Just as you settle into your desk for first-period, the teacher walks to the front of the classroom and announces that you are having a surprise assembly and must report to the main auditorium.
Remember that expectant feeling as you slowly cattled your way to into the auditorium (or “cafetorium” as mine was aptly called) and anxiously took your seat? This was very much the same scene as a few hundred lucky people filed into the Barnsdall Gallery Theater and settled in for an evening with Neko Case.
One of the more unique venues in Los Angeles, this is a theatre that you’d more expect to watch the chess club’s annual talent show, or your little brother’s 3rd grade re-enactment of War and Peace. Tiered seats lead up to a slightly elevated black lacquered stage, backdropped with folds of tall blue velour curtains.
As she and her band took stage, they too remarked on the obvious school auditorium resemblance, “We’re going to do a skit for you guys. It’s about not doing drugs.” Sending the audience into a frenzied laughter, this quip set the tone for the light hearted evening, which was a medley of old and new tunes, mixed with stand-up comedy style dialogue between Neko and her friend/backing vocalist Rachel Flotard (Visqueen). Other comedic skits tackled topics like Rachel’s crack addiction and her accidental pregnancy. After-school specials have long been a source for good material on-stage.
I was a bit surprised at how country tinged Neko’s set was, but not in any way disappointed. I had heard her album The Tigers Have Spoken a few times, but was mostly familiar with her work in the New Pornographers. Her sultry voice did nothing less than charm me and the rest of the audience, as affirmed by the enthusiastic flow of applause after each and every song.
Keep your eyes open for more shows at Barnsdall Art Park, it’s an experience you won’t forget!
