Cat Power @ Sydney Opera House(30/01/2010)

Wed 2nd Feb, 2011 in Gig Reviews

“Are you guys nervous to be here too”? Cat Power is jittery about her debut at Sydney’s Opera House. From the countless times she urges the mix-desk to turn things up, down and back again, to her stiff fingers that spend most of the night trying to furrow their way out of the spotlight and into the unyielding pockets of her very tight jeans – Cat Power is more than a little uncomfortable.

For anyone who saw her way back when, this may come as no surprise. After all this is the woman who abandoned her 2004 Metro Theatre show to lie prone in the audience chanting ad infinitum about the need to “fuck the pain away”. To everyone else, Cat Power’s fragility may be at odds with her (new-found) reputation as a genuine performer. A bone fide entertainer who chats, no longer feels the need to hide behind her hair and whose sobriety has given her the confidence to provide post gig strawberries to stage loitering fans.

Tonight, the reality of Cat Power’s performance lies somewhere between the two (although thankfully more at the keeping-it-together end of the scale). She’s still no stage-hogging solo star but there’s also no need to watch with fist in mouth and a tense hope that she’ll just make it to the next song.

She starts alone, opening with her stark cover of (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction. The basic tones of an electric guitar add an eerie melancholy to The Stone’s famous ode to sexual frustration. The audience holds a collective breath when she pauses to fiddle with her amp, but it’s no portent of difficulties to come. She returns, picks up from where she left and segues into the chorus.

Covers form the backbone of the set, predominately those taken from 2008’s Jukebox. Safe to say this isn’t your average pub singer peddling shoddy imitations. Cat Power gently unties the originals from their mooring, setting them adrift in her fragile and uncertain waters. Whether she’s borrowing from Pasty Cline or Fleetwood Mac, she dismantles each song and rebuilds anew, sealing her version with a voice that has a rock solid centre and an outer as brittle as a broken heart.

Although she starts with just a guitar for company, a small band arrives quietly mid-way through Good Woman. The four-piece (including Dirty Three’s Jim White and Blues Explosion’s Judah Bauer ) interrupt to flesh out the song with a warm, understated sound. It’s entirely appropriate that White and Bauer keep a lid on their respective talents. They effortlessly frame the set with carefully executed detail that never detracts from the main reason why we’re here.

Band and singer come together beautifully for Angelitos Negros. Forgetting herself for a while, Power rolls seductive Spanish vowels around the microphone head, taking languid steps as the guys behind her canter into a small but potent firecracker of a finish. It’s a spellbinding moment that’s completely at odds with the hackneyed backdrop of falling leaves and clichéd sunsets that looks like a cheap collection of screensaver images.

Despite the odd imagery choices, this is a great Cat Power performance. The spit and polish that pushed much of the last two albums towards the middle of the road is replaced by subtle live arrangements that complement rather than overwhelm Power’s sparse song writing. The stage is still far from her natural home, but she delivers a magical performance that never threatens to crumble in the face of her delicate disposition. So, in answer to her question, no, not nervous at all – just thrilled you’re here.