Live review: RootsFest feat. Neko Case @ Ellie Caulkins Opera House
By Troy Markgraf | March 9th, 2010 | 5 comments
Neko Case and some four-legged friends helped make the cavernous Ellie Caulkins Opera House feel more like an intimate venue at Swallow Hill’s annual RootsFest on Saturday. Photo by Michael McGrath.
There are few performers more unassuming than Neko Case — one of two headliners at the Swallow Hill Music Associations’ “Rootsfest” last Saturday, which also included Judy Collins, Paper Bird and others.
Highlighting this lack of pretension was Case’s stage entrance just before her set. It all started when Swallow Hill promoters announced that Case would be donating a portion of her proceeds to Colorado Greyhound Adoption, an act that had many of the properly dressed 40-somethings in the audience saying, “That Neko girl is so nice!”
View a full photo gallery of all the performers here.
As if that weren’t enough, a procession of the canines was brought onstage as Case blended herself with the Greyhound Association’s staff members, then casually left the animals to find her place on stage — a move so subtle and yeoman-like that you would hardly have known she was the next act. In fact, the audience didn’t seem to notice. There were no cheers for Case, though she clearly stood out with her head of glowing red hair.
Case was joined by her lead guitarist Paul Rigby and backup vocalist/best friend/humorist Kelly Hogan. The band was minimalist and quaint on the rather large Ellie Caulkins stage and, but fit well with the tone of the festival and the Opera House. Hogan, on backup vocals, provided the perfect backdrop for the featured instrument of the evening — Case’s dynamic voice.
Case’s set lasted just over an hour and was filled with some of her most romantically dreary numbers. Each song was a testament to the elegance of the evening. Or as Case put it, “It’s kinda classy in here, and it’s really freaking me out!” One such song was “That Teenage Feeling” in which Case’s voice was dark, moody and unmistakable.
Also notable from the evening were the handful of cover tunes, which Case tends to use liberally. The covers included “Hex” by Catherine Irwin and “Knock Loud” by Sook-Yin Lee. In “Hex” Case’s voice is forlorn and inconsolable. “Knock Loud” was a more raucous, driving number that punctuated the evening by lifting the trance left on the audience from earlier songs.
About the only drawback of the show was a rough start as guitar player Rigby’s amp overpowered Case’s voice throughout the entire first song. Between songs, the issue was resolved and the trio moved forward with grace, songs and jokes.
Between numbers Case and Hogan joked back and forth about everything from lazy greyhounds to their recent loss at the Grammys. “We lost all the Grammys we were nominated for by the way. We’re the kids in the smoking section at Grammy High School,” Hogan and Case joked, “hanging out in our military jackets.”
They may not have won at the Grammy’s, but it’s Case’s self-deprecating humor and lack of pretension that makes her so likable — the fact that she can sing a little doesn’t hurt, either.
View a full photo gallery of all the performers at this concert here.
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Troy Markgraf is a Denver-based writer and a regular contributor to Reverb.
Michael McGrath is a Denver area photographer. His work is available at Twist and Shout Records. Visit his website.
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