The Canadian supergroup came to Austin again for this was the final stop on their North American tour. As always, they put on a helluva’ show to promote their latest, Whiteout Conditions that was released…I think in April. It’s a bit of a departure for the band in two ways. It’s their first without Destroyer’s lead guy Dan Bejar. My friend Mark finds his contributions annoying and he has a point. However, I feel Dan is an acquired taste and he keeps every track from sounding alike, a realization I have noticed of Carl Newman’s work as I’m putting together a tutorial for my friend Ethan.
Nobody has posted a set list for Austin so I’ll go out on a limb with the one from Dallas. They’re not a spontaneous act.
There are also no pictures I could find because they requested no photography or recordings. I was more surprised at how much the Stubb’s security people enforced it. Not as aggressively as a Prince show thankfully. I was even more surprised at how audience members honored it. How I long for the days of everyone being in the moment instead of an army of schmucks who think they’re Annie Leibowitz (sic) or cinematographers.
In the music realm, the New Pornographers were solid. Mixing in a tune or two from their previous six albums while promoting Whiteout. My only complaint, they didn’t perform “Go Places.” Maybe they’ll do another leg through the States when they return from Europe since I saw them listed for ACL Fest 2017.
If you want a copy of my New Pornographers tutorial pieced together by Mark and me, contact us. Otherwise, check ’em out. It shows that Canada has more going for it besides Celine Dion and Rush.