There has always been a sense of anything can happen — and it probably will — when watching Chan Marshall play. Her history of erratic behavior and onstage meltdowns while performing under her stage name of Cat Power is well documented. Given that the singer has also recently split from longtime boyfriend Giovanni Ribisi, her hard-core fans knew it would be an emotionally wounded version of Marshall taking to the vast stage at Hammerstein Ballroom last night.
While her mental state is a work in progress, there’s no doubt that, musically, Marshall is in rude health. Her latest album, “Sun,” has proven to be a minor revelation thanks to its usage of electronic loops and hip-hop beats. Sporting a striking new short, blonde hairstyle — another departure, this time from the dark long-hair-and-bangs look that so many indie girls have aped over the last decade — the Atlanta native strode confidently through an opening salvo of songs from the album, including the gently euphoric “Cherokee” and the stark yet beautiful “Manhattan.”
Although her band did an impressive job of bringing the complexities of the album to life, they were most certainly not the reason that more than 3,000 fans were crammed into the venue. Marshall’s smoke-stained voice and sultry delivery has always been the biggest draw and, gradually, she allowed it to take priority.
Complemented only by distant guitar, Marshall sang a stripped-back version of “Bully,” which instantly silenced the room with its immense emotional power while a cover version of “Angelitos Negros” (originally by Mexican actor Pedro Infante) felt even more gripping due to the way she stood purposefully in front of a lone and piercingly bright backlight.
Although Marshall always seemed to sing around the right notes than deliver them dead-on, the flaws only added to the thrill.
Achieving perfection is easy but projecting soul is not, and in these moments of musical nakedness, she seems to have the ability to momentarily stop time and space.
Perhaps inevitably, the show did eventually derail. Midway through the ghostly “Back In The Days,” Marshall was suddenly heard complaining that it “isn’t supposed to sound like that” and abruptly cut short the song, much to the band’s obvious embarrassment. In days gone by, this is exactly the kind of blooper that could destroy her fragile being and send her running to the sidelines or breaking down in floods of tears.
But last night, her response was simply to offer a short, if slightly embarrassed, apology and to soldier on into the next song with precious little hesitation. Bullish and workmanlike are not terms traditionally associated with Cat Power but the surprisingly professional way she dealt with this slip-up is a mark of how far she’s come as a performer and, it would seem, a person.
They say a watched pot never boils, but seeing Cat Power’s simmering set last night was just as exciting.