Cat Power w/ Nico Turner Center Church on the Green 11/15/13

General admission sold out show at a church implies one waiting in line at 7pm to be scrunched into a pew to view the evening's opening act. Nico Turner was a female guitar and vocalist. The looping guitar had strains of Tom Verlaine, but the vocals were unintelligible, nervous ramblings. Imagine your high school punker androgynous girlfriend breaking up with you via two soup cans and a string and you are in the ballpark. Nico Turner had the performer audacity to ask the audience "how much time do i have left?" and I don't mean squeeze-another-song-in-cuz-you-guys-luv-me-so-much time left. Turner's shy vocal delivery may have made sense in a subway bathroom hallway, but it did not translate well to a historic church.
  Cat Power is the nom de plume of Chan Marshall. CP has released some great recordings in the past decade. Husky voiced and oddly arranged covers dot her landscape. CP has a sketchy performing past, with examples of her cancelling tours, substance abuse, and mental illness. I feel that these qualities are the recipe for a rousing success or a miserable concert experience. After the opener's hapless performance, I was skeptical. CP came out to sing and play guitar to a microphone-less microphone. The sound of the vocals was nonexistent....trouble right? She was a trooper and moved to piano, the mic worked and we got a glimpse of the true CP. As she progressed, the house lights came on in a blinding flash as if God was saying "last call". CP soldiered saying "it's only light". Her covers of Satisfaction and Wild is the Wind were good but were shrouded by the venue trying to take her down. This is an artist who once sang the word "no" for 45 minutes at a show. CP has been a Chanel model, a Gap model, Giovanni Ribisi's girlfriend, Beck's muse, Dylan coverer and more. She can now add musician's equivalent of the TV show Wipeout to her resume. Cat Power.......more like Fight the Power, ugh.

Plants and Animals w/ Kindred Queer 11/13/13 Bar

Opening act Kindred Queer is a local group sounding like a modern mix of Fairport Convention and Renaissance. Drums, six string electric bass, guitar/vocals, and female cellist/vocals. The harmony vocals and use of cello gave a baroque flavor to this quartet.  Not sure if KQ has Yale ties, but their musical IQ seems high. I urge concertgoers in the New Haven area to check this band out. Original songwriting with a folk groove, KQ has a future if they want it.
   Plants and Animals was billed as a Canadian Blitzen Trapper, which is truly a compliment. Frenetic drums, capable bass, lead guitar/vocals, lead vocals/rhythm guitar was their lineup. Songs flipped from 70s rock to spacey indie. Lead singer had charisma and chops. While I agree with the BT likeness, P and A resembled early Grant Lee Buffalo in their delivery. Decent crowd got a dose of songwriting that was absent in the last two Bar entries.