Live DC: Dean & Britta / Keren Ann @ The Cat

February 29, 2008 by Svetlana  Send to a Friend

all photos: Martin Locraft

Martin and I spent a portion of the Wednesday morning trying to figure out who is exactly the main act of this show, and it turns out that it is a CO-HEADLINING tour so D&B and Keren Ann switch the order around. In DC’s case we got Dean & Britta first.
So, now that we got that little bit of pestering ??? out of the way, onto the show:

DEAN & BRITTA

Wednesday night and it is like “Classy show attendance 101″ lesson at the Cat. Everyone is showered, dressed, coupled up, a little older than 30 on average, and looking like they ate at Vidalia as opposed to Ben’s before cruising over. People milling around, holding hands at the bar, ordering decently sized beverages….but then, Dean & Britta come on and (and I quote Martin) “everyone bum rushes the stage”.
Eagerly.

They come on the stage, and I realize: when New York Magazine wrote that article about grups (read it!) a year or so back, he was talking about Dean and Britta. Still cool even after all these years, they probably live the kind of lives most of the Cat that night do as well. I did zero research on this, but this is the fantasy they’re selling: a brownstone somewhere in Brooklyn (maybe Park Slope, you know, old school), lots of old art books and vinyl lining the built in shelves, Britta’s fender in a corner of a hard-wood floored open plan space, skinny suits and shift dresses in the closet, a well watched Criterion movie collection and some fine art on the walls that was done by their friends. They do the Sunday crossword puzzle in The Times. They eat in small but delicious holes-in-the-walls. They are comfortable and recognized, but definitely not rich. They occasionally jaunt out on tour to Europe, steal Deutche Bank’s logos for their shirts (this actually IS true), and as evidenced by such bursts of (safe and age appropriate anarchy) are cooler than a dozen cucumbers.
You know, your dream life.

The music in itself is a perfect accompaniment to this fantasy yarn I just spread.
It is like a milk and honey cocktail, designed to coat your ears in such fuzzy fun that all you want to ever lounge on your Barcelona furniture and make sure you have enough champagne in the fridge for a month of kir royales.
Dean did all the talking, and he was charming and wry and a little world weary, and Britta (the tiniest woman I’ve ever seen behind a bass) was very no-nonsense, very stern, very sexy I am sure many people thought.
They played everything from some old Luna songs to “You Turn My Head Around” (which slays me every time) to (yes!) “Bonnie & Clyde” and while it is maybe a well worn act by now, it is a delightfully executed one and a crowd pleaser to boot.
Not to mention all the subtle ass grabbing couples were doing in front of me during it.
Because, this is “subtle ass grabbing music”, intended to get you half way there. The rest my friends is on you.

KEREN ANN

Now, I love Keren Ann, and last time she was in DC she played Iota (which seems like a dream venue for her) and she did start the set out with “In your back” which made my insides turn to instantaneous mush but in this set up, she probably should have gone on first. Never mind that though.
She has a catalogue (spanning several albums now, including 2004’s “Nolita” and last years s/t) that is as well crafted as it is subtle. Every note in it is measured with the precision of a heartbeat, and her voice is one of the more beguiling ones in music right now. Songs slink back and forth, some in English, some in French, sometimes merging together like layers of a perfectly delicious cake, and sometimes busting out with spurts of extra sauce(iness).
As I said I love her, but all she made me want to do was go home, put her record on, curl up in my bed and take a long, long, long nap. Which is exactly what I did after the set was over.

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