Cat Power at Pearl Street

You never really know what to expect from a Cat Power concert.

In the past, the singer (whose real name is Chan Marshall) was known for precarious performances that were as likely as not to shamble to an abrupt end, possibly including tears.
There was no crying when she played Monday night at Pearl Street in Northampton, where Marshall seemed less fragile than she used to. She has credited sobriety for her more even keel on stage, though the singer will never be known for her showmanship.

Fortunately, her songs more than make up for it.

Although she doesn’t sing with her back to the crowd anymore, she’s still plenty shy — to the point where her vocals were buried in the mix, as if to help her blend in on stage. That wasn’t likely, given that she’s the focal point of her band, but she gave it a shot anyway with an eclectic mix of covers and soul-drenched tunes from her 2006 album “The Greatest” (recent winner of the Shortlist Music Prize, given to worthy albums that have sold less than 500,000 copies at the time they’re nominated).

Her band, a four-man crew steeped in the sound of vintage Memphis soul, opened Marshall’s set with the title track from “The Greatest,” vamping over the changes for a minute or two until Marshall shyly emerged from the wing.

She mostly sang in the dark, roaming the low-lit stage as she sighed over languid grooves decorated with mournful slide guitar on a reimagined version of the Highwaymen’s “Silver Stallion” and moody piano on the quiet, gripping “Song for Bobby.” She lit a cigarette on the latter tune, and smoke drifted toward the ceiling, glowing blue from the stage lights shining through it.

When her voice occasionally rose above the sound of the band, Marshall’s vocals were dusky and smooth, like she was singing her heart out in some sweltering late-night dive. The sweltering part sure fit — the ballroom was hot and crowded (and was at times ripe with hipster musk), though the crowd was reasonably attentive as it cheered her on.

“Silver Stallion” wasn’t the only song Marshall reinvented. She offered a fragmented take on the Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” and a version of “New York, New York” that owed more to the soulful grit of late ’60s Stax-era Albert King than to Frank Sinatra.

She performed for about 70 minutes before closing with “Willie,” a gorgeous, flowing soul ballad.