Neko Case at the Barbican
Kathryn Joseph
The Barbican, 8 November 2018
Neko Case really, really hates phones at concerts. A few years ago I saw her live and it seemed like she spent about 10 minutes just ranting about people who watch gigs through their phones and aren't present in the moment, which, to be fair, there is definitely plenty of truth in. After that phones were banned at Neko shows and there's always an announcement at the start of every one that states this.
Therefore, no terrible Neko shots from me this time (albeit from the front row so they may have been a little better) but thankfully at least a Getty one (which you can use on non-commercial blogs which this certainly is!) I do definitely get her point but sometimes I do enjoy watching video clips others post after the show and because of Case's policy there's not one from her recent tour on YouTube, which in this day and age certainly feels weird, as if the tour never existed. That said everyone did respect her wishes and she seemed in a great mood this evening, although that may well be due to the fact that this was the very last night of the tour.
She also seems pretty pleased with her new expanded band, which now stands at six members (seven if you include Neko herself), the only returning member (I think) being wonderful multi-instrumentalist Jon Rauhouse - he of the impressive big grey beard and always awesome pedal steel.
I have to say I'm not sure that having such a big band actually benefited the music much, particularly the two girls on backing vocals (and sometimes guitar) who have replaced the amazing Kelly Hogan (who has a new gig playing with The Decemberists). I really missed the constant banter between Hogan and Case and I also missed some of the space, the airiness, in the music which did not need the roar of five guitars (which on at least one song, Man, is what happened).
That's not to say that Case wasn't good - she was definitely great - but I didn't feel as moved as I have previous times I've seen her and that may well be because her new album, Hell-On, is the first she's released where I haven't fallen completely in love, and this show was essentially the new album played live with a few older songs thrown in for good measure.
She does start off with two of the albums best tracks, Pitch Or Honey and Last Lion Of Albion, but it's when she sang the old Blacklisted song Deep Red Bells that I finally felt that old Neko magic: that old country noir feeling sounding beautiful echoing around the Barbican Hall.
One of the new songs I was really looking forward to hearing live was the moody Curse Of The 1-5 Corridor (her duet her Mark Lanegan), which is absolutely stunning on the record, but live there was something lacking - not just Lanegan obviously although I was puzzled when she didn't make use of the guys in the band and instead it was just Case and her female backing singers. The album version suggested it might go new places live but instead it just ended without taking off and left me a little underwhelmed.
Also, Bad Luck, the big "single" from the new record has to be one of her worst songs. It really sounds like the record company asked her to add a catchy song after she completed the record and Bad Luck was a hasty upbeat addition. It may well have not happened that way but the live version certainly didn't convince me otherwise.
When she delved into her back catalogue though, things felt completely different. Maybe Sparrow and Margaret Vs Pauline are still dark and moving, full of interesting characters and poetic lyrics and Hold On, Hold On, kept to almost the end, full of beautifully pleasing jangly guitars and Case's wonderful pleading voice.
The highlight of the evening though was Case's stunning cover of Sarah Vaughn's Look For Me (I'll Be Around), which featured on the Blacklisted album, which saw Case alone on stage with Rauhouse and allowed her incredible voice to soar. It sent tingles along my spine and made me yearn when Case mixed country music with the vibe of a torch singer, something I doubt she'll ever go back to.
Although she wasn't quite as talkative as she has been on previous tours I've seen her on there were some funny moments. The most memorable was when her bandmate brought up her "porno" she did with Mark Lanegan, meaning the brilliantly weird music video they did for the Curse Of The 1-5 Corridor where they wear nude bodysuits and all sort of naughty animations cover them. Case revealed that they never thought Lanegan would do it and they considered a whole host of other people for the video before eventually thinking they had nothing to lose by asking him and were shocked when he immediately said yes. The video, which is only a snippet really, is definitely worth a watch.
Case also told us she was wearing her special stripey trousers for us tonight because they made her feel like Peter Tork of The Monkees back in the 60s. "I don't wear my Tork pants for just anyone!" she told us.
The encore is five-songs long and goes way past the 10.30 curfew: among the songs her brilliant cover of the Nervous Eaters' Loretta and ends on one of my favourite Neko tracks, This Tornado Loves You.
Overall, there's no doubt Case is still wonderful and that voice of hers is an incredible thing to witness live but I'm not sure she needs a huge band playing over it.
Supporting tonight was Scottish singer-songwriter Kathryn Joseph, whose latest album From When I Wake The Want Is, has been creating a positive buzz. I must admit I wasn't particularly familiar with her music but she was certainly intriguing, alone on stage with just a keyboard and her quivering, girlish voice. I wasn't a huge fan of her keyboard sound, which sounded the same on every song and her voice sometimes sounded like Kate Bush at other times a traditional Scottish folk singer. I can't say she converted me to her music but I will certainly give her new album a listen. Apparently she gave Neko and her band a huge bag of chocolate bars on their last night together so she can't be all bad.
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