No, it's not the New Main Street Singers in the picture above. Although their number of on-stage performers rivals the number of members in the fictional band in the Christopher Guest film about folk musicians, The New Pornographers, are pure pop without the saccharine aftertaste. They're edgy without being dark, and their live act (which Jamye, Mark and I caught on October 18th at The Mercy Lounge to finish out our live music tour) is a breath of fresh air for music lovers starved for classic hooks, good harmony and loud rock and roll in an era when people say it's dead.I actually have very little to say about the show. As usual, the venue was ridiculously hot, but for once I didn't seem to mind. In every aspect it was a tremendously crowd pleasing performance. Neko Case (the redhead in the middle of the picture above) belted out lyrics that could easily be heard over the impressive array of instruments on stage. Carl Newman (the redhead on the far right) deftly led the band through an impressive set list of 20+ songs, and Dan Bejar (not pictured), the reclusive member of the band who rarely tours but shares songwriting duties with Newman, even made an appearance for several songs. All in all it was a great night of music and an appropriate end to our concert-going frenzy.
In case you're wondering, the Vancouver supergroup supposedly got their name from the great theologian, Jimmy Swaggert, who once referred to rock and roll music as "the new pornography".
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