I got my ticket. Who wants my la-di-frickin-da free itunes song?

scored two tickets! this show's gonna be great, the new cd will rock, and bowery ballroom is the best venue in the city!

So. Anyone know if Neko will be there?

and still not sold out. btw Mr Vegan, who said Dan Bejar will not be at the Bowery show? Just wondering cause i heard from someone that he in fact will be at the Bowery as well as Webster shows

Is there an opener?

If you base your decision to attend a New Pornographers performance on whether or not Neko Case will be there, you really have no business considering going to a New Pornographers show at all. And I say that as someone who is a much bigger fan of Neko's music than The New Pornographers' music.

Neko will be there.

yay. got a tik! i'm super excited. i've seen neko a few times but never the new pornographers. the new album is awesome so i'm really looking forward to seeing this show.

Hey Anonymous @ 12:10 -

That's pretty much hogwash. Neko provides the essential je n'est sais quas element to the band, and to perform without her is to stand on one leg (aka AC's superb songs).

Agreed. I wouldn't see a New Pornographers show without Neko in attendance. It just wouldn't be the same.

Hey anonymous 12:10: What's with the attitude? Grow up and learn to read.

as there seems to be a differing opinion of bejar's attendance. i've seen the np a few times and never with him. really hoping he shows up!

I've seen NP a couple of times with Neko, and a couple of times with her substitute (AC's neice?), and for me there is simply no comparison, there is just so much more energy, not to mention out of this world vocals, with Neko. Letter From an Occupant, anyone?

in my opinion, there isnt a huge difference betweens ac's neice and neko.

also does anyone else find it funny that everyone was complaining yesterday, but the tickets that went on sale today still havent sold out?

yeah i find it pretty funny. i was the one who said it wouldnt sell out.

its cool when nekos there, not a huge deal if shes not. the real qustion is will DAN be there?!?!

who cares, i'll be there.

it is sold out btw, it doesn't say so till you try to buy them and enter the code, but they'ze gone.

Yep, sold out. Damn you, leisurely lunch!

not sold out. 1 ticket left. (as of this post)

Thanks for the tip. Nabbed it.

no prob. my random act of kindness for today. don't scalp it.

Do you guys think that i sould come to the bowery at the 21 and hope for good? is there any chanse of finding more tix? i wount be in NY for the webster shows...

i find them to be really boring

bowery often lets people in to sold out shows depending on how many guest-list people don't show up; it's no guarantee that you'll get in but Bowery is one of the better clubs to try that with

looks like the matador tickets are will call after all.

on a related note, has matador heard of bcc?

Tickets for Tuesday's show at BB now on Ticketmaster.

In a gooey related note, today's Sunday Times Styles section has an piece about AC Newman's recent nuptials.

anyone know what time they go on?

is dan going to be there?

anyone know if dan will be there?

The NYT article placed Dan at A.C. Newman's wedding this weekend, so he may still be in town...

Anonymous 1:00PM, you ignorant slut! The dude (or dudette) at Bumpershine the wedding actually took place on August 4 (see the comments on Stereogum's post: http://www.stereogum.com/archives/newlywed-pornographer.html#comments).

Furthermore, Bejar wasn't with them when they perfomed on Letterman yesterday, so that's not a good sign for tonight. (Although maybe he didn't join them for Letterman since he doesn't sing on "My Rights vs Yours"?)

According to this: http://www.stereogum.com/archives/video/the-new-pornographers-challenge-letterman-to-a-bou.html#more

no Dan tonight

I called the venue earlier today -

Vampire Weekend on at 9:00
New Porn at 10:00

who cares about dan when vampire weekend is gonna be there. how freaking awesome. i've been wanting to catch them for ages now. very exciting.

what time do they go on?
how do i get to bowery ballroom?
will there really be porno there?

also, fuck ticketmaster!

see above
if you can't figure out how to get to bowery ballroom then you've got bigger issues that i can't help you with.
and yes, gay porn. lots of it. or should i say loads and loads of it?

ticketmaster is the devil incarnate. that's for sure.

Wow. Is Neko Case always, uh, like that? She brought back memories of car trips with my sister, who would sigh loudly and make faces out the window.

neko rocked after she got over not being able to hear herself. she's got a powerhouse voice. that's for sure. vampire weekend rocked my world, especially since they're all about 12 years old. awesome.

I don't think I'd ever seen Neko look pissed off before.

the rest of the band seemed mortified. she was in sad shape.

was dan there?

dan wasn't there, but it didn't matter. they played a great set. neko had problems hearing herself in her monitor but the problem was fixed shortly and the show picked up steam after that. carl was very cute and chatty, as was his annoying niece.

Vampire Weekend were a pleasant surprise after all the negative things I read about them here. Not amazing, but good enough. I'd definitely show up on time if they opened for another band I was going to see.

If I remember correctly, Neko was kind of off on July 4 too. And Dan was missed last night. However, the rest of the band was more than capable of making up for them. Especially Carl and Kathryn. They're adorable.

Yeah, Neko is a bit of a diva when it comes to sound. But it seems like she couldn't hear herself singing for the first few songs. She even said "sorry" a couple of times mid-song. Anyway, I'd be a perfectionist control freak too if I had pipes like hers.

Carl = adorable

Kathryn not so much. She should just keep quiet.

a.c's dan impression was spot on.

i wanted a.c. to do his impression of neko. that would've been hilarious. kathryn said her impression of neko is just her normal singing voice. yeah, right. though certainly competent, kathryn's voice isn't even in the same league. dream on.

Hah, yeah, A.C.'s Dan impression was hilarious.

Fun show.

was a bit of an uncomfortable show, but they actually sounded great.

however I think they're missing something. they'd be so much better of a band if their line up included a snack-loving great dane on stage.

the cello player was totally hot and cute. anyone know who he is?

Even in stumble mode, the New Pornographers are still wonderful. I'd like to have heard some more new songs (particularly "Unguided") but Carl explained that you can't expect the band to be able to play all of their own songs ;) - not just yet.
A word of praise for Bowery Ballroom security, who seem to go to great lengths to make sure the listeners can enjoy the show with a minimum of disturbance. The security team at the Bowery should be a role model for other music clubs.

anon 10:14 am: I believe that Kathryn was kidding. I took it as that, although I don't think most of the crowd did.

Yeah Kathryn's singing voice comment as well as her other various unfunny comments throughout the night only served to make further known that she ain't no Neko.

bowery rules. i love seeing shows there.

not everything is a competition, folks.

Anyone happen to get the set list from last night's show?

this is true. if it was a competition, good luck competing with neko, tho.

overall i thought it was a very uneven show. difficult to get into the groove with such drawn out stopdowns (although they were entertaining/funny - i especially enjoyed the strange brew quotes). Definitely having no monitors brought neko out of the groove the first half of the show and seemed to drag others down a bit with her. also thought it was interesting about the spoon/cake comments. 9.99 at target!
and one other note - it was GREAT to see Brendan Ryan up there playing the french horn, etc. Such a talented musician... hopefully he and the rest of the bogmen will get back together to do another benefit show christmas.

bleeding hearts show closed the first set. letter to an occupant closed the show's second encore.

yeah, apparently the last time the pornographers played the bowery it was a double bill with spoon, who ended up cancelling to open for cake (who a.c. said was "apparently big at the time"). a.c. said you can get the spoon cd on sale at target for 9.99 or pick up both the cake and spoon cds in a specially priced two pack for 17.99. hilarious.

neko said she was still learning all the new song titles.

That's the second show in week where the monitors were a MAJOR issue at the Bowery. The White Rabbits bass player imploded when they opened for the Cribs last week. You could see him yelling at the monitor girl and she looking completely confused. They came out and plugged and re-plugged in everything between songs but really ruined the vibe.

Same thing last night. You could see Neko was pissed. Couldn't they have had a backup, like a wedge in front of her that sounded decent? I guess every venue goes through that sometimes, but maybe there's a B team considering it's summer.

Neko's antics were really amusing. It was like watching Marsha Brady play Juliet. Maybe Bowery told her it was a solo show... She was disturbed there was a band there with her, and they were definitely disturbed she was there. Blaming it on the sound guy is pretty lame, a pro handles these things without sabotaging the show but Neko seemed to having a very rough night.

NP's played Bowery Ballroom two years ago during CMJ, it was a weird early show at like 6:30 (and the same evening as Arcade Fire @ Central Park). i think the story was about the first time they played there, but i could be wrong.

they opened with All The Things That Go To Make Heaven And Earth. closed set with Bleeding Heart Show. played two encores which were all requests. first encore was (i believe) Testament to Youth In Verse and the second one was Miss Teen Wordpower and closing with Letter From An Occupant.

songs played were (in no particular order)...

My Rights Versus Yours
All The Old Showstoppers
Challengers
All The Things That Go To Make Heaven And Earth
Go Places
Mutiny, I Promise You
The Spirit Of Giving
From Blown Speakers
The Laws Have Changed
Testament To Youth In Verse
Miss Teen Wordpower
Mass Romantic
The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism
Letter From An Occupant
Twin Cinema
Use It
The Bleeding Heart Show
The Jessica Numbers
Sing Me Spanish Techno

first encore started with Slow Descent Into Alcoholism

you're a bunch of idiots.

kathryn calder was kidding around and she has a great voice (and is very cute). she is not trying to be neko so give it a rest.

Damn you Neko for pulling your queen bee antics last night. I still love you anyway and you never cease to blow me away. A.C. you're a cutie too.

kathryn IS cute. i'll give you THAT much. great voice, though? not really. average and adequate is what i would call it. i guess it pays off to be a.c.'s niece. get kelly hogan to replace her. now THAT would be an awesome show.

They also did Jackie, Dressed In Cobras

anyone know who the cute violinist was?

ha. yeah, well i wanna know who the cutie cello player was.

haywood jablome is in idiotic name.

Anyone know who the cute hobo lying on the sidewalk with the pukey beard was? He gave me the lusty eyeball. Or maybe that really was just a cello in his shorts.

Man, I thought the show last night was painful. Never seen NP before, so maybe this shit just isn't for me, but I just thought the whole thing was subdued and just weak. Too many instruments up there on stage...a big sonic mess going on. I really enjoy the new album too, so last night was a major disappointment for me.

Hahahah to whoever was the one in audience spitting those South Park lines in between songs ("us lions LOVE jokes!). That head NP guy (I don't know his name) was lame as shit.

For the record: Spoon blows that band out of the water.

Vampire Weekend, on the other hand, could be my new favorite band. I thought those kids killed it! Got a great reception in front of a super-hip Bowery crowd too. Kudos to those guys.

You guys remember that at the very beginning of the show, Carl asked what New Yorkers do for fun? And nobody answered? Well, it occurred to me this morning that a possible joke reply would've been "We snark in the comments of indie rock blogs." Looks like that would've been an accurate reply as well.

When I heard Carl's remark about Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga being on sale at Target for $9.99, I got the impression he was making (possibly gentle) fun of Spoon. But I now see on the NP's MySpace page a banner ad advertising Challengers at Target for $9.99 and I am confused.

I'm definitely glad I went to the show -- there were some awesome moments, especially with some of the newer (quieter?) songs, but I have to agree with the general sense that things were a little off last night. Doesn't mean I don't love the NPs, but it was just wierd how A.C. and his niece blabbered on and pretended that Neko wasn't having problems, didn't confer with her about what was going on, etc. It made the audience uncomfortable, I think, which was too bad. anyway. looking forward to Webster Hall...

I thought the show was great. They played something like 20 songs!! Two encores, 4 songs each encore, all crowd requests (two of my personal requests were played). I got a setlist, not on me, but I'll post it tomorrow or the next day. I just saw Neko at the download festival outside boston last weekend...I don't think she likes playing a tamberine for half the NP songs, especially so soon after co-headlining a festival.

And I didn't mind all the banter between songs. Some of it was really funny. Plus, it gave the show a very personal feel to it, as if they were just playing in front of friends and family (which to a certain extent they were).

Why does everyone feel compelled to say that Neko is so great even after ever single person before them said the same thing? Everyone who listens to the NP (and her solo stuff) already knows this. And Kathryn was caught off guard and was not serious about sounding like NC. Lastly, I'm assuming the jabbing at Spoon, etc. was somewhat playful since AC is playing with Britt Daniel (spoon) on the 26th at the Beacon.