Don't Miss Our Ongoing Live Coverage
SANTA FE, New Mexico – Station to Station happenings, like all noteworthy art openings, tend to have a gallery show ambiance. People schmooze, drink wine, watch film shorts projected throughout the room, and chat over the glow of smartphones. There are conversations, happy reunions, and a general feeling of awesomeness from being surrounded by creativity.
Then the jams kick in.
Such was the feeling at the traveling art show's most recent event, which not only took over the artistic enclave of Santa Fe, but also ensconced itself in the city's Railyard, a cultural center in its own right. So when the show opened with the Meschac Gaba headdress procession, accompanied by synthesizers provided by electronic maven Nite Jewel, it was obvious that this was just the beginning.
The evening's low-key vibe continued temporarily with a gentle set from Nite Jewel in a giant sky-lighted warehouse next to the Railyard's tracks. Soon, however, she decided to turn it up a notch, proclaiming, "I'm going to do a couple more catchy songs – those are allowed here, right?" Then she sank into a series of pop-infused tracks that finally got the audience to surround her island of a stage and start bobbing their heads.
The vibe almost immediately went from pop to dark, gritty blues rock when the Handsome Family took the stage and singer/multi-instrumentalist Rennie Sparks proclaimed, "This is a song about snakes and sour apples!" before launching into their first number, "My Sister's Tiny Hands." From there the duo delivered, in Sparks' words, "a song about a blood ritual" and a "song [that] does attract raccoons."
Another spine-tingling performance from auctioneers Denise Shearin and Eli Detweiler, Jr. topped off the Handsomes' set, as the two fast talkers moved through the crowd with their rapid-fire patter before whip-cracker Chris Camp snapped their show to a close.
From there it was on to the two best performances of Santa Fe, back-to-back: THEESatisfaction and Cat Power. THEESatisfaction, a sensual soul/hip-hop duo from Seattle, got everyone into the groove with their synchronized dance moves and Anita Baker-sampling tracks. (Seriously, if you like super-soulful throwback production with a lot of rad quirks and beautiful vocals, this might be your new favorite band.)
Cat Power (aka Chan Marshall) closed out the night with a stripped down, intimate vocals-and-guitar performance. Marshall already has one of the most effective and effecting voices in rock, a raspy, haunting thing that sounds like it has lived. So when she slalomed between songs like "Fool,""Psychic Hearts" and a gritty cover of the Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog," it was all magic (or, as our own Douglas Wolk pointed out, it was "cats and dogs!").
As she wrapped her set, the crowd was begging for more; requests ranged from "Play 'Malibu Heart'!" to "Play whatever the fuck you want!" But when the last note echoed out through the skylights, Marshall gave a very Station to Station apropos good-night: "Have a great time … Wherever you go."
All photos: Bryan Derballa/WIRED
