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Fun Fun Fun Festival: Cat Power & Dirty Delta Blues
As the grass in Waterloo Park gave way to dust, no doubt reminding some in the audience of the 2005 ACL dirt debacle, the crowd that was on hand for the well-received Battles dispersed to recharge before the final acts of the evening took the stage. It seemed that many chose the highly anticipated Murder City Devils or going home over Cat Power, but there was still a good deal of excitement as she and her band came on. Dirty Delta Blues laid down a groove as Chan Marshall excitedly danced around and introduced everyone, after which they launched into a cover-laden set that might have turned off many in the crowd who didn’t know what to expect.
Chan and Co. ran into trouble early when, after a couple of songs— including a slow soul version of “New York, New York” — Marshall began walking to the side of the stage, presumably to discuss sound. When it became apparent there was a problem, she anxiously explained to the audience that she was dealing with a blown eardrum, so she couldn’t hear anything, and also that she was on steroids, which made her feel angry. She attempted a few more songs, hanging close to the monitors, trying to hear what was going on. The band’s solution to the problem was to play quieter songs like James Brown’s “Lost Someone,” which will appear on her upcoming covers album along with another of the evening’s covers, Billie Holiday’s “Don’t Explain.”
The crowd continued to thin as Marshall persevered, with the people who remained offering their support. At one point a member of the audience passed out, prompting Marshall to request medics mid-song, after which organist Gregg Foreman did his best Rolling Stones impression from “Gimme Shelter.” Later in the show, when the band had regained some momentum, they referenced the Stones again with a cover of “Satisfaction.” It was a fitting selection toward the end of a difficult experience that Marshall would probably like to forget.
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