Neko Case @Webster Hall, Apr. 7th

Met up with Shana and her friend Andie for this one. We got to Webster Hall early to procure our seats on the beautiful platforms along stage left. God, I think I would have to leave if I ever had to actually stand in the middle of the floor at Webster again...

Tonight's opener were the High Dials. A band from Montreal -- Canadians again -- surprise! I texted Amanda if she had heard of them, and of course, she did. They were groovy. I was reminded of late 60s/early 70s psychedelic rock, and bits of the later Beatles, especially when they brought a sitar player onto the stage. Well, I assume it was a sitar, but I'm not really up on my Indian instruments. Could have been a tabla for all I knew... Anyway, I made sure to pick up their latest cd.

I think if I just go to enough gigs and buy cds at the merch tables like I have been recently, then I'll never have to set foot in Virgin Megastore or Tower Records ever again!

Neko Case played after the High Dials for probably a good hour and a half. She had a great backup singer who harmonized very nicely, a standing bass (which I always love), and an awesome musican who played banjo and pedal steel guitar. When I saw the New Pornographers last month, I was a little sad when I found out that Neko wouldn't be joining them, but seeing her solo was very satisfying. She dips into the country, which is not really my thing, but she has a nice powerful, throaty voice that is not annoying like your typical country crap that's on top 40 nowadays. She and her bandmates had great banter going on too. It was a nice show to cap off my 7 gigs in 13 days run. I was pretty beat by the end. Thank God for the platforms!

After the show, we walked up to Union Square and caught the 4 train downtown. I was happy to discover that Andie lives in Cobble Hill not too far from me. She enjoys going to gigs too. I think I now have someone to check out Southpaw with! Awesome!