[review 2004: the honourable mentions]

Yes, The Tigers Have Spoken is a stopgap album; yes, the live shows were probably better in person; yes, there isn’t enough original material; yes, it’s too short. All those things make Neko Case’s live album merely a good album rather than a great one. But the essential qualities of Case’s live show come out, if a little blunted by the format.

The two original compositions are great, and it’d be more of a shame they won’t be on a proper album if they weren’t done so well live. “If You Knew” in particular is a great definitive version, thanks in part to air support from the Sadies and (I’m guessing) Kelly Hogan. Also very successful are the two older tracks; I can’t remember ever liking a slower live version of a song before, but “Favorite” comes off better because of the tempo change.

As for the covers and standards, they also sound great�noticing a trend here?�but aren’t quite as fun simply because they’re not really her songs. “This Little Light” seems to lose a lot in the translation from stage to record; to actually see Dallas Good, Neko Case and all the rest belt out the song must’ve been quite the experience. And then there’s “Loretta,” which almost seems like a spiritual tribute to her Maow days. “Train From Kansas City,” “Rated X”�all great versions, and Case goes a long way towards making each cover her own.

But after finally seeing Neko Case in concert with the Sadies in November, I can safely say that the biggest thing the album shares with her live show is the feeling that it didn’t go on long enough. Case specifically didn’t want to truck out her old material for the live album, but even though she played nearly all of The Tigers Have Spoken as well as a number of songs old and new during her Vancouver show, it still wasn’t enough. Really, no reasonable amount of Neko Case live would be enough, and so the album can’t help but disappoint a little.

Oh, but next year, and a new album, and a real copy of “Baby Sparrow.”