5/22/04 - San Diego, CA, The Casbah

5/22/04 - San Diego, CA, The Casbah

Incomplete setlist:
Could We
American Flag
Good Woman
Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground
Rockets
Maybe Not
Willie
Why
Norma Jean
Try Me - These Arms Of Mine - Remember Me - Fuck The Pain Away Medley
?
Rad (Smoosh cover) - Lip-syncs to the song

This was the fourth concert of the ten date USA tour. After three previous solo shows, Chan has her band with her at this one. Woman & Children opened. This could be the first version of "Could We" performed with a band behind her. Also interesting, her "performance" of the Smoosh song, "Rad". She lip-synced to this song at several concerts this year.
Hear it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_DGe1auaMI

Short Comment

At about that time, Cat Power came through San Diego. A couple friends and I went downtown for a listen. When we got to the venue, there was a good-sized crowd milling around and looking somewhat disgruntled. It seems the concert was sold out. What a disappointment! I then took out a very small piece of paper, wrote a note to Chan explaining our difficulties and asking if there was anything she could do. I gave it to a venue worker and he took it in to her. About five minutes later, all three of us were admitted without tickets and at no cost. What a nice thing for her to do! We enjoyed the concert and I thought "Good Woman" was the best song of the evening. My only regret was in not getting to meet Chan in person.

---------------------------

Fan Review

Well, it was a nice venue. Definitely had a cool/hip vibe. Opener was a band called Women and Children. They were from France. They played a lot of dreary, slow-tempo stuff and the female singer sounded a lot like Nico at times. As for Chan's performance, this is the first time I'd seen her, and probably the last. After her amazing performance of "Maybe Not" on Letterman and after listening to some impressive audio online from various shows, I was highly disappointed. I mean, yeah, I'd heard of her stage-fright issues and onstage breakdowns, but nothing could have prepared me for the awfulness displayed at the Casbah on Saturday night. I've seen probably 200 shows or so in my life and I've seen a lot of weird stuff and unpredictable performers. I've seen Fiona Apple throw a fit onstage and walk off. I've seen singers with ruined voices try to struggle through shows. I've seen Ryan Adams and all his tantrums and was lucky to see Elliott Smith multiple times before his death. He was as self-conscious and self-doubting a performer as I've seen, but I never saw him have a night like Chan had on Saturday. She was a drunken mess. There was no professionalism at all. Her band was doing their best, but she was just a disaster. Employing a traditional setlist seems pointless but I might as well try to break it down. Many of the songs were unidentifiable to me, so if you know what they were, let me know.

1) Takes stage at 11:20p, over a half hour later than her scheduled slot. Something about "clear blue," "take a walk," "in the grass," and "kiss." Murmurming and meandering.

2) An uninspired, slurred version of American Flag.

3) A radically rearranged version of I Don't Blame You. This could have been interesting if she was remotely sober. The woman's self-absorption and lack of respect for her audience (and it was an attentive one until it became clear that this wasn't going anywhere; I agree that sometimes the audience is to blame for lack of energy or attentiveness but this was not the case at the Casbah).

4) A similarly reworked Good Woman. Whereas the new version of I Don't Blame You seemed to have potential, this one seemed stripped of all trenchant qualities.

5) The most inspired idea of the show, a cover of the White Stripes' Dead Leaves & the Dirty Ground. The band was on it, violinist included, which could have sounded interesting, but again, Chan's vocal delivery was awful, missing lines all over the place, singing off key and off kilter.

6) Rockets. Remotely decent, at least I could identify it.

7) Some comments about how she likes the Jesus Lizard (band) precede a shoddy Maybe Not.

8- At this point Chan went solo piano and the show really broke down. This song had lyrics including: "it's all" "cinnamon" "a very good man" "another girl named Jennifer" "crazy like me" "same side as you" "what kind of friend am I" Some guy was filming her with a video camera at this point, which couldn't have helped.

9) As Chan mutters to herself unintelligibly for close to 10 minutes and keeps asking who was here to see the opening act, the crowd begins to leave. This is introduced as "a fun song" but I didn't recognize it. Lyrics included: "when the monkey comes," "to take his," "song," "do you make me"

10) Another solo bit about "norma jean, "james dean," "if she only could"

11) Band returns. Chan leaves the stage with mic and sings mostly from in the middle of the remaining crowd. This was at least different. Lyrics include: "just a friend" "kiss" "try me" "fuck the pain away" and "these arms are mine." Seemed at least a little fiery and inspired at the end of this one singing from the crowd.

12) Emptiness of venue is noticeable at this point. Lyrics inlcude: "if you know what to" and "I can breathe"

13) She closes by mostly lip-synching to some rap song. Sounded like Kriss Kross or ABC, something with young kids rapping. Leaves stage at 1am.