This article was originally published on beingtheremag.com, an independent music and film magazine that ran from 2004 to 2007. It is presented here as part of the Being There Magazine archive.
By Adam Anklewicz | Being There Magazine, November/December 2005
Venue: the Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto, Ontario, C | Date: October 9, 2005
Dear Ms. Case,
We’ve seen each other before; it was 2001 and you were touring with your new band The New Pornographers. I had just recently picked up your new release, Mass Romantic, and I had a love affair with that album. I spent a week with it, preparing myself for the glory of seeing you live for the first time. I didn’t care about Mr. Newman; though I do like the occasional Zumpano song, it was you I was after. At that show, you thrilled me with your choice of opening act, Andrew Bird’s Bowl Of Fire. Later you came on; you sang your heart out, you laughed, you joked with the audience, but most importantly, you shared your beautiful voice with us. That wasn’t the only time I had seen you live, later that year, our relationship grew as you performed as Neko Case & Her Boyfriends (The Sadies being your boyfriends). I must admit, I was jealous of them.
I write you this letter, mere minutes after your Toronto performance. In fact, the majority of this letter was handwritten on the streetcar. I was severely disappointed by a number of aspects of the evening’s entertainment. You are Neko Case, I shouldn’t be disappointed with you, but I am, though there’s enough blame to go around.
It started with the opening acts. Immaculate Machine was performing bad pop songs with poor musicianship and worse vocals. It sounded like all the songs were the same and what lyrics I could make out were the same. The songs could have been “Weird Al” rejects performed by a bad Spirit Of The West cover band… are there Spirit Of The West cover bands? Neko, how could you do this to me after the expectations you gave me from before?
Destroyer weren’t much better. Now I know why Dan Bejar’s songs weren’t why I was a New Pornographers fan. Those songs just weren’t very good, and to make matters worse, he seemed bored… more interested in the bottle of beer at his feet than the music he was performing. For the love of a god, is it that hard to stay sober enough to perform?
Then you came out, the brilliant, the beautiful Neko Case. Some other guys joined you; I guess they were the band. In the four and a half years since I had last seen The New Pornographers, the band has changed a bit. Most obviously was the addition of Immaculate Machine’s Kathryn Calder. Why you would add a band member who doesn’t add anything to the performance is beyond me. What I could hear of her voice wasn’t anything spectacular, especially when sharing a stage with you, and her piano playing leaves a lot to be desired. Though you now have two more albums of material, the songs didn’t get any better, and the sound of the band didn’t evolve at all.
The sound mix was terrible. The audience could barely hear the vocals, both Blain Thurier’s and Calder’s instruments were barely audible (in Calder’s case, not such a bad thing), and though Todd Fancey was barely standing on stage, it didn’t have to sound like he was performing in another room. It seemed like you were having an off night, but that’s okay, it happens to the best of us, what’s worse is that I have a feeling that an “on night” wouldn’t be much better.
Every once in a while Bejar would join The New Pornographers on stage, bottle in one hand, microphone in the other. He looked drunk enough that a slight tap on his shoulder would send him falling off stage.
Neko, I really look forward to your upcoming solo disc, as I have been for months. I look forward to the upcoming tour, and a show at a nice intimate club. Just do me a favour, leave Carl (or A.C., whatever he wants to be called now) at home and bring The Sadies.
Yours truly,
Adam Anklewicz