EIF Review: Cat Power Sings Dylan ’66

In a sense, there’s not too much to say about Chan Marshall aka Cat Power. As big an admirer of Dylan’s songwriting prowess as any, she’s been singing along to his records since they came out. With 30+ storied years as a singer-songwriter under her belt, the question is: what happens when songwriters collide?

The answer, in this case, turned out to be a memorable journey into both past and present. Technically this Edinburgh International Festival show followed that ’66 concert in Manchester slavishly.

Just as then, Cat and her truly excellent band, switched from acoustic purity to fully electric powered blues-rock halfway through, though no one in the audience thought to shout ‘Judas’ at the stage.

“…a memorable journey into both past and present.”

Before the switch, she’d spellbound the audience with a sensational opening rendition of ‘She Belongs to Me’ and almost brought them to their feet with a soulful ‘Desolation Row’. In terms of arrangement and orchestration, there wasn’t much to separate Cat’s versions from Bob’s original: the originality is almost entirely in the way her throaty vocals caress the words combined with subtle shifts in emphasis.

It’s a tribute, yes, but it’s not a carbon copy.

When the band let rip with a rocking ‘Tell Me, Momma’ I wasn’t the only one in attendance to begin bopping in my seat. Between you and me, I don’t see any good reason to sit still when a band is laying down the blues that hard. Give me space to dance thank you very much.

At this point, I stopped taking notes, and enjoyed an outstandingly produced concert filled with some of the finest songwriting the 20th century ever produced. Once we arrived at a victoriously gorgeous ‘Ballad of a Thin Man’ and the victory lap of ‘Like a Rolling Stone’, it was just like meeting old, very well-loved friends.

Ultimately, what made the concert such a success is how fully Cat Power lives every song. Even a broken toe couldn’t slow her down, though I do wonder if painkillers were responsible for some of her chat. That said, she also told us that every time she tries to be funny it doesn’t work, so maybe that’s just how Cat works a crowd. Thank goodness she didn’t fall over however!

Ultimately, star ratings are pretty irrelevant for a gig like this. A quad of Americans sitting in front of me stormed out about 4 songs in, so obviously it wasn’t working for them. However, if you were expecting a slavish tribute to Dylan, there are more than a few on the circuit these days. So far as Cat Power does Dylan gigs go, this was the best one you’ll ever see.