So.... I've been to more than a couple good shows in the past few months [and one which I try to forget that I didn't actually go to], so it's peculiar that I choose the least impressive to write about not 30min after leaving it.
New Pornographers were.... ok. Okkervil River was.... ok.
/end review.
Naw, srsly, NP was the first band that got me into the whole Indie Rock thing several years ago, with their instantly rememberable, totally memorable and entirely adorable geetar hooks and nearly-meaningless refrains. Not to mention their first two albums were released back when Neko was still unknown enough that she could get away with having artistic [!] nude [!!!!] photos [!!] on her own personal web page [anyone remember that? phew, it's hard for me to forget].
Oh, how they've grown. Now not just the eldest member of the band but also the other redhead [that'd be lead singer AC I speak of] sports a beard. Wha? Would Rivers Cuomo ever grow a beard? Even now, nearly 15 years into his career? Doubt it. And, of course, he's picked up an acoustic guitar.
And despite the facts that: [a] I've never been too impressed by the Okkervil boys, [b] that I only really went to the show because my decrepit friends ax'd me to [and promised, lyingly, to go out with me afterwards.... *ahem*], and [c] that I visually bumped into an ex-girlfriend [of course, effortlessly stunning, grr] not once or twice but thrice and tried not to wonder what the hell she was doing standing near a pimply-faced boy [no, I'm not being a hater; I'm just sayin].... despite these things, oh yeah and the Julylike heat/humidity, I was still able to enjoy the show.
My favorite NP songs are still the ones that could be played with three members + Neko, only there for her beauty-- both visual and vocal. "All For Swinging Your Around", "Mass Romantic", "Electric Version", "The Laws Have Changed", "Letter From an Occupant". All brilliant, and if you walked past my bathroom four, five, six years ago you'd most likely hear me, at the top of my lungs, piping right along-- with Neko's parts.
And so it was a bit of a disappointment to only hear a couple of those. Nevertheless, I was a bit surprised [and very happy] to hear a couple of them.
where the hell were you, you brilliant, brilliant man?!AND WHAT ABOUT BEJAR?! What the hell? So what if he wasn't there. At least without him, they still played one [the only Bejar-penned/sang song they let the Okkervil dude sing, which admittedly was kinda cool]. But stil.. fucking hell. I waited most of the night to hear one of his songs, and totally expected to hear one of the Jackie songs. Oh well. It' still good here in my bedroom.
And the encore.... two songs? Whatev. Good thing one was totally rad. ELO's [that's Electric Light Orchestra, for y'all kids] "Don't Bring Me Down", wow. The pre-beard, pre-acoustic power-chording New Pornographers woulda covered Blink 182 or [in an ill-advised attempt at being ironic] fellow Canuck Alannis Morisette. But the new shed any self-conscience or vulnerabilities and cover ELO. Again, wow. It was good. I whoo-oo'd and whistled it all the way home. It wasn't the first time they've covered it, though.
Ok, enough ramble. Well, almost-- it should definitely be said that Neko's replacement, Kathryn Calder [who is apparently AC's niece?] coulda put on a red whig and a tighter t-shirt and no one woulda known that Neko wasn't there. Good work, niece.
Now, then, some songs they forgot to play, which are mostly Bejar's work, and a few from a couple of his [many] side projects.
The New Pornographers"Letter from an Occupant"
"Chump Change"
"Jackie"
"Jackie, Dressed in Cobras"
"Ballad of a Comeback Kid"
Hello, Blue Roses
"My Shadow Falls"
And then this, an intimate version of one of his best works as/with Destroyer:
And though the solitudes have won, I cannot begin to crave you.
.
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