THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS + Immaculate Machine @ Club Soda

By Idel Matt - Idle Minds - 10/10/2006

The law of diminishing returns is usually a safe bet. With that in mind, I went to see The New Pornographers for the third time in a year. Happily, this show was the exception to the rule. The first time I saw them was during the first tour to promote the release of their latest album Twin Cinema. As it was the initial tour, The New Pornographers 'A' team was there. Neko Case was handling the vocals and with Destroyer opening the show, (a noticeably drunken) Dan Bejar would pop out and sing a few of the songs featuring his vocals.

Although I was extremely happy to see The New Pornographers for the first time, the show was lacking. Might have been the particularly lame Toronto crowd watching the show, or the awkwardly low volume of the show (rock concerts should always require ear plugs -- this isn’t classical music damnit).

The second time was even worse: opening for Belle & Sebastian at the Metropolis. No Neko, no Dan, bad sound, and in general, a lacklustre show. The 'B' team had new keyboardist/vocalist Kathryn Calder (from Immaculate Machine and also A.C. Newman’s long-lost niece -- it’s true, look it up) taking over the Neko Case parts. While she wasn’t bad, she was no replacement for Neko on that occasion.

Six months of touring with this line-up definitely helped, as I was thoroughly impressed and satisfied with the show that I saw. Right from the beginning, starting with "Sing Me Spanish Techno", The New Pornographers had the goods. For the third song "Jackie, Dressed In Cobras", which is a song Dan Bejar sings on the album, A.C Newman and drummer Kurt Dahle took over the vocals and did a fine job. Speaking of Dahle, he is by far one of the most entertaining drummers to watch perform, constantly twirling the sticks, and strutting like he’s having a good time. Not to mention that he’s technically a great drummer, particularly on my favourite tune "Bleeding Heart Show".

It was the fifth song "Mass Romantic" that was the real test, as it is a Neko Case-led song. Kathryn Calder did an amazing job, and during the second "Neko" song "All For Swinging You Around", I was actually thinking blasphemous thoughts like "who needs Neko?".

The band was having a good time on stage, with A.C. Newman playfully asking for requests the entire show, and the crowd was having a good time, dancing along. I also had no complaints about the song selection, as the band hit an excellent mix of songs culled from the three albums. My only minor complaint is that the song "Stacked Crooked" desperately needed the horns from the original version. A very faint keyboard played the riff, and really didn’t do it justice.

The opening acts for this special Exclaim!/Mint Records Road Show, celebrating the 15th anniversary of both, were a mixed bag. I can’t comment on the first band, Winnipeg’s All Of Your Friends, as I missed them. They were the Exclaim/Mazda 3 contest winners chosen for this particular show (did I mention how heavily sponsored this show was? Mazda, Puma, CBC, and on and on...). A quick listen to the songs on their myspace page makes me regret that I missed them. I caught half of the set by Novillero, also from Winnipeg, but wasn’t overly impressed by their slow-ish mod style. The drummer did sing a decent David Bowie cover though.

Kathryn Calder performed double-duty by performing with her band Immaculate Machine, a band I was quite impressed with. Some technical difficulties caused the vocals to sound less than stellar initially, but that was quickly corrected. The band played an excellent set of catchy pop tunes, concentrating on songs from their last release Ones And Zeros. Also, apropos for a Montreal show, they performed a song from their new EP Les Uns Mais Pas Les Autres, which is a selection of songs from the last album translated into French. Definitely a band to check out, and perfect warm-up for the pop-bliss known as The New Pornographers.

And with that, I think I’ve seen the last of The New Pornographers for a little while -- at least until the next album/tour cycle. I’m happy to say that on this third try, I walked away from the show smiling and definitely not disappointed.

New Pornographers Set list:

1. Sing Me Spanish Techno (TC)
2. The Laws Have Changed (EV)
3. Jackie, Dressed In Cobras (TC)
4. Bleeding Heart Shot (TC)
5. Mass Romantic (MR)
6. Testament To Youth In Verse (EV)
7. Stacked Crooked (TC)
8. All For Swinging You Around (EV)
9. The Jessica Numbers (TC)
10. The Bones Of An Idol (TC)
11. Twin Cinema (TC)
12. July Jones (EV)
13. Centre For Holy Wars (MR)
14. It’s Only Divine Right (EV)
15. Use It (TC)

Encore

16. From Blown Speakers (EV)
17. Slow Descent Into Alcoholism (MR)
18. Letter From An Occupant (MR)

Legend:
MS: Mass Romantic (2000)
EV: Electric Version (2003)
TC: Twin Cinema (2005)

[Tune in to Idle Minds every Monday from 9pm to 10pm.]