In the indie rock sphere, there may be no better interpreter of the American Songbook than Cat Power's Chan Marshall. Throughout her 12-album discography, the Atlanta-born indie rocker has released four stunning cover records, offering her own take on songs by artists ranging from Johnny Mathis to Frank Ocean.
Fresh off a summer sojourn that found her playing support for the Pixies and Modest Mouse double bill and some European dates, Marshall returned to North America to close off her (seemingly) never-ending Cat Power Sings Dylan '66 tour.
Returning to Ottawa for the first time since opening for Mumford & Sons in 2019, Marshall was scheduled to close off CityFolk's Fasken Stage at the ungodly time of 7:40 p.m. — far from prime headlining hours. The tented area, pressed up against a metal fence, was filled with approximately 150 folding chairs, leaving hundreds of festivalgoers to watch from the sidelines, with many forced to stand far beyond the stage's perimeter.
Accompanied by Henry Munson on acoustic guitar, Marshall stood behind a music stand holding a hefty binder of lyrics from The Bootleg Series Vol. 4 — the legendary album that immortalized the night Dylan went electric. Cutting the album's first seven songs down to just gorgeously intimate renditions of "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" and "Mr. Tambourine Man," Marshall stayed put behind her mic, focusing on stretching and contracting vocal arrangements to deliver her own take on these classics.
Bringing out the rest of her sextet, including rhythm guitarist Adeline Jasso (the Antarcticans), keyboardists Aaron Embry (Elliott Smith) and Jordan Summers (All Day Summer), bassist Erik Paparozzi (Neil Hamburger) and drummer Josh Adams (Jon Batiste), Marshall ran through the entirety of the record's "electric" portion, transporting a vulnerability and romanticism to tracks like "Tell Me, Momma" and "I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)."
Hampered by her vocal monitor and by the unseasonable heat that permeated the tent, Marshall seemed distracted during the otherwise tender "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down." After unsuccessfully requesting the seated crowd to "shake your ass" during her performance of "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues," Marshall pushed through her challenges, prancing to the sides of the stage to lock eyes and sing to the bobbing masses standing at the outskirts.
Closing with "Like a Rolling Stone," Marshall and her band ignited the first real burst of energy from the seated crowd, who rose to their feet to dance and sing along to the song's iconic chorus. While Marshall is often in her element reinterpreting others' work, she had to put in a little extra elbow grease to deliver the freewheeling spirit of Bob Dylan.