Concert Review: Neko Case (by Alex Spoto)

Vocal powerhouse Neko Case paid a recent visit to Providence on the first of the month, delivering a solid yet unorthodox show at Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel. Case’s name might ring some bells because of her membership in strummy Canadian indie-rock band The New Pornographers. Her solo sound is one of the most progressive being categorized as “country,” and her distinct vocal work and songwriting drew an unusually large crowd to Lupo’s. The size of this crowd could have seemed somewhat inflated, however, since the entire floor in front of the stage was filled with folding chairs. This surprising move on the venue’s part induced a mellow, laid-back feeling to the whole evening, and Case fit the mood perfectly. Her voice stole the show: she belted out her set with a powerful, pure, yet edgy twang that was reminiscent of Loretta Lynn and Grace Slick at the same time. Her seemingly traditional-country inflected tunes included guitars, pedal-steel, and banjo, but also featured many key changes and crooked song structures which helped her sound seem particularly fresh. Neko performed with an energy that was fun and engaging without being oppressive. Her band, on the other hand, appeared somewhat lackluster, with the exception of the banjo/pedal-steel player with whom Case often shared a witty repartee. Case’s personality as well as her warm melodies and stunningly beautiful voice made the show feel homey—she even had her little dog sleeping on stage while the band performed. By the third or fourth song of her lengthy encore, folks who weren’t fortunate enough to snag chairs in front of the stage began to dance their way to the front of the hall anyways. When the band struck up her rollicking hit from 2006’s Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, “Hold On, Hold On,” most everybody seemed to be singing along, and the concert began to feel a lot more like a regular Lupo’s rock n’ roll show.

Support for the show was provided by Eric Bachmann, lead singer of Seattle-based indie-rock band Crooked Fingers. Bachmann did a solo set of pretty yet slightly monotonous tunes where he sang over rolling, finger-picked guitar. Unfortunately, the Lupo’s crowd was a bit too large and noisy to be rapt with Bachmann’s brand of quiet folk, but a rendition of a Mexican folk song drew in the crowd’s attention for a while. Bachmann’s latest solo release, To the Races, came out on the hip Omaha, NE label Saddle Creek in 2006.