Friday Cheers celebrated their 30th anniversary this year with one of their best line-ups to date. Lord Huron, St. Paul & The Broken Bones, J Roddy Walston & The Business, Kopecky Family Band, Futurebirds–the eight week summer concert series was definitely stacked and was clearly going to be a big success. To close out though, Friday Cheers had its best success of the summer when Neko Case descended on Brown’s Island with a musical hurricane this past Friday night.
Friday Cheers celebrated their 30th anniversary this year with one of their best line-ups to date. Lord Huron, St. Paul & The Broken Bones, J Roddy Walston & The Business, Kopecky Family Band, Futurebirds–the eight week summer concert series was definitely stacked and was clearly going to be a big success. To close out though, Friday Cheers had its best success of the summer when Neko Case descended on Brown’s Island with a musical hurricane this past Friday night.
Since the turn of the century, Neko Case has been one of the most consistent and celebrated people in all of music, delivering album after album of great material whether it’s on her own or as part of the fantastic Canadian collective The New Pornographers. While her work with New Pornographers is rooted deeply in strong rock songs with great pop melodies, her solo work offers a new take on country and folk which you may deem “alternative country,” but is ultimately original as it comes. That almost indefinable sound has clearly defined each of her six albums including last year’s critically acclaimed and absolutely phenomenal album The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You. Wherever you heard of Neko Case first–whether it be on her own, with The New Pornographers, or even with the brief stint in Maow, expectations had to be high for the Virginian-bred singer who now claims Tacoma, Washington as home. As Neko Case has proved for the past fifteen years though, she’s more than capable of surpassing any expectations put on her.
The night opened up on Brown’s Island with folk singer Laura Veirs performing while the sun beat down something fierce over the island. Veirs was definitely taken aback by it as she mentioned the heat multiple time and ultimately announced, “I’m not crying, I just have sweat in my eyes.” Despite the muggy temperature, the Colorado-based singer performed pretty well, even employing Neko Case’s drummer for the second half of her show. The best part about Veirs though was just her genuine sensibility, making her as much a troubadour as you can be in 2014. Her demeanor while performing and her humorous candor between songs were as much as part of her set as the songs themselves. It was good music to spend an early Friday evening listening to and showed just why, despite flying under the radar for fifteen years, her music has been so critically celebrated.
Laura Veirs was a good opener, but going from Veirs to Neko Case was almost like going from pepper to Sriracha. From note one, you could just feel the energy buzzing not only on stage but in the crowd, which was one of the most packed Friday Cheers shows I’ve ever been to. Neko opened up with “Bracing For Sunday,” which will now always hold the crown as the best song to open up a show at Friday Cheers. “I’m a Friday night girl, bracing for Sunday to come” pretty much summed up the feeling of everyone on the island, especially as summer begins.
From there, the fiery redhead performed stand-out tracks from her last album, including “City Swans” and “Local Girl,” as well as favorites from her incredible 2009 album Middle Cyclone like “This Tornado Loves You,” and older songs like “Hold On, Hold On” from Fox Confessor Brings The Flood. Equipped with a full band and a back-up singer, the stage was full of fantastic, salt-of-the-earth musicians who seemed to enjoy a simple bass line as much as a full on jam session. Coupled with Neko herself, it just made for an amazing performance that was a stark departure from a lot of the other Friday Cheers performers this year. Neko Case is closing in on middle age, so she’s not going to be the one to flail about the stage. Instead, she focuses all of her energy through her singing, delivering vocal performances that are by far stronger than the songs were in studio–as unbelievable as that sounds.
There wasn’t too much missing from the set except just for personal taste. I would have loved to hear how “Nearly Midnight, Honolulu” sounded live. However, not only might it be hard to recreate live, it’s not exactly a song I think would go over well with a live crowd. Also, despite the folksy nature of her band, I was really hoping to hear a New Pornographers song like “My Shepherd” or even a taste of something new from the upcoming album “Brill Bruisers.” But of course, this was a Neko Case show and not The New Pornographers. Not only does Neko Case have enough material that she doesn’t need to go to that band’s catalogue, her songs are just as strong and powerful as the collective’s. In some cases, more so.
Just like Laura Veirs before her, the unabashed candor of Neko Case was absolutely endearing to witness as she gushed about the food from Comfort, particularly the cornbread, as well as our “sexy river.” She nearly turned into a schoolgirl as a train bellowed over the island while she sang, leading her to proclaim on Twitter later, “What is it? My wedding day?” As her set closed down, she delivered “Night Still Comes,” one of the best songs she’s ever written, to the delight of many people in the crowd especially as she gave it a few false starts so people could sing (or shout) along. “Man” closed out the first set as rocking as possible as she declared “I am the man in the fuckin’ room” showing that Neko Case is personally and definitely musically not someone you want to mess with.
A short encore followed that was highlighted by ending with the nearly-forgotten “I Wish I Was The Moon” from 2002’s Blacklisted, bringing not only the amazing evening to a close, but also Friday Cheers’ amazing 30th season. Neko Case left big shoes for next year’s series closer to fill and left an indelible imprint on everyone’s memory with an unquestionably spectacular performance from all aspects. Yes, Neko – you are the man in the fuckin’ room.
