Toronto – Cottages are always fun, specially when you get in some good drink gaming, boating, canoing and fishing actions in. So to say I was tired before I went to the New Pornographers show at the Phoenix was an understatement. I was exhausted. A big part of me wanted to just be all ‘fuck it’ and go home and chill. But then again, I figure one of the reasons why i moved to Toronto was so I could see cool shows, so .. yea i went.
The Phoenix was packed Sunday night and it is surprisingly hot here, so it was a nice hot sweaty crowd. I was actually happy that I had not showered at the cottage, as now , at least, I can probably out stink anyone else in this crowd. I caught the last two song of Emma Pollock’s set, and I was glad, as she played the two songs I like off the album. After a short delay between set, the bright luminous ‘NEW PORNOGRAPHERS’ logo started flashing and the gang went on. Holy smokes it was the entire gang of them. Bejar AND Neko Case. Instantly, this was a better show then the previous pornos show.
I would say a majority of the set consisted of material from their new album – Challengers, and that’s good, since I like that album a lot. Some classic tunes they played included ‘Mass Romantic’, ‘From Blown Speakers’, ‘Spanish Techno’ and ‘Slow decent..’. Its funny, despite the fact that most people assume Newman is the leader and driving force behind the Pornos, it was so obvious that Dan Bejar was the more popular character. I assume this was how it was in high school, were Newman was the guy who puts in all the hard work and stuff, then Bejar would drunkenly jump into the room, do something stupid, and gets all the ladies..meanwhile Neko Case would be standing in the corner smoking a cigarette and shaking her head.
The new songs – Myriad Harbor, Challengers, etc all sound really excellent live and if you have not acquired the album, I highly suggest it. All in all, I found the concert to be excellent. The crowd was into it, and they played a lot of new stuff with some classic stuff. Also, halfway thru the set, these two midget woman pushed their way into the middle of the crowd to try and get a better view. I mean, they were short, and looked mean, and I was thinking they can be villains in the next Bond movie.
Oh yea, Neko Case can sing really well.
4/5
