le sigh...Neko in Ithaca 26 Jan 2008

I'm not much of a concert goer these days, but two in one week make me stand up and cheer. The Fiery Furnaces were last Monday at the Bug Jar, and while I expected their helter-skelter arrangements and dizzying tunes-within-tunes, it was still great to finally experience them live like they are meant to be listened to. Plus, I was gratified how accessible they were afterwards.

But the real gem was of course Neko Case last night in the State Theater in Ithaca. It was my sixth time seeing her in some fashion, a record for me, and it was the best, maybe because she was test driving some new material and the element of surprise was magic. I was all set to post a setlist that I snagged when I saw over on the Porchlight forums that she was a bit tentative on the new material and someone posted the setlist from the Tarrytown show with a disclaimer. If you're adventurous enough, go troll for it, but I can tell you she did five new songs, all bursting with finalized potential, and three covers: Tom Petty's "Listen To Her Heart"(!), Harry Nilsson's "Don't Forget Me"(!!), and Sparks' "Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth"(!!!). The new album is supposed to be out next January, which cannot etc. Sheila and I had front row seats, and outside of the occasional expected asshole ("Marry me, Neko!"), it was just about perfect.

Playlists for February firming up, stay tuned....