Neko Case review

In an age where most of our entertainment comes from a television screen, Neko Case provides a refreshing way of telling stories.

Last Friday night kicked off the centennial celebration with a series of performances. As Lyndon State College President Carol Moore listed off the names of each act, you could feel the tension and excitement in the audience. Moore finished her introduction with an announcement that all of the night's proceeds will go to a scholarship for interns at the Catamount Arts Center.

The main event of the evening was a performance by Neko Case and her band. Her performance was almost as breathtaking as her voice. As she was singing you could feel the air being sucked out of the room. She made the small auditorium of Lyndon State feel like a true concert hall. She got the audience involved with some jokes about what her songs are about and even wrote a metal song about a boy named Nigel with the help of the audience.

When asked why she enjoys coming back to the North East Kingdom time and time again she said, "I live here, I loved it so much I brought a house."

            The first act was an unusual puppet show done by shadows and paper cutouts. The group called One Degree Off performed two riveting tales that had an entire audience captivated. The first tale was a retelling of Lewis Caroll's, "Jabberwocky".  The second story was called "Revontulet" a story about the aurora borealis. Both stories bewitched the audience with ambient sound and creative character design.

            In a night with the theme being storytelling, Tony Fitzpatick did just that. His poems on his everyday life were like that of a stand-up comedian. The audience couldn't help but laugh at the stories he told of his neighbor and his grandmother.  Following his act was a band known as Freakwater, made up of two female singers from Chicago who brought a different type of music then you would hear on mainstream radio. Their songs had a bluegrass folk music quality to it. And their quick jokes between songs kept the audience interested and involved.