YAY to Neko Case @ Trinity St. Paul's Church

Call her Alt-Country. Call her Country. Call her Indie. Whatever label you want to slap on the music of Neko Case I'm okay with it. Her incredible voice needs to be heard and appreciated by as many people as possible. After hearing her live on Saturday for the first time, I can honestly say she is one of the strongest female vocalists I've ever heard.  

I'll admit I'm a bit late on the Neko Case bandwagon. I loved her work with The New Pornographers but didn't really get into her solo stuff until her last album Fox Confessor Brings The Flood. Shame on me. The hour and a half set she played was filled with great songs including many from her new album Middle Cyclone. Standouts were Hold On Hold On, That Teenage Feeling, This Tornado Loves You, and Prison Girls. Those were my faves, but every song featured her voice soaring above the room. 

When I say above, I mean ABOVE. This show did take place in a church after all. Complete with wooden pews, stained glass windows and incredible acoustics. It was my first time seeing a show at Trinity St. Paul's Church and I was impressed. The venue did force the sold out crowd of 700 into a respectfully polite bunch rather than a hootin' and hollerin' drunken mob since no alcohol or beverages of any kind were available. I was okay with that. Neko and her backup vocalist/comedian made sure to lighten the mood at every chance between songs so it wasn't like we were in a library. The atmosphere just added to the special feeling of the show.

So YAY to you Neko Case. You brought your devilish red hair and red dress into the house of The Lord and you made it out without being struck by lightning. Good work.