Tonight: Paula Frazer, Virgil Shaw, The Court & Spark, and a one-time engagement of Neko Case &
John Doe
I'm not even sure where to begin here, so I'll begin at the beginning. Paula Frazer got shafted.
She has this amazing otherworldly voice that's haunting and sends shivers up and down my spine.
And her songs are all about sadness and loss and love and beauty and she's just intense and
amazing and beautiful, too. And they let her play five songs and then made her buy her own
drinks. I could have used a lot more Paula, and a lot less of...
Virgil Shaw & The Tarheel Band. Virgil's lyrics are cool, but his voice leaves a lot to be
desired, and he kept doing these weird hiccuping whoops and despite the fact that both his
drummer and pianist could also play their trumpet/fluegel horns at the same time as their main
instruments, this set did nothing for me. I spent most of the time yawning and wishing for the
night to advance.
The Court & Spark: I was convinced I would like these guys right as they went onstage beacuse
they had a pedal steel AND a french horn. But I was wrong. I mean, they weren't bad, they
just...sounded like Calexico, only not as good. As Rachel said, if they had been playing on a
lazy Saturday afternoon in a cafe while I read and drank coffee, I would have loved them. But
they weren't. So I didn't. The guitar player had the dubious distinction of looking a lot like
Bee, only more elfin: pointier and shorter and more femme. That's about all I can remember about
them.
Neko Case & John Doe. Holy shit. I mean, I knew this was going to rock going in, because it's
Neko Case and John Motherfucking Doe. But I had no idea it would be that entertaining. They
apparently spent only 1 1/2 days rehearsing songs, and while that may have been obvious, it
didn't matter. First off, let me say that every time I go see Neko Case, I burst into tears the
second she opens her mouth. Her voice is like pure raw emotion. (I thought maybe this only
applied to her sad torchy songs, but the same thing happened at New Pornographers) I feel the
same way about John Doe's voice. So I spent a lot of time biting my lip and trying not to look at
anyone near me so they couldn't see the tears. They also had fabulous stage banter, and at one
point John told a heckler to "Come up and say that to my face, motherfucker!" and I swear to god,
I swooned. They did a few of each of their own songs, and some old standards, and it was Just
Plain Good. I realize that this kind of reads like an 8th grader's book report, but I'm exhausted
and I have to save my superlative adjectives for tomorrow night, when I go see Big Star.