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Wayside Discussions > Local Music Scene > The New Pornographers, Cinemera, The Organ @ The Commodore - June 13th 2003 Tree view | Linear view Author | Topic: The New Pornographers, Cinemera, The Organ @ The Commodore - June 13th 2003 | mbelsito Posts: 11 First Post: 26.02.2003 00:21 From: Vancouver, BC | The New Pornographers, Cinemera, The Organ @ The Commodore - June 13th 2003 Posted: 14.06.2003 17:26 | Doors opened at 8:00pm. I met up with Ben outside The Commodore just after
9:00pm. I noticed members of "The Radio" in a line-up trying to get tickets
to the show. Unfortunately for them, the show appeared to be sold out.
We managed to get excellent seats on the balcony although they made us feel a
little like "Statler and Waldolf" - the two annoying critics on the Muppets.
The show got underway at around 9:30pm with "The Organ" taking the stage.
There has been a lot of hype surrounding this band lately and I guess I can
see why - they play a nostalgic brand of depressing 80s new wave music that
people who were around back then can identify with. I saw them a couple years
back in ShinDig and at the time I thought that they still needed work but
they have tightened up considerably since then despite a couple false starts
during this show. One criticism I have is that all of their songs sounded the
same. I didn't leave the show humming any of their tunes. I couldn't make out
any of the lyrics because of the heavy effects on the vocals. Maybe this is
not an issue on the CD. I also felt that they really needed to do more on
stage to get the audience into it. All of them stood still and played their
instruments. A little more movement and interaction with the audience in
between songs would have helped. Overall, they played a decent set but really
need to do a little more to keep my interest.
Next up was a British band called Cinerama. Their style was definitely
different. Definitely not CFOX 99.3FM... Not really JACK-FM 96.9FM... Maybe
somewhere in between... 98.1FM?? :) To be honest, I found their music to be
too accessible which is normally okay with me, but the songs just didn't grab
me. It was all very ordinary. There were a number of times when the singer
stopped singing and the two guitarists would wail on their guitars
continuously just strumming the same chords over and over, just making it
louder and louder. This was cool the first time around but they did it a
number of times in various songs. The effects put on the vocals were way too
heavy. I should have been a sound guy. The band was interactive, talking to
the audience and the guitarist seemed to be really into it. Overall the
experience was a positive one but not one that would make me want to buy
their CD.
Fearing that the balcony was in fact converting us into "Statler and
Waldorf", we decided to head down to the dance floor for the headliner "The
New Pornographers". We managed to make our way through the crowd near the
front of the stage. We talked to Jer and Craig from "speedbump". They seemed
to like "Cinerama" - especially the guitar wanking parts. Maybe it was the
balcony. :)
"The New Pornographers" took to the stage at 11:30pm. I bought the CD last
week and have been listening to it constantly. Very catchy stuff, especially
after a couple listens. They pulled off an excellent performance and the
crowd (especially the guy next to me) was really into it. The band inspired
some hip shaking moves in the guys surrounding me. The hip checks were
getting to me but the music more than made up for it. Their set contained a
mixture of songs from both their first and second album. The sound got better
as the set progressed. Carl's falsetto voice is so good. The four part
harmonies work really well and the presence of Neko Case make the whole
experience worthwhile. One of the best things about this band is that there
are different vocalists which varies it up but in the end, they maintain a
consistent recognizable sound. They played one song called "Action" which
wasn't on one of the albums. The style was quite different than what they
usually play which had me wondering if it was a cover or one of their own.
The set ended at 12:40pm but the crowd brought them out for two encores. They
ended the set with "Execution Day" which seemed a fitting end to an excellent
night of music.
I left the show just after 1:00am with "Execution Day" in my head, humming it
all the way home. I'm looking forward to seeing them again the next time they
perform in town. Too bad Dan Bejar (former member of "The New Pornographers"
who continues to write music for the band) didn't make an appearance but we
can always live in the hope that one day he will take to the stage with the
band again.
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Posted | Title | Author | 14/06/2003 17:26 | |__ The New Pornographers, Cinemera, The Organ @ The Commodore - June 13th 2003 | mbelsito |
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