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Chan Marshall strutted through Los Angeles last Friday night, exuding a new level of confidence that fit perfectly with her recent turn towards a gutsy blues style. As the dim blue lights rose over her backup outfit, The Dirty Delta Blues Band, the foursome played a heavy, spaced-out jam that showed a new emphasis on musicianship for Cat Power as well. No longer one woman forcing her way through an onstage meltdown, this was a well-rehearsed show, and it may have been this cocoon of talent surrounding Chan that gave her such welcomed verve.



She trotted out a number of songs from her latest collection of covers, Jukebox, and laid into them with gusto, finding the deep bottom of the low notes, while the high notes were belted with nary a crack in her register. Her southern roots were fully exposed as she sang songs like "Lost Someone" and "Ramblin' (Wo)Man," her drawl adding an air or authenticity further confirmed by the passages sang on bent knee. She rang every drop of sweaty soul out of original numbers like "Lived In Bars" and "The Greatest" thanks to the sonic additions of The Dirty Delta Blues Band.



If there was one complaint about the night, it was that the large size of the Wiltern let some of her heat dissipate before it could reach the back of the house. In a more intimate setting she could have really burned the stage down. Even still, Cat Power proved that she's learned to harness the fire inside. No longer afraid that it might consume her, she's free to turn up the dial let it burn bright for her fans.


—Chas Reynolds
03.03.08