Neko Case @ the Granada Theater

Note from the baconator: Greetings BoTheads. Give a warm welcome to our newest Dallas contributor: Dillon (TBD) Lamb. A nut-punch will suffice in lieu of a welcome if you prefer; he’d actually enjoy it. Dillon is a fellow Aggie minority, in that he likes good music and voted for the right dude last November. Stay tuned for more from him in the future… keep it greasy - bacon.

I arrived at the Granada with just enough time to nab a beer, select my own personal standing area, and settle in for my first chance at catching Neko Case up close and personal. First up were some good ol’ Austin Texas boys called the Oh No! Oh My!. They have recently altered the name of the band to omit the dueling exclamation points, and while this may have been to make Google searches easier, it also parallels their musical inclinations; that is to say there was nothing too remarkable about these guys. If I am in a good mood, then maybe Oh No Oh My can pass as a more cheerful Wolf Parade, while on a worse day they may just come off as a(nother) Shins spawn. At times they could hit upon a kind of groovy, feel-good buoyancy, but these moments were marred by tiresome lyrics (“cut like a knife”), and the inability to prevent catchy from turning into cutesy. Read on for my take on Neko Case, as well as a couple more photos cribbed from a stranger’s flickr account after the jump.

Words by Dillon Lamb
Photos by flickr user "nffcnnr"

Once the Opening Band Blues had past, it was time for the Thanksgiving Turkey – Neko Case. The lights dim; crowd noise increases; the curtain raises and the band triumphantly takes the stage as Neko announces……”I just woke up from a nap. I feel kind of weird.” Hmm. Not exactly a “Heeeelllooo Daallass,” but hey, this isn’t exactly Cheap Trick I suppose. The band launches into the driving-yet-delicate “Things That Scare Me”, from 2002’s Blacklisted, and what a swell band they prove to be. Throughout the night they incorporate banjo, steel guitar, ukulele, and tenor guitar, along with the standard acoustic and electric axes in an effort to live up to the sonic depth present on all of Neko’s albums. I have always admired the amalgam of country, folk, and pop on Case’s records, and was pleasantly surprised this band was able to maintain the same subtlety in a live setting. Also, the guy on stand up bass is a dead ringer for Brian Posehn, which is always a bonus.

Unfortunately, even if Neko was joking about her napping, the words proved to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. For much of the set Neko seemed not quite disinterested, but certainly exhausted from a lengthy tour. At one point Neko forgets to turn her guitar up until halfway through a song, at another she bumbles with the lyrics on “A Widow’s Toast” and awkwardly corrects the mistake in mid-song. Perhaps the most egregious lapse in concentration comes during “Deep Red Bells.” The song’s bridge is supposed to feature Neko singing and strumming along unaccompanied before the song comes roaring back to its twangy climax, but tonight a bum chord by Neko temporarily grinds the song to a halt, forcing a let’s-try-this-again moment before the song can resume.

However, as mentioned before, Neko did not seem apathetic, just understandably worn down after a long tour. The staple stage banter was still on in full, with back-up vocalist Kelly Hogan and Neko trading quips throughout the night, and Neko’s sluggishness (or highness as suggested by Hogan) did seem to dissipate as the set wore on. Besides, tired or not tired, the most important element of a Neko Case show was still unmistakably awake: The Voice. Neko’s pipes were working just fine as her vocals effortlessly filled the theater while retaining the precision and emotion which first grabbed me by the ear on The New Pornographer’s “Letter From an Occupant” and have not let go since.

The set was heavy on songs from the recent album Middle Cyclone, including highlights “People Got a Lotta Nerve” and “This Tornado Loves You,” both of which gave the band a chance to pick up the tempo and get about as close to rocking out as a Neko Case band can. The new album sounded great as it should – the guys have had a whole tour to hone in on the sound – and was further bolstered with plenty of videos of tigers, birds, and country landscapes to compliment the lyrics which frequently muse about mother nature. Fortunately for long time fans, Blacklisted and Fox Confessor Brings the Flood were still well-represented with standouts such as “Margaret vs. Pauline,” “Hold on, Hold on,” and “Deep Red Bells” which managed to transcend Neko’s botched guitar work. I could be petty and hold a grudge over the fact the two best Neko songs ever recorded went unplayed (“Outro with Bees” and “John Saw That Number”), or I could bemoan Neko’s somewhat drowsy demeanor, but really I cannot find myself in any state other than satisfied and content at having seen another solid show at the Granada. Warts and all I will still fork over the green to see Neko and crew next time they roll through, but I might just bring her a double latte next time.