Uncomfortable Dress Doesn't Rein In Case's Voice

Ah Neko, you had to point the tightness of your black dress in the early goings of their Ryman concert Saturday.

On every subsequent song, you looked uncomfortable as hell and lucky to stay standing without the mic stand's aid.

But it was the Ryman, and I can't imagine an artist as country-tinged as your self would not show up dressed to the nines. Plus, the overly tight dress led to a host of humorous interludes anytime she went to pick up a guitar or adjust its settings.

With band in a country set-up with pedal steel acoustic guitar, upright bass and accompanying singer Kelly Hogan, this was pure solo Neko, wrung clean of any traces of her side project the New Pornographers. Whether joking or harmonizing, Case and Hogan fit flawlessly.

As for the music, everything was top-notch, if a little busy thanks to the animation which accompanied most songs. The most torrid tracks from her latest, Middle Cyclone, came off best, as Case let loose some magnificent crescendos on and The Pharaohs. The Ryman's acoustics did wonders for her loudest wails, especially unforgettable climax of "What will make you believe me?" on This Tornado Loves You, which closed the main set.

Aside from the occasional mild rearrangements to fit the band, the songs barely strayed from their album incarnations; of course, no one minded. Case captivated on Blacklisted cuts Deep Red Bells and I Wish I Was the Moon. The new record got the greatest attention, which Case snarkily pointed out to anyone in the audience expecting different, but those tunes were broken up by a good cross-section of Blacklisted, The Tigers Have Spoken and Fox Confessor Brings the Flood.

Even some of Cyclone's lesser songs - Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth comes to mind - developed unseen depth in a live setting. The usual burnout that results with seeing an artist live did not happen this time, because she displayed more substance in numbers I earlier ignored.

For the encore, she broke out personal favorite Star Witness, her most enchanting, moving murder ballad (Case songs often manage all those things at once).

I'd be amiss if I forgot the banter, because it only took a few song breaks to spark my memory of Case's wicked sense of humor. In her own wry manner, she got as many laughs from the indie crowd as the Spinal Tap alumni got a few months ago. She and Hogan could take their routine on tour by itself.

Opener Jason Lytle was the only blemish. Looking like a Witness Protection member with his face obscured by a baseball hat and his low-key demeanor, he stuck to a "same chords, same tempo" pattern for the entire set. The most exciting part came from the drummer, who only shed his boredom when chugging beers in a single gulp.