You Are Free - 2003

La sortie de You are Free en 2003 marque la fin d'un longue attente pour les admirateurs de Cat Power, puisqu'il s'agit du premier album composé de sa main depuis Moon Pix, 5 ans plus tôt.
Contrairement aux disques précédents, qui furent enregistrés en l'espace de quelques jours (voire en 1 seul pour Dear Sir et Myra Lee!), la production de You are Free s'est étalée sur de longs mois dans le studio d'Adam Kasper, entre les sessions qu'il dirigeait pour les Foo Fighters ou Pearl Jam. Dave Grohl et Eddie Vedder ont d'ailleurs participé à You Are Free, le second prêtant notamment sa voix sur Good Woman et Evolution.

Une quarantaine de morceaux auraient été enregistrés lors de ces sessions, et certains titres, dont Free ou I don't blame you, furent composés pendant l’enregistrement de l'album.

Les photos du disque sont signées Mark Borthwick, auquel on doit le concert expérimental de Cat Power Speaking For Trees, tourné la même année.

Side 1

-I Don't Blame You – 3:05
-Free – 3:34
- Good Woman (featuring Eddie Vedder) – 3:58
-Speak for Me – 3:04
-Werewolf (Michael Hurley) – 4:08
-Fool – 3:49
-He War – 3:31

Side 2

-Shaking Paper – 4:36
-Babydoll – 2:56
-Maybe Not – 4:19
-Names – 4:50
-Half of You – 2:42
-Keep On Runnin (John Lee Hooker) – 3:51
-Evolution – 4:44

"Free" Music Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jwet5Oj2pFQ

What are these photos? Promo pictures?

Yes, pictures taken from the old website promoting You Are Free.

You Are Free was released on 2/18/03. This is my favorite album Chan has released. Chan's first 2 albums, Dear Sir and Myra Lee were the results of her first proper recording sessions. Recorded with Steve Shelley from Sonic Youth, they allow you to hear the promise of an artist developing her craft. On her next 2 albums, What Would The Community Think? and Moon Pix, Chan worked harder and created some of her best songs. Her fifth album "The Covers Record" was also recorded quickly, following Chan's wishes to be able to tour behind and album of covers the she loved to perform. With "You Are Free" Chan finally had the chance to take her time with the development of an album. The sessions for this album went on for more than a year and reportedly some 40 tracks were recorded during the sessions. This was her first really "produced" album. There are tracks with string overdubs and other instruments that add to the flavor of the album. She collaborated with Dave Grohl on "He War" and "Shaking Paper" and Eddie Vedder on "Good Woman" and "Evolution". The album title "You Are Free" is such a wonderful statement. I always look at the cover and imagine her voice saying, "Hey, You Are Free. Do what you want to." The artwork, showing her and some kids playing in Central Park reinforces the theme.

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From Chan's interview with theage.com, 9/6/03:

Chan: I was walking down the street and there was this piece of cardboard, floating along, being blown
about by the wind. I kept trying to grab it, and it kept flying away. I got all mad at it, and I ran after it and caught it and I turned it over and it said, in magic marker, 'You Are Free'. So I took it home, and had it pinned above my door for five years. I thought it was a nice, subliminal message. You Are Free.

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From Chan's interview with celestetabora.com, 2003:

How do you feel about your new album?

Chan: I'm just happy that I'm alive to turn it in instead of someone else turning it in for me.

How much time did you spend in the studio?

Chan: Within a year, every couple months - a couple days here and there.

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From Chan's interview with Rodrigo Perez for Pitchfork, 1/3/03:

So let's talk about You Are Free. You recorded this record...

Chan: Sporadically. While I was traveling.

And Adam Kasper [Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam] produced it?

Chan: No, he engineered the record and mixed it. Because I don't want anyone ever producing me unless I'm giving my soul to them. Like unless they're writing the songs and I love them so much and I want them to fucking tell me what to do. But I'll never do that.

So how did you record while traveling?

Chan: Adam was working on other things, and I worked on his schedule. He'd get these really nice studios, and when he had off time we'd go in and then try to remember what we did like two months ago and pull that tape up. I'd be like, "Uh, no, I wanna do something new," and then I'd write a new song. So it basically worked like that-- every few months getting together and essentially writing new songs. And then after a year there were like 40 different songs and I was going a little insane. He was really helpful in figuring out which songs to use. At some point, you don't know what you're doing. There's no formula, there's no way to, it's... [long pause]. ...It's weird to talk about shit like this because it's something I usually don't talk about. It's like when you're brushing your teeth and then you're over there on one tooth and you think, "What makes you wanna go over to that tooth?" It's kind of awkward to talk about, you know?

Yeah, I've made some music myself, but I've never really had to...

Chan: Explain it? Just 'cause someone's asking questions doesn't mean anybody cares. And it shouldn't matter if anyone cares or not. As long as it matters to you, I guess, or whomever you're singing to.

So by having to record infrequently was it hard to create cohesion? Was it hard on the songwriting process?

Chan: No, not at all. The difficult thing was never fucking getting around to finishing it because we had so much liberty. [Adam] does a lot of big money stuff, so the studios he was getting were like really amazing-- amazing amps, amazing guitars, amazing mics, amazing spaces-- really organic, strange interesting places. But I felt like I was making a mess cause I don't [normally] do it this way. Usually you put the amp in the same place and you record [the album] in three days. The difficult thing was the idea of the songs lingering over there [points to an empty seat], and not being able to understand if it was real. Like, "Is this the record?" And then thinking, "Am I gonna put this out? Am I gonna put all these piano songs out? Am I gonna... What am I gonna do? I don't know. Oh, [Adam and I] will talk about it in a couple months." Or whatever.

So why did you choose Adam?

Chan: Well, I was looking for somebody who would let me do what I wanted to do, who's a really good engineer. I only sit in a room with someone who presses knobs 'cause I don't know really know how to do it. I'd love to do that by myself, but I need to have someone in there. You know, you rent the studio and they're in there and they're kinda like, [imitates old studio guy] "I mean, you wanna do this, you understand, but like... f-e-e-e-e-e-edback." It's like fuck off!

So you're searching for someone who speaks or understands your studio language?

Chan: No! Someone who will just shut the fuck up. What do I fucking care if you think I don't know what fucking feedback sounds like? You know what I mean? It's none of your goddamn business. So my friend was like, "You should try Adam Kasper, he's really great." But I wanted an engineer, not a producer, and he's like, "Oh yeah, totally, I'll tell him." So I got an e-mail from [Adam saying]: "Engineer, producer, whatever you want." I was like, hmmm... sounds a little too friendly, 'cause I didn't know him at all. I'd never met him before. So I emailed him back, and I was like, "I'm not interested in a producer, I only want an engineer and I want to get that straight so if you're interested, fine, if you're not, you're not." So that's the way it went.

You laid down the law, huh?

Chan: Yes, I did. I think it was hard. I think he's kinda of used to... he's got some big people, you know? [long pause] But I don't want to talk about Adam Kasper. I mean he's great, but that's the whole... this publicity machine... it makes me sick, cause they need a name, they need a... [makes a really disgusted face] blech! I just wanna get away from that. It just makes me mad.

I'm sorry, it's not really my intention to dwell on...

Chan: No, 'cause that's what people at labels do. They try and tell [journalists] stuff to make them write things about that stuff, when I don't want those things to be talked about at all. No, it makes me angry. It's fine to get to know someone and be friends with them and work together. But I wonder who... Because [my friend] said [Adam] was a fan and knew the music and things like that, which is why I think he wanted to [engineer] it. And that's great, but don't let [Adam] be the reason for me having a record out. That's kinda ridiculous. That person is another human being. Like it's sort of unrelated in many ways to me. 'Cause then I think about this guy and the other guys that I worked with on the record [referring to Eddie Vedder and Dave Grohl], and it's just like... I hate that fucking shit where it's about the labels, the names. It's all so very... It should be about what it is, rather than about namedropping and shit like that. It makes me sick.

Umm, that's cool. I know what you're saying.

Chan: No, you don't.

I don't?

Chan: No. I just got the advice from my friend. And you think, "Oh, he's your friend," but you don't want that to be the projection of the interview, the projection of the record, the projection of the magazine or the label in the bio. You don't want that to be a fucking part of it 'cause... ughh! It's so manipulative!

You can't control that sort of thing?

Chan: Nobody listens to me. [Points to her publicists] You think they're gonna listen to me? I mean, there's more to the story. Adam and I talked about him actually doing production, like producing, in a Sam Cooke-ish, really more R&B kind of way, just for fun. Like old Marvin Gaye... but see, I wouldn't want to be... I think...ugh... I'd just rather... I don't know. I don't know. It's like you can't be yourself if someone's directing you. You can't, it doesn't make sense. If you have someone directing you, you gotta lose all your stuff. You just get rid of it. Uuuuugh, I just hate that fucking idea. It just sounds so gross to me. [long pause] I've kind of had that problem when I was younger and I was so ashamed, and being a woman plus being ignorant and uneducated and stuff, and everyone around me were guys playing music and wanting to record. I just felt, I didn't know who to trust. 'Cause it's just some fucking songs! [She bangs the table] I feel like its so... uuuugh. I don't even wanna go there. I just don't even wanna talk about this. Change the subject. [laughs]

Okay, let me switch gears here. What's your favorite song on the record?

Chan: Tell me what yours is.

I really like "Free" on the new record, mostly 'cause it's so different.

Chan: [Chan gives me a sneer, like I'm totally bullshitting her] "Free" I liked better, but I then I started playing with it. But I like it when there's nothing on it but [the guitar].

What? What was that [look] about?

Chan: It makes me feel like a teenager.

The song? It's much more uptempo, more accessible than I think most people are used to. For that
reason, I think the song is really radical.

Chan: I don't think it's radical.

For you, I think it is.

Chan: Hmmm... okay. That's a great word, but I don't think that word sums it up.

I really like "Names" [a song that references the abused lives of several people by name] and I'm wondering if that song is based on people you know.

Chan: I know them. I don't know where they are. My friend said he saw one, "Charles," and said he's alive.
But some of the other ones I know I've tried to find on the... that thing, uh...

The Internet?

Chan: Yes. [Whispering] They're not there.

There's a line in "Free", that says, "Don't be in love with the autograph." Is that a comment on
the nature of celebrity?

Chan: It's like "kill your idols." Enjoy what you have yourself and what you can create. You don't have to look at a television, just... grass roots. Look around, enjoy art. Look to what to you have 'cause things look differently if you look at them all long enough. Just forget what you're supposed to know. It's not really a comment, it was just shit I was singing. You know how young kids buy music. They buy fucking billions of dollars of music and videos. People who appreciate music, like the old man listening to Chopin, like people who are getting moved by [music], by what's making them put records on repeat, they're searching for that energy that is relative to something that they understand, that makes them understand life and death. And their dreams, and their isolation and their idleness. Or their inferiority or their abusiveness or whatever. A lot of people ask what's it like to play music. It's like, fuck-- I never made music before I just started doing it. I've written stories, I've painted stuff, I've sewn clothes. If you do anything long enough and you're interested in doing it the way you want to, you don't need to adapt to like, "Do you like Christina or Britney?", that whole thing, that battle. I don't even want to talk about that because it doesn't even interest me. 'Cause how many teenagers and young girls growing up; there's not a choice for them musically unless they can find that cool fanzine, that has that cool record review about that cool band that probably broke up last week and only ever put out one single. Kids are in a world that's crapping over them all the time... loading them up with all this bullshit and sending them into corporate commercials.

We're lacking stronger female role models.

Chan: Of course, there never have been. Well, Harriet Tubman, but not really. I mean, there have been, but
they're not on our dollar bills.

So what's your favorite song on the record that you wrote?

Chan: I like the first one ["I Don't Blame You"], because it was the last one that I wrote, so it's the freshest in my memory. I remember when I was at the piano and we were mixing and I kept playing it over and over and over while no one was there. They were playing ping-pong and stuff. So I just asked, "Can I record this song real quick?" I like it 'cause it's so fresh in my mind and I'm just glad that I did it, 'cause I could have just forgotten it.

Do you record usually quickly like that?

Chan: Those are usually the ones. That's the problem with recording that I have. Because all your songs are completely stripped down at first and that's the way they sound to you. But then you get into the studio and you try a little bit of this, and try a little bit of this [bangs on table], and then a little bit of this. 'Cause you got time on your hands, 'cause it's a fucking free studio.

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From Chan's interview with Suzannah Tartan for Japan Times, 1/26/03:

On the recording of "Shaking Paper":

Chan: You don't know what you are doing. You have a guitar plugged into this electric thing and headphones on and you are just listening to something growing and coming and you don't know what is going to happen or how it is going to end up.

Some of the songs on the album benefit from the help of a Foo Fighter and a Pearl Jam member, who make guest appearances.

Chan: I don't like the spectacle because they are just normal people. Though they have a different lifestyle, they are human beings. Just call them E.V. and D.G.

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From Chan's Interview with The Independent, 2/7/03:

Chan: The album? The album isn't anything. To me, the album isn't even an album. It's, like, periods of time in this ant's life, just looking at... stuff. I never wanted to put out another record after The Covers Record. But I kept playing shows, living life, meeting people – younger people, mostly, now I'm getting older, when before it was peers at my concerts. And they'd say, 'When's your next record coming out?' So I felt guilty. I felt bad. And y'know, it's for free – the record company's like, 'Oh, we'll put your record out.'"

On "Werewolf":

Chan: It's just a song a guy wrote. A guy nobody... I don't want to say nobody likes, but no one's heard of, because he's not hopping around on one foot shaking his tail feathers and bending over backwards with a rose in his teeth trying not to spit while he swallows an enchilada, or doing brain surgery for no reason. I mean, he's not a market-able object.

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From Chan's interview with John Payne for LA Weekly, 2/13/03:

Chan: The poppy songs were just fun to do. I was thinking about teenagers and how they're like the boys over here and the girls over there and, you know, they're so scared of each other, but they like each other so much, but there's nothing in school that kinda helps them get along. I know they teach sex education, but they don't teach understanding and communication. Sex, sex, sex, sex — and then when they go home they don't understand the human part.

Chan: Music is like a place where there's no limit. You have that within you, like with painting — there aren't any rules; you don't even have to think about what you're saying or what you're thinking. That's the best thing about creating; it's just making stuff up.

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From Chan's interview with Michael Goldberg for Neumu, 3/3/03:

Chan: It's like when you get thirsty, or you get hungry, and you say: 'Aw, man, I really need some water'; it's like 'Aw, man, I really wanna play guitar,' or 'Aw, man, I really wanna read a book,' or 'Aw, man, I really wanna go swimming,' or, 'Aw, I wanna make out.' It's just listening to instinct, and that's not hard.

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From Chan's interview with Simon Wooldridge for HQ Magazine, 6/XX/03:

On "I Dont Blame You":

Chan: It's not about [Cobain]. That's all I can say… I'm not gonna say who it's about.

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From Chan's interview with CNN, 7/18/03:

Are you happy with your new album, "You Are Free"?

Chan: Yes and no. [I'm happy] because I did it, and it's what it is. And I kept my end of the deal, you know? I promised that I would have another record. And I'm not happy with it because nothing is ever perfect and nothing is ever what you want it to be, ever. But I accept it. So that means it's like yin and yang -- I accept it for what it is. It's not the best, but I accept it.

I've read that this is an epic record for you. How do you feel about that?

Chan: I think that it's important for a lot of people to -- my friends say, "Chan, you're just going to have to keep doing what you're doing because you've been doing it for a while, and you have to kind of accept that this is what you do now. And I think that I'm realizing that that is important, that people, younger people, nderstand that what I'm doing is the same thing they could be doing. Even if it's just expressing themselves ndividually in anything that they are doing, whether it's school, at home, with their friends, with their loved
ones, whatever. Just like expressing yourself individually is the most important thing that's been completely
annihilated from our social structure.

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From Chan's interview with theage.com, 9/6/03:

Chan: Knowing what we know now, knowing the history of the '60s, it seems like there’d be more. It’s hilarious that there aren’t any radical artists, any healers marking out what their vision is. No one is
radical anymore.

Asked what freedom means to her, Marshall responds:

Chan: Do whatever you want, whenever you want to, as long as you’re not hurting anybody else. I feel like our lives, individually, are so precious. You only live once, and then you go to heaven, so why is there any fear about being free? Fear is such a part of the militant structures of society, to keep us enslaved. The neanderthal stupidity of war. Lying and killing is just so stupid. It’s obvious, I know — everything is just obvious.

On "Names":

Chan: Those are different people I knew at school, growing up. I don’t make songs up — that bugs me, when I meet a person who wrote a song that means so much to me, and they say it was all made up. It happens to everybody and the sadness is, there's no help for these people. There’s no school class that teaches them: 'This is happening to you, you can find a way to be safe, there’s a place for you in this world'. Adults have all these self-help groups, but children are on their own. It’s this big secret, so taboo, but it happens to millions of children and it obviously affects society. It affects the way those children bring up their own children, it affects the people they befriend, the way they speak, the way they act. I guess those abused boys who are now men, who were hurt by the priests within the Catholic religion, feel some sense of validation now it’s been exposed, but I can’t believe it took so long. It’s important to talk about things like that.

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From Chan's interview with Cynthia Joyce for Salon.com, 9/30/06:

When asked what her favorite song to perform is, she answers without hesitation, "I Don't Blame You."

Chan: I'll never tell you what that song is about. That feeling of not being understood, but supposedly being understood by everyone ... being inside of a spectacle, it's like being a prisoner of war. I don't know if that makes sense. It would be like being in an insane asylum, where you are who you are, and the only person you've ever been is yourself, but then they want you to be someone else. What it's about is very simple. It's about someone who plays the guitar, but to me it signifies sort of Everyman's feeling. I just like it, because I can feel like that, like 'I didn't want to play this fucking song tonight,' and it can translate to the audience. There's a lyric in it, 'You never owed it to them, they never owned you anyway.' I like saying that to the audience. I like that I can look at them and say that to them. It makes me feel good about being a musician. Because maybe I didn't sound good that night, or maybe I didn't [sighs heavily] give a good performance. But at least I was able to look at the 14-year-old kid and maybe somewhere it resonated -- maybe that kid got the words, that nobody owns me. A lot of people think my music is sad. It's not sad, it's triumphant. I'm triumphant. If people can be open enough with themselves to be creative and let things like that come out, you know, allow themselves to feel things enough to be that honest with themselves -- I feel like that's really positive. Even though that might sound sad.

On "Good Woman":

Chan: I had just been with someone I'd known since I was 18, and I was deeply in love with him for a long time, and I was just sad, you know, and I couldn't do it anymore," Marshall says, explaining the song's origin. "I was sad. I was all the way across the world, calling him -- two friends of ours had just passed away in Atlanta, and I was just really sad. He was an alcoholic -- he's now since sober, has a family -- but he couldn't love me in that state. I don't know. He was a drunk. He loved me, but he couldn't find the responsibility to respect me the way I needed to be respected -- I mean, it was just half-steps and backslides all the time. It wasn't like he was mean or hurtful. He was a really big part of my life. I couldn't be angry with him, but I needed to move on, you know what I mean? I just had to move on.

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From Chan's interview with Fred Armisen for Pitchfork, 10/30/06:

You're very popular in the "SNL" offices. "He War" was played all the time.

Chan: I hate that song.

Don't hate that song.

Chan: Horrible song. It's supposed to sound like the original recordings-- more Stones-y. With a live band. But when I went to record it by myself in the studio doing everything, it sounds like...

No way, the version I heard I love. And the video I love so much.

Chan: The video is good, but I just don't like...I was trying to describe this to someone about acting, because I've never been an actress, but these videos are so weird, because they had me playing a person. Like, "Okay, tell me what to do, tell me who I am." "You're a postal worker." "So how do I feel? Do I feel grumpy about getting up this early? Or do I like this orange juice I'm drinking?" Do you know what I mean? And he was just like, "No, dude, you're just kind of waking up, and going to work, okay?" And I'm like, "Am I me going to work?" So in my video, I am me. It's the weirdest feeling. You are you in the song. You're lip-synching the song. It feels so strange, it doesn't make any sense, because, like in videos everybody looks into the camera, like you're talking into the camera, and nowhere in reality is that normal. I mean, except with friends and stuff like this, but I mean, as far as some sort of artwork, I don't know if that makes sense. It has nothing to do with music. Being in a video, lyrically speaking, your persona has nothing to do with being in a video.

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From Chan's London interview, 4/XX/97:

What was the last song you wrote?

Chan: It's about where in Asian culture the sound of shaking paper supposedly wards away demons. I wrote that driving round in my rental car in Portland.

Her last concert of 2011 was in St. Louis at Loufest (I will write a detailed review of the concert later). I was able to attend and at the end of the show I threw my vinyl copy of the album on stage with a marker attached. The album hit her feet and she picked it up. After writing, she held the album above the audience and waved it back and forth. One of the security guys who had seen that I threw it, took it from her and handed it back to me. On the back Chan had added haloes above the kid's head and a heart above her hands. On the front Chan wrote "I Love You, Chan". Thank you so much, Chan. I will cherish your memento from this concert forever. You are one of the few true artists out there. Thank you for all the music.

Autographed copy of "You Are Free", signed by Chan on 8/28/11, St. Louis.

I didn't realize that it was written especially for you! Congratulations!
I'm looking forward to your LouFest review.

Yes, it was only that I brought the album with me that I was able to get her autograph. I wasnt sure if it would work, but I saw a guy do the same thing at a Paul Mccartney concert. So I figured, why not?

Loufest was a wonderful experience. I got in to St. Louis the night before and pitched my tent at a nearby RV park. I didnt really want to park my car near the festival so I got a ride to the festival grounds from a nice elderly couple who were parked next to me. Turned out that the guy was related to a furniture maker who's store I had been to in Spring, TX. I had an extra ticket and so as I was going into the festival I asked a girl if she wanted my ticket. It turned out that it was her birthday, so I thought that was a pretty nice gift.

It was a bright sunny day and it was perfect for checking out music and walking around. It wasnt crowded at all. I had some great food there and they had some great choices. Everything was clean and everyone I talked to was polite and friendly. I was loving it there. In the center of the park there was a record vendor and I picked up a vinyl copy of Nico's Chelsea Girl album. There was a sign announcing that bands would be at this spot to sign autographs after they had performed. I asked the man running this if Chan would be there. I was told that he had asked and was told that they could not get her, but they tried. They said she was "too shy".

I enjoyed UME's set. The Low Anthem were also good, all of them great musicians and I think they played like 10 different instruments during their set. At one point the singer even dialed one cell phone to another and held them up to the mike and whistled into them to get this weird, eerie feedback-y sound. I thought that was creative. Das Racist played and I thought they were horrible. Dont know how they got on the bill.

Finally, it was time for Cat Power to play. I picked my spot right at the front. Gregg Foreman warmed up with a snippet of "Miss You" by the Rolling Stones. Chan came out dressed all in black and wearing sunglasses which she removed as the first song started, "Woman Left Lonely". Unfortunately, as this was a festival gig, she didnt do a long set, though she did play 14 songs. While I was near the left side of the stage, she mostly stayed on the right side, especially later in the set. Occasionally, she would leave the stage to talk to, the sound guy (monitors), but never for very long. Pro photographers were only allowed access to the area in front of the stage for the first song to get their shots. Her interaction with the crowd was minimal, as I think she was concentrating on her performance.

Setlist:

Woman Left Lonely
Metal Heart
Silver Stallion
These Days/Song To Bobby
Dont Explain
Dreams
Lord Help The Poor And Needy
Real Life
Woman Of My Word
I Wanna Be Your Dog
The Greatest
Brave Liar
Sittin' On A Ruin
I Dont Blame You

"Woman Left Lonely", "Metal Heart", "Silver Stallion", all went down smoothly. "Song To Bobby" with her "These Days" intro was cool as I had the album that "These Days" came from in my bag with me. She seemed to hit her stride on this song and sang it beautifully, gesturing to emphasize the lyrics. "Dont Explain" with it's slow jazzy tempo was perfect for drummer Jim White to show off his skills. Actually, everything he played was awesome. I love his style, and IMO he's the best musician in her back-up band, he's all feel. "Dreams", a song she used to cover back in her Moonpix days as a crunching rocker, was here given the "Jukebox" treatment, slowed down and more dramatic. For, "Lord Help The Poor And Needy", Greg played tamborine. She does a great job with this song, but I gotta admit it's one my least favorites. This is the clap-along song. After this Chan moved her mike stand to far stage right where she would mostly remain for the rest of the concert. Maybe she could hear better over there? At this point the rest of the set was mainly new stuff. "Real Life" had both Gregg and Judah on guitars. While singing part of the chorus she looked at Gregg and said "Gregg, what's going on?" twice. Obviously, not liking something she heard. I really liked that she was directing her band. At the conclusion of the song she went and spoke to her sound guy for alittle bit. "Woman Of My Word" was next. Again 2 guitars. This sounded great to me. Following this she spoke with Judah for moment and then stapped on her guitar for the only song she would use it on, "I Wanna Be Your Dog". Previously, the band had jammed on this song at the end of shows with Chan on drums, for example her May 2010 concerts. Here, again, its given the "Jukebox" treatment (or should I say Chan treatment) and slowed down to be more bluesy. Gregg back on keyboards. She begins the 2nd verse with the wrong words and waits a moment to start again, but overall pretty good. I wish that she and her band would play the song the way the Stooges did, that would rule. Next was for me, the highlight of the entire set. The new arrangement of "The Greatest" (see link below). She moved to center stage for this and by this point the sun was setting, which really made the stage lights work. Previously, her band had pretty much played a standard version of this. But now the new arrangement is just awesome. Starting off slowed down to a crawl and then building and building. She actually doesnt sing the whole thing here. Instead she sings the 1st verse, part of the chorus, part of the 2nd verse and from there it just keeps building as she wails "It doesnt really matter, it doesnt really matter, lower me down, pin me in", over and over. Gregg's organ sounded awesome here. The song speeds up and gets more and more furious. This was magicial. "Brave Lair" was next and sounded great with Chan again moving around the stage. She seemed really into this. Night time now. Following this she speaks to the sound guy again for a second and then the band goes into "Sittin On A Ruin". Another highlight of the set. This is sure to be a stand out track on the new album. I love the disco sounding beat. Last was the new arrangement of "I Dont Blame You", featuring a sitar sounding loop. This is also done slower then previous arrangements. And with that the show was over. I waited until Chan was close to my side of the stage and then frisbee'd my record sleeve onto the stage. She picked up and signed it while speaking with Gregg. Then she held it over the crowd as everyone nearby reached for it. I was so hoping I wouldnt have to try to get it back from someone else. But luckily, the security guy right in front of me saw what was happening and held up his hand and handed it to me. You should have seen the looks on everyones faces next to me. Sorry, people. Following this I got a ride back to my car from a cool dude who I thank (still have your email, didnt forget you). Great concert and I cant wait to see her again. Best parts for me were the new songs and "The Greatest" and of course getting an autograph on my favorite album of hers. I now have it framed and I'm gonna get a frame for the poster and hang them up together soon. I'll post a picture.

Nice review, Cokelike. Thanks for sharing this great memory with us.