Cat Power / Beach House / Appaloosa

American, unworldly folk songstress Cat Power aka Charlyn Marshall has, it has to be said, a bit of a reputation for unpredictable behaviour. She's been known to storm off at flash photography, sing with her back to the audience, segue from song to song without any break. Eccentric, chronically shy, difficult – many a tag has been tossed her way. She is the genuine, unknown quantity but with songs as smooth and tender as 'Where is my love' you would have to be of stony heart to forego this at the risk of an 'off' night.

Tonight, however, Ms Marshall was an utter delight, from the minute she - in all her feline, purring grace bestowed her paws on stage. Refreshingly, the supports were different, but still utterly exemplary, which is always a pleasure at a gig.

Appaloosa ( it's a breed of horse, if you are curious) hailing from Paris are a boy-girl duo who glory in upbeat, electro dance music using guitars and keyboards. Singer Anne Laure's Nico-esque Gallic vocals glide smoothly over the ambient melodies, and it feels ridiculous to be seated when songs such as 'L'amour Hard' are just begging to be danced to. Though the venue is only a third full, the audience respond warmly, and Anne Laure looking reminiscent of a young Marianne Faithfull, dances coolly on stage, a girl enjoying her own party.

Songs are sung in a mixture of French and English, with sweetly curious lyrics. 'Sinister' a song which sounds anything but, has the amusing line "When you say Saturn, it sounds like Satan." The stand out track, this evening 'The Day We Fell in Love' with it’s repetitive chorus "Two hearts, unchained, flying.." reverberates in the memory, after the duo have left the stage. Signed to Kitsune, this is a group to see again in a venue sans chairs for sure.

American band Beach House; signed to ex-Cocteau Twin's Simon Raymonde's Bella Union label; take the stage and comment, "This is a very big place!" The band, who recently released a second album 'Devotion', showcase a set featuring tracks from it. Hailing from Maryland, their brand of shoegaze tropical surfpop has a uniquely distinctive tinge to it. It's music to be enjoyed under the stars, lying on your back, gazing at the heavens. Never has a band been more aptly named. You can literally hear the waves washing sandcastles away as the tide comes in. Perfect for a dusky, summers evening. Though the material isn't as strong as the self-titled debut, it still merits attention and goes down well with the audience filing in.

Singer and keyboardist Victoria Legrand's richly textured vocals echo off the walls on songs such as 'Gila', and guitarist Alex Scally cannot resist a gentle bop to 'Wedding Bells', which evokes childhood fair ground rides with it's bouncy innocence. But it's the single taken from the debut, 'Master of None' which gets an ardent response and cheers from the crowd. It's a darkly beautiful song with a mournful guitar hook, and still their best song to date.

When Cat Power's band takes the stage, the excitement is palpable. When the lady herself arrives, she gets a loving reception. Though barely acknowledging the audience until over half way through the set, it doesn't matter when she is this velvet voiced, self assured and confident on stage. She owns the floor tonight, sliding smoothly to cover every inch, leaning into the crowd, singing into faces, all inhibition tonight at least is a memory in the past. There is even time to applaud between songs. Things have changed.

Performing several songs off her latest record, a second album of covers titled 'Jukebox' her innovative re-workings of classics such as 'New York, New York' are utterly transformed from the originals. It takes careful listening to lyrics to realise that the broody, intense song you are listening to is 'Dreams' by Fleetwood Mac as it bears no resemblance to the wistful ballad. Oddly this isn't on the album, but it's a wonderful rendition.

Jukebox featured new interpretations of her own material and it's a testament to the strength of her own back catalogue that she can take a shimmering, gentle nugget like 'Metal Heart' and rework it as an impassioned torch song. It is this song that steals the show and takes the evening to another level, as she steals into the audience to sing the words into delighted, amazed faces. It's akin to stroking a wild animal that you rarely get to see at such close quarters. The song is electrifying and when she again takes the stage, it's only now she permits herself a quiet "thank you."

Her cover of Joni Mitchell's 'Blue' is tender and weaves a deep spell and the words "I love you" hang in the air. Then much to the surprise of the audience, she requests the house lights be turned up and launches into a medley of tracks, taken from 'The Greatest' (her last studio album) which go down extremely well. 'The Moon' is simply beautiful.

Her final song of the evening 'Ramblin Wo(man)' again sees her mingling with her now dazzled audience, closely followed by a hulking, great bouncer. She returns to the stage, vanishes and re-emerges with a bouquet of flowers, which she hands out bloom by bloom to the seated crowd, gliding up and down the pews to rapturous applause. It's her last trick of the night. And yes, she gave me one too..

FUTURE GIGS

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