12/3/04 - Hudson, NY, Time & Space Limited

12/3/04 - Hudson, NY, Time & Space Limited

Setlist:
The Greatest - 4:44
Why - 3:25
Lived In Bars - 3:31
Norma Jean - 1:33
Willie - 6:43
Empty Shell - 3:28
Could We - 2:54
Wolf Among Wolves - 4:09
The Party - 3:37
Love And Communication - 1:56
Funny Things - 2:06
Names - 5:10
Let Sadness Not Be Attached To Your Name - 2:37
Maybe Not - 6:54
Sophisticated Lady - 2:54
Remember Me - 2:45
Blue Moon - Try A Little Tenderness - All I Have To Do Is Dream Medley - 1:48
Good Woman -  Blues Licks - Star Spangled Banner - 7:03
The Moon - 5:07
I Am Not Willing - 1:07
Total Time: 71:58

Here at the end of the year, there seems to have been only two performances, here in NYC and another on the 4th in North Adams, MA.

This has circulated as "Hudson 2002". I dont know how the 2002 ever got added on there. But lets settle this once and for all. This is 2004. Call it "Hudson 2004" if you have to.

My copy of this recording is mp3. Does anyone have better? The recording is mono, but the quality is good. There are some parts where the sound overloads a bit but its not too bad. Again this is Chan solo with guitar and piano and her voice comes through loud and clear. I have also read that there may be an 88 minute version around. This makes sense as I think on the recording I have some editing has taken place. Can anyone confirm this? I'd love to hear more from this show.

Also, I'd love to see some video/pictures from this show especially. Can anyone help?

I have to start by saying I think that, especially for the first half of the show, this is one of the best Cat Power recordings out there. Because I think this concert really catches her at a creative and performing high. Even if she kind of fizzles out on the last 3 or 4 songs. Just like the last recording from Dallas, here she is adding more "The Greatest" material, with 7 songs at this show that would later appear on the album. She's basically woodshedding this material and its awesome. After 2005, only on rare occasions would these early "The Greatest" tracks be played like this, with just piano or guitar. So there is only about a year and a half's worth of concerts where she is playing these new songs in this way.

Another thing that really stuck out to me is how similar the setlist is to the finished album track order at the start of the concert. All of the first seven songs that she played were unreleased originals at the time. She probably wasnt thinking about an album track order this early but its interesting:

Album - Concert  

The Greatest - The Greatest
Living Proof - Why  
Lived In Bars - Lived In Bars  
Could We - Norma Jean  
Empty Shell - Willie  
Willie - Empty Shell  
Where Is My Love? - Could We    

"Funny Things", "Why", and "Let Sadness Not Be Attached To Your Name" are songs played here that she would later say would be part of the "Sun" album (but ultimately werent). So really the theme of the concert was about her playing new material. The only really released and known songs that she played at this time were "Names", "Maybe Not", "Good Woman" and "The Party". That's only 4 out of 20 songs. Only 4 songs in the concert were covers.

"The Greatest" - Just like the 9/16/04 concert, she starts with "The Greatest". This version, complete, is much better than the earlier live versions. In fact, I put this early take as one of my favorite live tracks Chan has done. The song is so full of self-doubt, and I feel her performance here expresses that perfectly. Her playing is better than the Dallas concert, the intro extended. And when she comes in, she sounds so fragile. Later versions with the Memphis Rhythm Band would be note perfect, flawless. But, here she really communicates that lonely but resilient feeling that the song evokes all by herself in a much more emotional way.

"Why" - With a piano flourish (as she is very apt to do), Chan goes into this unreleased song. "Why" has long been in Chan's setlist and at this point, I wonder if this wasnt considered for "The Greatest". It didnt appear there, but she did mention it for the "Sun" album so it's been a song on her mind for a while. As with the rest of this concert, this is a great version.

"Lived In Bars" - Again with a piano flourish and no time for anyone to clap, Chan transitions into this song. This is the earliest version of this song I have. It's pretty much complete here, over a year before it's release. More piano flourishes follow afterwards. In fact, Chan seems to have perfect control at this concert on when to place these piano flourishes to avoid any audience clapping. Sneaky.

"Norma Jean" - Into this song from the last. Here she sings the lyrics to this unreleased song, but this take pales in comparison to the 9/16/04 take.

"Willie" - Again, right into this, no clapping. At this point you can tell she has the crowd in the palm of her hand. Another great performance. She is definitely "on" on her piano tonight. Finally the audience claps at the end. "Thanks for the 'Willer Deadwilder'", someone says, who has obviously already heard the "Willie Deadwilder" track from the October 2004 DVD, "Speaking For Trees". "Sorry, it's a shorter version," Chan says.

"Empty Shell" - After some sound checking, Chan plays this on guitar.

"Could We" - She goes into this from the last song. Good version.

"Wolf Among Wolves" - A very good take on this song. "Do you guys wanna "Cheer", do y'all have alcohol?" She says at the end.

"The Party" - On this take she adds some blues licks that she usually doesnt do. She doesnt do the whole song. "I'm blackin' out", Chan says.

"Love & Communication" - "I dont want to do any old songs is the problem", Chan says. Again, like the 9/16/04 concert, this song still has the original chords which are different from the album. Though, that version was better. She only sings a bit of this.

"Funny Things" - So she transitions into this. But only for a verse. Like "The Party", this is also the last version of this I have. She immediately goes to piano. Another Cat Power song which is never heard from again.

"Names" - "I'm trying to think...", Chan says. After starting "Evolution", just briefly, she goes into this. At the end we again hear the "Norma Jean" piano chords.

"Let Sadness Not Be Attached To Your Name" - Not as complete as some other versions.

"Maybe Not" - More piano flourishes and then this one. As always, very good.

"Sophisticated Lady" - A good version, but others are better. At this point the concert is basically over. It's almost that she gave so much of herself in the first hour that she cant keep going.

"Remember Me" - Chan is now back on guitar for the rest of the concert. She only does like a verse and a half of this and some of it whistling. She seems a bit lost here. After playing some chords that sound like "The Ocean". She goes into the next song.

"Blue Moon - Try A Little Tenderness - All I Have To Do Is Dream Medley" - This is played and sang okay, but after a few lines when she makes a mistake, it's over.

"Good Woman - Blues Licks - Star Spangled Banner" - She only plays a little bit of this, as people start making requests. "I wanna, like blow up those lights," Chan says. "I guess that's all". More requests are voiced, including "Naked If I Want To". Chan plays some blues licks and chats with the audience. She also briefly plays her version of ''Star Spangled Banner''. 

"The Moon" - After a false start and some remarks about the lights, Chan restarts this song. This ends with some blues licks. "I wonder if I'm done, I'm not sure, I cant tell..." Chan says.

"I Am Not Willing" - She only sings a verse of this Moby Grape cover and that ends the concert. "I'm really trying to think...", she says at the end. Is there more to this concert?

I was recently listening to this concert. And discovered something I would not have noticed until now.

 After her short version of ''Good Woman'', she briefly goes into her version of ''Star Spangled Banner'' but doesnt sing the lyrics. This is the same as she has been playing on her 2013 US solo tour, though its only a very short version. Neat! Having never heard her version of ''Star Spangled Banner'' before the 2013 solo tour, I never caught this.

This above recording appears to be the longer version of this show. I need to take a moment to listen, but think we might finally have the full concert now.