Ring Them Bells

OK, so Mark has set me up to deliver a vicious retort to his snarling anti-Neko post, and I can sorta oblige. But first, I must make clear that I would never classify myself as a huge Neko Case fan. Yes, I own a few of her albums. Yes, I think she has an amazingly alarming voice and can write some decent songs and even fewer amazing songs (see "I Wish I Was the Moon" or "Deep Red Bells"). But see, I'm a huge fan of people like Kristin Hersh and Martha Wainwright and have proof of my ambivalence to Neko live. In fact, my initial review of Neko live still stands, so here it is again, to serve as my review of her April 7th show:

And then Neko played. She was good. Her cover of "Buckets of Rain" was fantastic. Hearing "I Wish I Was the Moon" and "Deep Red Bells" live was worth a good portion of the ticket price. The rest of the set I could have enjoyed as happily simply hearing the notes come out of my stereo speakers. Martha Wainwright she ain't.

So, while I think Mark's critique is a little harsh, and not quite spot-on, there's a glimmer of truth hidden in his words. Still, it was a great way to spend my birthday and hearing that "inimitable" Neko voice live is always a treat.

On a different note, we had my birthday dinner at Cafe Brenda, a food destination I've been meaning to hit since I've lived in Minneapolis. Believe the hype. The atmosphere was fancier than I'm used to without being snobby, and the food was 1000x better than a pear-flavored Jelly Belly, and you know those green speckled orbs are delicious. I had the ginger glazed mock duck salad and everything about it was perfect -- from the tender, tasty mock duck to the slightly chilled capellini noodles to the uber-flavorful cherry tomatoes. After the salty edamame appetizer, the bread basket, and my entree, there was no room for dessert, but I'm sure it would have been equally delicious. Now I just have to find an excuse to go back.