Last Saturday at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. the New Pornographers, along with opening acts Benjy Ferree and Emma Pollack, performed a sold-out show for a crowd of about 1,200. Even if attending the concert meant foregoing all the campus parties thrown on the Saturday before Halloween, it was totally worth it.
Benjy Ferree, hailing from Prince George's County, Md., just outside of D.C., started off the show with a country, folk and rock sound. The use of typical instruments - guitar, bass and drums - along withless traditional instruments - like the harmonica and the cello - made for an interesting combination. Unfortunately their music left the crowd anticipating the next act.
All the way from Glasgow, Scotland, Emma Pollack and her bandmates performed next and did not disappoint. Emma played the lead guitar and was the sole vocalist, while she had a drummer, bass guitarist and keyboardist behind her. Her songs were catchy with pensive lyrics that were at times reminiscent of a gentler Alanis Morissette. Her set lasted a little over 40 minutes and could be considered light rock, with ballad-esque melodious songs that are similar to Vanessa Carlton or Nelly Furtado. Yet, at the same time she had her own pleasant, distinct sound that came across when she sang, as well as when she interacted with audience. Throughout her performance, she seemed delighted to be on stage, especially when she made an endearing shout out to all her fans in Glasgow, who might be listening at 3 a.m. their time. Proving that she is a new artist on the rise, Emma Pollack effectively pumped up the audience for the main event, the New Pornographers.
In celebration of the success of their three previous albums and their newest release, Challengers, the New Pornographers put on amazing show. Deriving their name from televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, who described modern music as "the new pornography," the New Pornographers attest that maybe that is not such a bad thing.
The band's captivating indie pop style is achieved through a group effort with the indispensable contributions of lead singer Neko Case, as well as singer Kathryn Calder, bass guitarist and keyboardist John Collins, drummer Kurt Dahle, their other keyboardist Blaine Thurier, and guitarist and keyboardist Todd Fancey.
Throughout their set, the New Pornographers played a mixture of old and new songs, which showcased their catchy, upbeat tunes and poetic yet nearly nonsensical lyrics. However, the foundation of the New Pornographers' original style is their experimentation with combining many diverse sounding instruments and vocalists.
In addition to playing songs from their newest album, they included old favorites from Electric Version and Mass Romantic.
The New Pornographers played an unforgettable show, not just because their song quality and selection was so good, but also because the individual performers were so interesting to watch. Before playing "Jackie," Dan was lost somewhere backstage, probably due to over-consumption of beer, and the rest of the band members called out to him for a couple of minutes before he rejoined them on stage. Meanwhile Kurt, who also imbibed quite a bit of alcohol on-stage, entertained the audience by making weird faces that strangely resembled Sméagol from Lord of the Rings, and flipping his drumsticks up in the air in the midst of nearly every song. Kurt also helped out with vocals and with maracas shaped like an apple during Emma Pollack's set, and in general there was a borrowing of the other band members' talents for several songs throughout the evening.
The concert was thrilling to experience live, but if you missed out, all you have to do is check out http://www.npr.org, where you can listen to all three bands' live performances.
