The Obligatory

I saw Neko Case at the Henry Fonda last night, marking the second time in two weeks I've been to the theatre. Look at me! Getting out of the apartment!

Despite the fact that I've been listening to a ton of what can be semi-classified as 'alt-country' lately, this is the first alt-country show I've been to. As such, the crowd was a bit different than what I'm used to seeing at L.A. shows. Lots of facial hair, earth tones, flowy dresses and cowboy shirts ... none of which seemed to be worn in an ironic manner.

The age mix was pretty extensive, too. In the seat to my right, I had a 55 year old woman with her husband. On my left, a just-turned-21 indie pop proto-hipster. They were both pretty chatty, too. I was prepared to wait patiently and quietly for the music to start, but the woman seemed keen on asking me about the current state of film and our local PBS affiliate ... which I was more than happy to talk about. When I mentioned the last movie I saw was "A Prairie Home Companion," she seemed surprised:

"They let people under the age of 50 in to see that?"

If that didn't make me feel old, the hipster certainly did. It seemed like he was in the very beginning stages of discovering good indie music, and he was trying his darndest to impress me.

He: "I just went on Allmusic.com, and I learned that Neko Case is classified as 'alternative country.' You ever been to that site?"

Me: "Yes. All the time. It's great for making youself buy new music."

He: "On Ratemymusic.com, they had Neko Case in the top ten with this other guy I like a lot. Have you heard Andrew Bird?"

Me: "Yup. I'm a big fan. Been seeing him live since 2001 in Boston. Have you heard his older stuff yet?"

He: "Oh, no. But I love the new one."

Me: "'Weather Systems' is really fantastic. He recorded it in a barn."

He: "The show I'm really excited about, though, is July 6th."

Me: "Yeah, the Belle and Sebastian and the Shins at the Hollywood Bowl. I'm going, too. Have you seen Belle and Sebastian live? They're really tight musicians."

He: "No. Wow, do you like, work in music or something?"

Me: "(sigh) No. I wish."


... God, am I Getting Too Old For This?

That said, both of my Concert Friends were actually very nice. Although I did have to explain what a pedal steel was to the hipster. And that yes, Modest Mouse has been around for quite some time, now.

Pre-show conversation aside, when Neko Case took the stage, pretty much everyone in the audience fell completely silent. She started belting out an a capella song while her band stood in the shadows, joined on tight harmonies by the equally golden-throated Kelly Hogan.

After the first song ended quietly, Case reminded us she could probably take us in a barfight. She pointed down at the front row and yelled, "hey, whoever just told someone to shut the fuck up - YOU shut the fuck up! If you don't get along, I'm gonna come down there and kick both your asses!"

Needless to say, the concert went on with no more disturbances from the footlights. The band and the audience both seemed like they were having a lot of fun, and there were way more mid-song spontaneous bursts of applause than I'd heard in a long time.

Maybe alt-country fans are just more polite than scenesters. Or it could have just been Case's voice. You can't listen to that and NOT be floored. As she made her way through a healthy selection of songs from her new and old albums - along with a few choice covers of Bob Dylan and Randy Newman tunes - it took a lot for me not to just sit in slack-jawed awe.

Honest.

She's that good.

She's still on tour right now, so go out and see her if you get the chance. Or just search the Library of Congress of the Internet Age - The venerable YouTube.