Unlike Britney Spears, I learned about Cat Power a few months back through the lore, not the CNN coverage. From the blog posts, the books, cultural analysis, and music I saw Chan Marshall as the honest real deal, a rare musician who offered her true confession to her wounded empathetic fan base, not some contrived factory girl like Duffy. While waiting outside the Culture Room in downtown Fort Lauderdale before An Evening With Cat Power began, I told Kayla, the young punk rockish chick from Chaminade-Madonna waiting next to me, I paid 120$ to see Britney Spears’s Circus show a few months ago. Immediately Kayla started ranting about how Spears lip-synchs (no shit Sherlock). I said I didn’t care. I went to see a performance, not an opera. I’m not sure I’ve ever received a dirtier look than the one Kayla shot at me after I dropped that comment.
After waiting for three hours, doors opened…and we waited for two more. The crowd inside consisted of flannel wearing hipsters, rich south beach girls, and a large assortment of emos. I asked Mr. Manorexic Flannel next to me if he knew who was opening, which he retorted back with a condescending chuckle and shook his head, “its only Cat Power tonight.” Unfortunately, Mr. Manorexic Flannel was wrong. Chan decided to force the audience to watch her favorite Willie Nelson DVD via a small movie screen. During Nelson’s set, the flannel teens in front of me found the Cat Power set list on stage and gossiped for twenty minutes about the songs Chan might play.
After listening to the four foot tall blonde behind me bragging about knowing Madonna and how gross it is “when Madonna eats sushi with no air conditioning on,” Willie Nelson faded to black and the words “CAT POWER” played on the screen. I expected light to shine on the stage, but no spotlight glimmered center stage. Like Madonna or Britney Spears, Chan waited for the audience to chant “we love you” before she took the stage. Still dark, Chan entered and bowed as the audience worshipped her. Then for the next half hour, Ms. Marshall blended her songs into one long repetitive ballad as she hopped about stage on one leg like Ashley Simpson. “Metal Heart” sound like “The Greatest” which sound like “New York, New York.” This bizarre performance art confused me. Was I watching Chan Marshall return to her infamous state of psychosis or was she simply rocking it out avant garde style? After Chan hid behind a speaker during “Metal Heart” her adoring fans whispered “she’s so amazing” and “keep going” as I realized this was a breakdown Britney Spears shaving her head style.
After she hid behind the speaker, I texted my brother. When I looked back at the stage I noticed Chan had disappeared. I asked the dude next to me where she was and he informed me she abandoned her set and the guitarist ran after her. “My life is complete! I’ve seen a Cat Power Meltdown during Metal Heart the best fucking song ever!” he told me. I complained about her meltdown and another fan glared at me “don’t you feel bad?” “I did pay 33$ to see a performance, not a breakdown,” I replied. I soon learned Cat Power fans are hard core as they come. The blonde chick responded as if I had pissed on a grave. After fans shouted “we love you,” Chan Marshall returned to the stage and bowed (again) and then once (again) blended her songs into one bad symphony of sadness. No apology, no improvement. Chan Marshall just expected her fans to adore her and they caved in.
Last night, I left the show pissed as hell. I spent hardcore cash…on a meltdown. Originally I viewed the artist and her fans as real honest folks, but now I see them as contrived as the Britney Spears show. Both Marshall and Spears lack stellar vocals and both of their fans live in self-designed false personas. Cat Power fans have artificial angst and couture homeless people cloths. Britney Spears fans have artificial happiness and couture cloths. Same thing. However, what Spears makes up for her lack of vocals in flips, dancing, and acrobatics, Marshall made up for in awful dancing, singing with her back to the audience, and a calculated freak out. Last night I though the princess of pop had an ounce of talent and the indie queen had none. Yet today, I see the Cat Power show as one of the greatest concerts I have ever seen. It took talent and bravery and good old fashioned tabloid razzle dazzle to stage her meltdown. By creating a breakdown and performing abstractly to cover her flaws, Chan Marshall made a statement about the current state of talent in American music. Her show was a musical TMZ clip. The sound, the melody, that doesn’t matter in 2009. It’s about the persona, the image, the bizarreness, and the level of insanity. People now read into the expansiveness of it all, not the composition. After all Lady Gaga (the queen of crazy) just had her third number one single in a row. Insanity is now music and insanity is now great and therefore, despite her lack of talent or rhythm, so is Cat Power.
