shish
03-24-2003, 04:27 PM
I went with high but guarded expectations. To be blunt (and I hate to say this about an artist I enjoy), the Cat's Cradle show was terrible. If Chan's rep for having "good" and "bad" shows is true, this was a without a doubt one of the "bad" ones.
Evidently, the band showed up late & didn't get a sound check (Chan apologized becaus ethey had gotten in so late). After the opener by Entrance, the full band came out to start the set & the 1st 25-30 minutes were more of a soundcheck in progress. Chan
was unhappy and continuously complaining about the sound (which is never great at the Cat but got better after they fixed the guitar player's amp). As a result she stopped 80% of the songs 1/2 way thru to complain about the the monitors, the sound, the vocal & guitar effects (more reverb, less reverb, etc......) & the lack of "magic". Finally, 35-40 minutes in, she dismissed her band b/c the "magic wasn't there" and played the rest of the show solo. Even afte rthat every other song was interrupted before it was over to complain more about the sound.
She announced to the audience 3-4 times that it was "the worst show ever." It was a shame because her voice is so beautiful & her lyrics so powerful, that I just wanted to grab her by the shoulders & say "shut up & let the music play" After they fixed the guitarists amp, things were starting to sound nice at points. Sadly, she couldn't seem to find a way to play thru it & let the vibe take over. Over half the last 30-45 minutes of the show were just her wanking around on the piano, playing little refrains, tuning exercises & pieces of songs, saying that's what she spends hours doing when she's practicing.
Because of the way it turned out, I bagged going to the 9:30 Club show the next nite although in some ways I wish I had gone if for no other reason than the fact that I like her sound so much & that show HAD to have been better.
Here's a review of the DC show from the Washington Post. The comments about Entrnce are harsh, funny & accurate.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16773-2003Mar23.html
Evidently, the band showed up late & didn't get a sound check (Chan apologized becaus ethey had gotten in so late). After the opener by Entrance, the full band came out to start the set & the 1st 25-30 minutes were more of a soundcheck in progress. Chan
was unhappy and continuously complaining about the sound (which is never great at the Cat but got better after they fixed the guitar player's amp). As a result she stopped 80% of the songs 1/2 way thru to complain about the the monitors, the sound, the vocal & guitar effects (more reverb, less reverb, etc......) & the lack of "magic". Finally, 35-40 minutes in, she dismissed her band b/c the "magic wasn't there" and played the rest of the show solo. Even afte rthat every other song was interrupted before it was over to complain more about the sound.
She announced to the audience 3-4 times that it was "the worst show ever." It was a shame because her voice is so beautiful & her lyrics so powerful, that I just wanted to grab her by the shoulders & say "shut up & let the music play" After they fixed the guitarists amp, things were starting to sound nice at points. Sadly, she couldn't seem to find a way to play thru it & let the vibe take over. Over half the last 30-45 minutes of the show were just her wanking around on the piano, playing little refrains, tuning exercises & pieces of songs, saying that's what she spends hours doing when she's practicing.
Because of the way it turned out, I bagged going to the 9:30 Club show the next nite although in some ways I wish I had gone if for no other reason than the fact that I like her sound so much & that show HAD to have been better.
Here's a review of the DC show from the Washington Post. The comments about Entrnce are harsh, funny & accurate.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16773-2003Mar23.html