Forget that “papa” guy. Neko Case is the real rolling stone, having switched cities like an overgrown army brat in the decade and a half since she left our “dusty old jewel in the South Puget Sound.”

The red-headed chanteuse has moved to Seattle, Vancouver, B.C., Chicago, Tucson, Ariz., and most recently settled down on a farm in rural Vermont; you know, where she recorded the amphibian chorus you hear on the last half hour of her dreamy, new “Middle Cyclone” album.

But you know what they say about absence. “I’ve never played here before,” Case confessed at the beginning of her headlining set Tuesday night at Tacoma’s Pantages Theater. “I’ll try to do this without bawling.”

Case wasn’t joking. The mood was mostly light, with funny Frisko Freeze and Steve Miller references dropped in between song banter between Case and backup singer Kelly Hogan. But tears did eventually flow during a loving, set ending performance of “Thrice All American,” Case’s ode to Tacoma, her home in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

Case said it had been eight years since she did the song. And she dedicated it to her friends in the crowd, asking them to imagine they were back at the Community World Theater. That would be the short-lived but locally legendary punk venue located at 56th and M streets in the late ‘80s. (Case was into the local punk scene back then, and could have caught a fledgling Nirvana at CWT, before those lads were even called Nirvana.)

Fans stood and sang along with Case’s nostalgic, bell-clear vocals. “Well the factories churn and the timber's all cut down, and life goes by slow in Tacoooooma.”

The singer's excitement was palpable as she danced with a bashful little girl named Opal, who had been brought onstage by daddy, Kelly Mickelson of Tacoma garage-rock fixtures, the F---ing Eagles. And as the Case coasted to a cathartic close, joyful tears could be seen streaming down here.

Tacoma was happy to finally see you again, too, Neko, even if it took you way too long. And guess you weren’t kidding about that “I sadly neglect you” line in the song. (Now if only we can get the Sonics to do a hometown show.)

Case’s homecoming was all the more special since, a decade and change into her solo recording career, she’s achieved a commercial breakthrough with “Middle Cyclone.” The album reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200 this year, 51 spots higher than her previous studio album “Fox Confessor Brings the Flood.” And while she’s still not quite a household name, appearances on “Late Night with David Letterman,” NPR and in the pages of Paste and other glossy rock rags have definitely raised her profile.

Backed by Hogan, multi-instrumentalist Jon Rauhouse, guitarist Paul Rigby, drummer Barry Marochnick and bassist Tom V. Ray, Case delivered a healthy dose of the new disc, with the title track, lead single “This Tornado Loves You” and ballad “Don’t Forget Me” providing high points. “I Wish I Was the Moon” from 2002’s “Blacklisted” disc packed and emotional punch, too, even if Case zoned out and skipped the song's bridge.

“I’m sorry,” Case acknowledged, laughing. “I’m just nervous.” Honestly, the song sounded great, and she could have acted as if the mistake hadn't happened with most fans none the wiser.

Rauhouse's rousing pedal steel guitar playing elevated many of the songs. And granted parts of the set were sloppy, with awkward pauses for tuning, miscues and technical glitches. But with Case and the witty Hogan trading jokes, the lulls and responses to fan outbursts were pretty funny. Hogan's spirit animal is “the cougar,” in case you were wondering. Go wherever you will with that.

Artist Kathleen Judge’s mostly impressionistic videos clips provided eye catching backdrops for the songs. Hazy clouds drifted by. Galloping Gerty bounced and buckled during "Thrice All America." Killer whales, deer and tigers (lots of tigers) underscoring the natural themes running through “People Got a Lotta Nerve,” “The Tigers Have Spoken," "I'm an Animal" and Case's cover of Sparks' "Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth.”

And a note on security: Before we even sat down for Calexico's opening set, no less than three little old lady ushers warned us that our cell phones would be confiscated if we pulled them out during the show.

Huh? They were very polite with their warnings, but I'd never heard of that kind of phone scrutiny at a rock show. Can they even do that? Was this a mandate from Neko's handlers, attempting to put the kibosh on YouTube bootlegs? Or was there something else going on here?

Anyway, I posted the set list here, in case you missed it. And you can find find details for Thursday night's show at Seattle's Paramount Theatre here. Assuming you can still find a ticket.

Neko Case wrapped up her Tacoma homecoming show at the Pantages an hour ago. Her joyfully tearful performance of "Thrice All American" was worth the price of admission alone. More on that later. Here's the set list for now.

Neko Case set list
Pantages Theatre
June 2, 2009

Maybe Sparrow
People Got a Lotta Nerve
Fever
Hold On, Hold On
The Pharoahs
Middle Cyclone
Deep Red Bells
I Wish I Was the Moon
I’m an Animal
Prison Girls
The Tigers Have Spoken
Margaret vs. Pauline
Red Tide
Don’t Forget Me
That Teenage Feeling
This Tornado Loves You

Encore:
Vengeance Is Sleeping
Lady Pilot
Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth
Thrice All American

Opening act: Calexico’s Joey Burns and John Convertino

Neko Case's homecoming concert will take place in less than a week at the Pantages. And I stumbled onto this cool interview she did with Canada's QTV. Been a while since she's wanted to do interviews with her hometown paper, though. I'll have to see if I can dig up the tape of the last one I did with her and convert it to MP3 for you all between now and the show.

STG Presents just released more details regarding Neko Case's June 2 Tacoma homecoming show. Case - the rising alt-country star and former Tacoma resident who immortalized T-town with her songs "South Tacoma Way" and "Thrice All-American" - will headline Tacoma's Pantages Theater at 8 p.m. on June 2. That's two days before her scheduled appearance at Seattle's Paramount Theatre.

Case will have support from Calexico's Joey Burns and John Convertino for the Tacoma show. Tickets are $33 and will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Saturday (May 2). Find more details on the Broadway Center site.

Neko Case - the woman who immortalized Tacoma with her songs “South Tacoma Way” and “Thrice All American” – is finally coming back. Seattle Theatre Group is expected to announce details regarding a June 2 appearance at the Broadway Center’s Pantages Theater next week, a date added as the singer's June 4 show at Seattle’s Paramount Theatre neared selling out.

Case lives in Tucson, Ariz., these days, but spent many of her formative years in Tacoma. Before she was famous, she tended bar at Bob’s Java Jive and was a go-go dancer for Tacoma garage-punk band Girl Trouble. She inspired GT’s “Neko Loves Rock N’ Roll,” which is in the South Sound Mixtape player on the right hand side of this page.

Case has grown steadily in popularity since the late ‘90s thanks to her classic country flavored solo work and stints with Vancouver, BC power-pop outfit New Pornographers. And now with the release of her critically acclaimed new album “Middle Cyclone” she’s experiencing her biggest year yet, with appearances on “Late Night with David Letterman” and on the covers of several national rock mags.

Check back next week and I'll track down some ticket info.

Case appeared on "Late Night with David Letterman" on April 15. Check out her performance here.
CARSTEN SNEJBJERG/AP

As mentioned in my post on last weekend's X show, Neko Case appeared on Letterman last night with Visqueen's Rachel Flotard helping out with some background vox. And as "Chrisgra" points out in the comments section, video of Case and company singing "This Tornado Loves You" has surfaced on YouTube. Flotard is the second backup singer from the right, I think.

P.S. You all have listened to the song Girl Trouble wrote about Neko over in the South Sound Mixtape window, right?

OK, so that webcast of Neko Case's concert in Amsterdam that I blogged about recently didn't quite pan out, with the show getting canceled and all. But soon, local fans will get to see her live and in person. The Seattle Theatre Group just announced Case, a former Tacoma resident, will headline the Paramount Theatre on June 4.

Case -- who immortalized T-town with her songs "Thrice All American" and "South Tacoma Way" -- will be touring in support of her new album album "Middle Cyclone," which was released today.

Grandaddy's Jason Lytle will add support for this show, which will kick off at 7:30 p.m. that day. Tickets are $22 to $27, and they'll be available through Ticketmaster beginning 10 a.m. Saturday (March 7). You can also learn more here.

Almost forgot to mention that you can hear the ex-Tacoma girl's new "Middle Cyclone" disc in its entirety before it hits stores next Tuesday (March 3), thanks to NPR's exclusive online stream.

All right, settle down, Sparky. Didn't mean to make you think I was doling out all expenses paid vacations to actually see Neko Case in Amsterdam. On a reporter's salary? In this economy? Please! That's crazy talk. But what I can do, at least, is give you the poor man's consolation prize -- this link to Fab Channel's webcast of the upcoming show at Amsterdam's Paradiso.

This month's Paste cover girl, who grew up in Tacoma but now kicks it in Tucson, Ariz., is bound to play some fresh, new cuts from her forthcoming disc, "Middle Cyclone." Fab Channel spokesman Victor van Ommen tells me you'll be able to catch the performance live around 7 a.m. Sunday (Feb. 22). But for those who plan to sleep in, after a night of Wintergrassin' or whatever, the show will be archived for on-demand viewing. Who knows? Maybe I'll have some code and imbed a couple of songs here. Stay tunes.