12/16/03 - Atlanta, GA, The Earl

12/16/03 - Atlanta, GA, The Earl

Setlist:

1. Intro - 2:48
2. I Want To Be The Boy To Warm Your Mother's Heart - 1:02
3. Wolf Among Wolves - 0:58
4. Wolf Among Wolves - 3:48
5. I Want To Be The Boy To Warm Your Mother's Heart - 2:24
6. Lord Help The Poor And Needy - 2:30
7. My Daddy Was A Musician - 3:43
8. I Want To Be The Boy To Warm Your Mother's Heart - 0:38
9. Empty Shell - 4:11
10. I Dont Blame You - 4:13
11. Satisfaction - 2:44
12. Nude As The News - 0:41
13. Nude As The News - 0:55
14. Talking - 0:11
15. Talking - 0:34
16. Moonshiner - 3:25
Total Time - 34:45

Following 3 shows opening for Sleater-Kinney in Portland and Seattle on the 12th, 13th and 14th, Chan returned to Atlanta for another solo performance at The Earl. According to a review, her last performance here in July didnt go that well. Sadly, this would be the case for this concert as well. Chan performed this concert as part of a benefit for "315".

The concert was originally recorded onto minidisc and converted to FLAC by Brandon. Again I'd like to thank him for sharing his Cat Power recordings with us. Except for a small amount of talking from the audience the quality is pretty much excellent for an audience recording. This is just Chan and her guitar. While the recording runs for about 35 minutes, I am told that numerous edits were made. A good amount of silence was removed as well as some time Chan spent having private conversations with people in the audience that could not be heard. As far as Chan's recorded performances go (at least from what I have heard) this is the toughest one to listen to. I imagine this is exactly what reviewers are talking about when they mention her "frustrating starting and stopping of songs". Although, for me, any Chan is good Chan.

"Intro" - "I feel like I'm on 'Friends'", Chan says at the beginning as she strums a few chords. She begins playing the riff to "I Want To Be The Boy To Warm Your Mother's Heart", but then says, "Sorry, I'm about to give this shit up". We are only at the beginning of the show... She then begins playing "The Party", for just a few seconds before making a request for reverb on the guitar.

"I Want To Be The Boy To Warm Your Mother's Heart" - She only goes through about a verse here before stopping again and asking her for guitar to be turned up. "I might as well just leave now", she says.

"Wolf Among Wolves" - This starts off pretty good but she only makes it through about 2 lines of verse before stopping and comically saying, "Can I get more reverb on this..."

"Wolf Among Wolves" - She restarts the song and this take is a little shaky but not bad, more or less complete. Although, it sounds like her guitar becomes unplugged near the end. Maybe she stepped on the cord. This is the earliest take of this song I have heard, she would go on to play this in many concerts in 2004 and 2005. "Who's intoxicated?", Chan asks.

"I Want To Be The Boy To Warm Your Mother's Heart" - "Can I please do this song and then you'll all hate me... I wish you would all sing with it though, but you wont, they never do." This is a White Stripes cover. She only gets through about half of the song here before abandoning it, "Nobody likes this song". Also the earliest version I have heard. She would go on to play this live in 2004 as well, where there are much better performances.

"Lord Help The Poor And Needy" - It seems she began playing this in 2003, long before it would end up as a track on 2008's Jukebox. She was still playing this in 2011. Again, the earliest version I have heard. Rather than using the traditional blues changes, she plays it all on one chord.

"My Daddy Was A Musician" - Without stopping or changing the chord or tempo, Chan goes right into this unreleased song. She began playing this earlier in the year and it was also played in 2004 and 2005 before dropping out of the setlist.

"I Want To Be The Boy To Warm Your Mother's Heart" - Chan jumps right into this from the last song, although again she only sings a verse or 2 before coming to a stop.

"Empty Shell" - "This is a sad song, but good, very good". This is an okay early take on a song that would appear on "The Greatest" in 2006. "Help! Help me", Chan says at the end.

"I Dont Blame You" - A decent performance. "Whoooo, Chan! Go!" someone yells at the end.

"Satisfaction" - She sings the chorus on this, remarking, "You all arent doing anything", before ending the song.

"Nude As The News" - "I'll try it, I'll try it, will you help me?" It seems like she is asking someone to sing this with her. She plays little more than the opening chords before stopping.

"Nude As The News" - Second attempt. It seems as though someone else is singing on this and can be heard very faintly. It only lasts one verse before Chan exclaims, "You dont fucking know this song!" As far as live recordings go (that I have heard) this is the last version for "Nude As The News".

"Talking" - "Dont you all want to freak out?", Chan says.

"Talking" - "We're all gonna sing that song, that White Stripes song", Chan says. But instead of going into yet another take of "I Want To Be The Boy To Warm Your Mother's Heart", nothing happens.

"Moonshiner" - Chan had been playing this since 1996. As far as I know this is one the last times she played it. Probably the highlight of the whole concert.