Satisfaction in Chalk Farm

Went to see Cat Power at the recently re-opened Roundhouse in Camden last night. It's all very shiny now, lots of new wood and stainless steel, and is a bit of a rock'n'roll heritage venue. As a result during the first half of the show, which consisted of a very full band version of most of the new album 'The Greatest' my mind wandered to previous performers, and I imagined Jim Morrison's between song banter filtering up into the conical roof space back on the 6th September 1968. Or Robert Wyatt, cheeky grin in place, fag dangling out of his mouth, beating out those syncopated jazz rhythms with Soft Machine on 31st May 1969. What was I doing on those evenings, playing football in the park until it was too dark to see the ball? Watching Blue Peter - only 4 days after The Softs played, the famous Elephant poo episode was aired. A month later I'd be gathered in the school hall with my Waunfawr Junior School chums watching the moon landing...

...Anyway the thing is 'The Greatest' is easily CP's most polished, confident and professional outing thus far, and with a super competent backing band, it was threatening to turn into a fairly regular gig. Then after 40 minutes the band trouped off and Chan/Cat returned on her own, sat at the piano and produced a breath-taking version of 'Who Knows Where The Time Goes' which segued into 'Wild Is The Wind'. This was the fragile, delicate, seemingly damaged performer of legend. She'd been joking all the way through the evening, putting on a Lahndahn accent and waving her hands around in a bizarre fashion, very literally acting out the lyrics, and is obviously mentally very healthy these days. She can still get in touch with her dark side though, and her voice is that rare thing truly original and instantly recognisable. Listening to the album the night before Billie had said she reminded her of Sinead O'Connor, and I can hear some of the smoky breathiness of Dusty Springfield, but it's the technique I think she shares, rather than the voice. She picked up the guitar and launched into a languidly rambling 'House Of The Rising Sun'. No one should be able to do the 'House Of The Rising Sun' in 2006, it's beyond cliched, and yet because of the emotional investment she makes in the performance, and the fact that she's taking a folk song and making it new, by adding words and phrases it becomes timeless, renewed and totally relevant.

Like Patti Smith, who likes to un-pick sections of rock's rich tapestry, and weave them into new, but familiar shapes, Cat Power can align herself with the R'n'R ley lines and tap into the tradition without becoming mawkish or hackneyed. On 'The Covers Album' she does a version of 'Satisfaction' that is stripped beyond the bone, to its very DNA. She just sings the verses, and doesn't sing one of the most recognisable chorus's ever written. Tonight the band re-joined her for a stormingly rocking version, and again she makes the dis-satisfaction that the song is actually about more powerfully pronounced by denying the audience the release of the chorus, brilliant.

The whole band lined up to take a final bow, and she launched into, what seemed, like, a totally unrehearsed version of 'Tears of a Clown'. Some of the band grabbed their instruments and picked out elements of the tune, and I had tears in my eyes at the sheer joy that she has in singing these songs, a joy which she is so disarmingly able to share with her audience.