Priestesses Of Power

Monday night at the Danforth Music Hall, two assured musicians played forceful sets. Thao Nguyen (Thao And The Get Down Stay Down) was a monster on guitar (and banjo and steel guitar) during her solo set. Accompanying her manic riffs and chunky chords was a voice that raged all night on numbers like Meticulous Bird and Holy Roller.

In contrast, Neko Case gave us a pleasurable cloud of alt-country, folkish, and pop music, full of intricate layers of sounds. That is, until you pay attention to the biting lyrics of songs both old and new like Winnie, Hell-On, and Margaret vs. Pauline. As the evening wore on, she added more and more rock from her stint in other bands. Being an honorary Canadian, Case had several songs about Canada starting with out in the East: Calling Card and Oracles of the Maritimes. Appropriately enough then, during her encore in which Case told the adoring crowd Toronto had a special place in her heart, she played both Loretta (recorded live at The Matador) and This Tornado Loves You (which is set in this city).