spirit is much like a wild horse that can never be tamed and we wouldn’t want it any other way.
All photos by Troy Gonzales
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