We Need To Talk About The Rooster And Cat Power On Letterman The Other Night
We’ve been obsessed with this clip since we saw first air on April 1st on Late Night With David Letterman. And while we’ve made note of The Rooster aka Philly indie rock legend/totally awesome DJ Gregg Foreman being in Cat Power’s touring band before, the subject and this clip in particular bears repeating for a few reasons:
· One, lots and lots of shots of The Rooster. Yeah son!
· But really, what bears examining is what a really, truly wild performance this is. To begin with, Cat Power, I mean, Chan Marshall, is ORANGE. As in lots of self-tanner orange.
· And while much has been made of Chan’s new, uhm, “stability,” this performance is straight up bizarre. Though the song they’re performing is the somber, reflective “Metal Heart,” a classic track from one of her earlier records reprised on the new CD Jukebox, Marshall’s performance is completely amped up, channelling Patti Smith, cut with lots and lots of Mick Jagger. And maybe, also, perhaps… The Rooster himself? META.
· She’s not lip-synching. That’s just your equilibrium being thrown off by how weird this all is.
· As such, she’s SINGING TO HER HAND AS IF IT WAS A MIRROR. A lot. It’s very scary.
· And finally, we’re not totally sure, but I’m pretty sure she tells Dave she loves him at the end.
Just wanted to point all that out.
April 3rd, 2008 at 5:11 pm
i will always love her like the stars in the sky but she looks ridiculous. this is not a solid argument for sobriety. no sir.
and ps: what’s up with the flapper moonwalk at 2:58?
April 4th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
At least she made it though the whole song without pausing to complain about the lighting or the sound, or to have a meltdown. Once when I saw her perform I thought she was seconds away from going all Don Music and banging her head into the piano keys while shouting “I’ll never get it! Never get it!”