Indie rock band The New Pornographers played a great set as part of the New Zealand Festival of the Arts last night, despite the odd choice of Wellington’s Michael Fowler Centre as the venue.
The New Pornographers Photo: supplied
In her song ‘Gumball Blue’ Neko Case says of her bandmate and New Pornographer’s frontman Carl “A.C” Newman, “I've lived singing your songs”. She describes them as “long-legged mazes and English geometry”.
High praise, considering Case is one of indie rock’s most critically acclaimed performers in her own right. But if last night’s concert by this American/Canadian power-pop supergroup was anything to go by, Case has a point.
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Newman’s songs, which benefit from the smart, layered production on the New Pornographer’s studio albums are powerful and well written enough that they work just as well in a live setting.
It helps though, that the band he has playing those songs is made up of some truly great musicians.
Case is a powerhouse vocalist whose voice instantly lends depth to any arrangement she's a part of. Keyboardist Kathryn Calder has moved more to the fore on recent New Pornographers releases and can hold her own against Case and Newman as a singer. The band was missing long time bassist John Collins and keyboardist Blaine Thurier, but still delivered their trademark big sound with Calder and violinist Simi Stone filling in the gaps.
During some of his rare stage banter, Newman pointed out that this was the last show of a five week tour of the US, Australia and New Zealand. And whilst you could forgive a band that has been around for twenty odd years being somewhat tired at the end of a run of shows spanning multiple time zones, the New Pornographers were anything but lethargic.
From the opening number, a stomping version of 'Falling Down The Stairs of Your Smile' from their most recent album, the band weaved effortlessly though the music, obviously having found their groove over the last few weeks.
What struck me most was how well the vocal harmonies worked. Quite a feat with as many as five musicians singing at any one time, most of whom were playing other instruments as well.
Drummer Joey Seiders and Calder even performed call and response vocal parts that I had believed up until now were programmed samples.
The majority of the set was mainly taken from their most recent three albums supplemented by the occasional visit to the band’s back catalogue, including a great version of ‘The Laws Have Changed’, from their breakout 2003 album Electric Version.
One jarring thing about the show was the venue, Wellington’s Michael Fowler Centre.
Whilst it’s the venue of choice for most NZ Festival performances, I can’t help but feel that the New Pornographers would have been better served playing the show at a smaller venue such as San Fran or even the Opera House.
There were large gaps of vacant seats in the stalls and the sight of the empty balcony flanking the band on either side made them seem isolated and distant. I couldn’t help but wonder how the band felt seeing their crowd spread out so much amongst the rows of seats in front of them.
The New Pornographers are also a band that you can dance to. Their energetic strand of power-pop is easy to bounce along with, even for self conscious indie fans. Despite the valiant efforts of a handful of audience members, the Michael Fowler Centre is simply not designed for dancing.
Yet despite the odd, confining setting, the audience were loud and appreciative, clearly enjoying a strong, well played set by a great live band.
