New Pornographers live

The New Pornographers
Metro, Chicago
Saturday, December 31, 2005

Vancouver supergroup The New Pornographers know how to ring in the New Year. With blissful harmonies, sun-kissed melodies, sing-along choruses ensconced in sturdy guitars, shimmying tambourine, and swirling keys, the group’s jubilant sound reflected the mood of the many tipsy fans celebrating the eve of 2006.

There was extra cause for celebration for the band as well. Just two months ago, The New Pornographers performed a quickly sold-out Metro show. Its encore performance served as the headliner for the big New Year’s Eve slot. Ticket prices were high ($60) in comparison to the previous show, however NYE always commands high compensation, and the band had a good reason for the steep admission. On its last visit to the Windy City, bandmate John Collins performed the entire set slightly hunched over, suffering through appendicitis. Immediately following the show, he was rushed to the hospital for surgery to remove his appendix and to receive a $20,000 bill. This show, as the band told the audience towards the end of the set, helped to pay the bill off in full.

So cheers abounded as the group propelled into 2006 with its brand of sugar-buzzed indie pop. Performing the majority of its recent release and one of 2005’s best albums, Twin Cinema (Matador), The New Pornographers launched with two from TC – the upbeat, dual keyboard swirls of “Star Bodies” and the blissful “Use It.” Peppered throughout were songs from its previous albums Mass Romantic and Electric Version.

During the set Neko Case and Carl Newman’s vocals married, dueled, and harmonized deliciously, unlike the group’s last visit where Newman’s suffered in the mix. Newman reached almost falsetto proportions on the rollicking “Sing Me Spanish Techno,” while Case and drummer Kurt Dahle’s harmonies buoyed the refrains to new heights. Elsewhere, Dahle took the lead on “Jackie” while the whole band chimed the refrain “Whose gonna stop the sunshine?” Despite Case insisting she was losing her voice, her leads aptly ranged from reflective and wistful on “These Are The Fables” to soaring on “The Laws Have Changed” to majestic on the ever-popular “Letter From An Occupant.” “Mass Romantic” found Case’s lead punctuated with the church bell-like chimes of the band’s harmonies.

While much of its material harbors in the indie pop vein, the band traverses folky terrain (“Streets Of Fire”) to the strutting guitar stomping rock of “Slow Descent Into Alcoholism” and “End Of Medicine” — proving the band can rock and pop on equal footing.

Stepping out of its comfort zone, The New Pornographers ventured to perform live for the first time “The Jessica Numbers.” Newman joked, “We’ve never done this live for some reason, because it’s hard to do . . . We’ve got better things to do than learn our own songs!” Off-kilter syncopation drove the song and the vocals and rhythms hit their precise marks. Another highlight from TC included “Bleeding Heart Show,” which begins in a storytelling folk style, and ends bursting with joyous pop-infused “Hey la’s.”

The hour-and-a-half performance included two encores. Ending with Mass Romantic‘s head-bobbing “The Body Says No,” The New Pornographers ensured fans that their first hours of 2006 were spent in toe-tapping bliss.

— Althea Legaspi

Category: Live Reviews, Weekly