New Pornographers Put on Stellar Show

New Pornographers and Emma Pollock, 9:30 Club
October 27

Recommended beverage to go with this show:

a cup of hot tea (I had a massive cold and

the club actually served me unspiked tea).

Vancouver rock group The New Pornographers were in all their glory with Neko Case and, for a few songs, co-songwriter Dan Bejar joining in on lead vocals. The set was happily heavy on the Twin Cinema album. Also check out opening act Emma Pollock, a talented lass from Scotland. Fantastic show!

Here's the NP set list, courtesy of NPR, which broadcasted the show live.

Set List
All the Things That Go to Make Heaven and Earth
Use It
Myriad Harbour
Electric Version
All the Old Showstoppers
Jackie, Dressed in Cobras
Challengers
The Laws Have Changed
The Spirit of Giving
My Rights Versus Yours
Mass Romantic
Adventures in Solitude
Testament to Youth in Verse
Unguided
Twin Cinema
Go Places
Sing Me Spanish Techno
The Bleeding Heart Show
The Bones of an Idol
Jackie
From Blown Speakers
The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism

The Shins, Spoon Rock Out at Merriweather

Merriweather Post Pavilion / Columbia, Maryland
October 22

Recommended beverage to go with this show:
Gotta love the slightly fruity 20-ounce white sangria

On an unseasonably warm evening, two stellar bands played Merriweather. The Shins and Spoon each played long, satisfying sets to a sparse but dedicated crowd.

One thing these two talented American bands have in common is the added exposure each got after their music was featured in a major movie. Three Spoon songs were featured in the recent movie Stranger than Fiction. And, for the Shins, their two songs in the movie Garden State—in which Natalie Portman’s character telling her new friend about the Shins, saying “Listen to this; it will change your life” propelled their success and gained them an immediate and large cult following.

Headliners the Shins just exploded with raucous energy from the moment they took the stage, quite unexpectedly if you’ve only heard the mellow, sedate sounds of their recordings. Live, this Albuquerque-born and now Portland, Oregon-based band was on fire. Lead singer James Mercer’s vocals were sweet and flawless, and (excuse the sappy but) his voice just touched some deep, unexplored part of my soul. I was transfixed. The newest member of the band, Eric Johnson, added rich vocal harmonies on backing vocals and some folk elements on the few songs on which he played slide guitar.

Other than one ballad, which was beautiful, the Shins played with relentless intensity. They featured a good many songs from their successful 2007 album, Wincing the Night Away and a good sampling off their 2003 Chutes Too Narrow. A wonderful surprise was their one cover of the night. The Shins opened the encore with a bold choice and they nailed it, covering Pink Floyd’s “Breathe in the Air.” If you get the chance to check out these boys live, don’t miss 'em.

On the co-bill delivering a full set was the Austin-based band Spoon. These guys generally sell out the 9:30 Club and Baltimore’s Sonar when in town but, unfortunately, at this show the large arena swallowed them up during their first few songs due to mixing and feedback problems. Once corrected, the band simply rocked out with material from a decade + of music. Their long set focused heavily on their latest album, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, which is as strong rhythmically and lyrically as their older material and they threw in a few standard favorites too. Rounding out their sound, they brought out a couple of horn players on for several songs.

The next night, Spoon played a free show at the 9:30 Club, requiring just the ticket stub from the Shins show for admission. I wasn’t there but am happy to report that the 25-song show was webcast live and archived on NPR’s “All Things Considered,” which you can check out here: Spoon on NPR.

Paolo Nutini Shines at the 9:30 Club

Paolo Nutini, 9:30 Club, Washington D.C.,
October 4

Recommended beverage: Wolaver’s India Pale Ale

Just when ya think there’s no new, refreshing sound in today’s music, along comes a bloke like Paolo Nutini. His rich, soulful voice is a joy, both on CD and live, and is well-advanced for his years: The Scotsman is only 20. One thing that can be said about Nutini’s show comes from his very own lyrics: “Everybody’s smiling; it’s so inviting.”

At this show, the mop-topped, fresh-faced Nutini rolled through much of his debut album, These Streets, opting to play his hit “New Shoes” as the second song of the night. Most entertaining was his brilliant, original, reggae-tinged cover of the 19th-century African spiritual, "Trouble So Hard," which Moby also had adapted in his song, “Natural Blues.” Sowing his appreciation for American roots and perhaps Midnight Cowboy, another great cover of the evening was Harry Nilsson “Everybody’s Talking.”

While there’s no trace of country or folk elements on Nutini's debut album, he concluded the show with a new song that had great country flair to it, “Funky Cigarette,” that had folks dancing, and that's no easy feat in this town. His experimenting successfully with different genres shows the versatility and promise of this young, talented artist.

Opening the show was Indiana boy Jon McClaughlin who played piano-infused rock, reminiscent of early Ben Folds minus the angry lyrics. His good looks had the ladies swooning, prompting the Scottish bloke behind me to comment, “yah I can see why ‘the birds’ like him.” This is another guy with a bright future.

Paolo Nutini

Howard Jones Plays the Birchmere

The Birchmere, Arlington Virginia
October 3

Recommended beverage to go with this show:

a pitcher of Starr Hill Amber

Howard Jones began touring acoustic in 1996, then accompanied by percussionist Carol Steel, in support of the release of “Live Acoustic America.” I saw that tour when it came through D.C., where he played the “old Birchmere,” not long before that venue closed and re-opened, much expanded, down the same street. Playing the “new” Birchmere for the first time, now accompanied by guitarist Robin Boult who has been touring with him for years, Jones played two fantastic sets and told amusing stories between songs.

Having seen Jones twice previously on this tour, at the Avalon in Easton, Maryland in November 2006 and at the State Theatre in Falls Church in January 2007, it was good to see him change up the setlist a bit this time and throw in some surprises. Perhaps the most poignant was a trilogy he sang in honor of his three children. His oldest just graduated from university; his second just started university, and his third child is 13. He joked he wanted to retard his youngest kid’s growth so he never leaves home.

The first song, “Sleep My Angel,” from the 1999 album People is a lullaby to his children, inspired by the intense love he felt when they were born. The second two have not yet been released. “Ordinary Heroes,” reflects his emotion when his children went off to school and the worry a parent feels when the kids become teenagers. The third, “Soon, You’ll Go,” was brand new and the first time he’d performed it live, inspired by when the child is grown and about to leave home.

Intimate venues such as the Birchmere provide the perfect setting for storytelling and Jones was quite chatty with the audience. One amusing, ironic story preceded the song, “Life in One Day.” Jones said he’d played most of the songs from his then yet-to-be-released second album, Dream Into Action, for the record execs and they didn’t seem impressed. Ironically, as they’d listened to him play such songs as “No One is to Blame,” and “Things Can Only Get Better,” they didn’t believe Jones had any hits. Despite leaving the studio that day feeling quite anxious, "Life in One Day" was the next song he would write, a song with a tranquil message: don’t try to fit everything into one day. He added that following the release of that album, he became an overnight success, “a pop star,” yet he’d released a previous album at age 28, had been playing piano since he was 7, and played in various bands since he was 14.

The crowd snapped, clapped, and where prompted sang along to many songs. Most of his songs lend themselves superbly to acoustic arrangements although one he put in the set last night did not really work for me. “Look Mama,” one of five songs Jones played from Dream into Action, sounds best in its upbeat, electronic version.

Jones often incorporated jazzy riffs and sometimes pieces of other songs. “Everlasting Love” ended with elements of La Bamba and Twist and Shout. “Exodus,” from the album In the Running transitions into the Beatles’ “Come Together,” as the version does on Live Acoustic America.

When Jones emerged for his two-song encore, he asked would we mind if he played a cover, for he needed the practice in advance of a gig he will play at New York’s Carnegie Hall on October 10. “The song is by another Brit who wears glasses,” he said, then erupted into Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer,” which he performed beautifully. The October 10th show will feature numerous artists in celebration of the music of Elton John and Bernie Taupin. Jones concluded with “Things Can Only Get Better,” and the crowd “whoa whoa whoa”ed along then gave him a standing ovation.

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Howard Jones

Dylan, Costello: Opposite Sides of Coherence

Bob Dylan and Elvis Costello
Merriweather Post Pavilion / Columbia, Maryland
September 28

My problem with Bob Dylan’s show last night was self-inflicted: I was neither drunk nor high and at least one of these states of mind is required to understand this man.

What’s essential to have when you have a singing voice that would scare young children? Answer: an incredible backing band. The five-piece band backing Dylan was exceptional, though I still couldn’t differentiate among songs, as he mumbled through much of his set. I know he’s a poet and an icon of his generation but perhaps he can let some of us in on his wise words. Instead, I looked blankly around for someone to give me clues but the only two people near me on the lawn who seemed to soak in every word were also twirling around in a drug haze.

Despite Dylan’s voice sounding as though he’s singing through a black lung, there were traces of familiar stuff and at times I understood whole verses, such as "Working Man’s Blues" from his most recent album, released last year. My favorite song of his set, it was upbeat and understandable. He ended with a retooled version of “Blowing in the Wind,” so retooled that I barely recognized it.

My whole reason for being at this show was the opening set by Elvis Costello who, as always, did not disappoint. For the first time in 12 years, Costello performed solo and it was magnificent, albeit too brief. In the 45-minute set, he opened with “Red Shoes,” and included some of his best-loved classics: “Veronica,” “Allison,” and “What’s So Funny ‘Bout Peace, Love, and Understanding.”

Costello’s voice soared, an instrument in itself, and it was stunning. He stayed true to the original melodies and was a model of perfect articulation. His setlist included “Radio Sweetheart,” the more obscure “In Another Room,” and “From Sulfur to Sugar Cane,” which was co-written with T-Bone Burnett.

The crowd was rapt and at times participatory. During the title track from his recent River in Reverse album, which he co-wrote and recorded with New Orleans legend Allen Touissant, Costello led a call-response with the crowd as he and we alternately sang "wake me up" though we already were quite awake and attentive. Costello also sang “Either Side of the Same Town” from his 2004 album, Delivery Man, which lent itself perfectly to a solo performance, and closed with the poignant “The Scarlet Tide” from that same album.

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Bob Dylan
Elvis Costello