Pornographers Become Festival Curators

08/29/08 4:01pm

by Brian Pascual (CHARTattack)

Since we know they're so good and are impervious to any kind of hex or jinx, it's safe to say this: The New Pornographers can do no wrong.

Over the past decade, they've continually proven that anything they put their stamp on will be a success.

Release a catchy-as-all-hell power pop album every couple of years? Check.

Have almost every member of the band also release solo albums that are equally as rewarding and critically well-received? Check.

Incorporate a new band member who essentially fills the void left by another band member's inability to fulfill a proper New Pornographers tour schedule? Check.

Host a two-day summer festival in the band's hometown? Hell, why not?

Carl Newman and his merry band of Pornographers will present the Stanley Park Singing Exhibition at the Malkin Bowl, set in the heart of the Vancouver's breathtakingly beautiful Stanley Park, on Sunday and Monday.

"This wasn't something that's been in the works for years," Newman says over the phone from his New York City home. "There wasn't any further advance planning than any other regular gig.

"It was just a lot more effort. It wasn't something we'd been fighting for for years and people had been trying to stop us. We just wanted to do another show in Vancouver, but we didn't want to just play another show. We wanted to do something else, and over a period of weeks it just kind of evolved into this thing.

"At first we thought, 'Why don't we do something at the Malkin Bowl for, like, one day with a bunch of bands?' Then we had more than enough bands, so we said, 'Let's make it two days.' And then we thought, 'Whoa, that's almost a festival. Now we have to give it a name.'"

The Stanley Park Singing Exhibition will present Neko Case, Destroyer, Andrew Bird, Deerhoof and The Evaporators on Sunday and The New Pornographers, Black Mountain, Belle And Sebastian's Stevie Jackson, The 1900s and Visqueen on Monday. Since virtually every band have some sort of connection to the Pornos, the two-day event could very well have been called The New Pornographers And Friends, and an almost communal, love-in vibe can be expected. Start rubbing your hands together at the thought of the different cameo possibilities during each band's set.

"Stevie Jackson we know 'cause we toured for about three weeks with Belle And Sebastian a couple of years ago," explains Newman. "I actually saw Stevie and The 1900s play at the same place in Brooklyn, and I thought he was really good.

"When this came up, I thought we should call him up and see if he'd want to come and play, and he said, 'Yes,' which I thought was cool because he doesn't play that much and it's not like he's working on a solo album and this is his new thing. I thought it would be a cool thing to see since you don't see it often.

"And that's one of the good things that make me really look forward to the shows. They'll be fun and we'll get to see people we don't see all the time. Like, we're friends with Andrew Bird, and that will be really cool to see him. We go way back with him. Our first-ever tour in February 2001 — the first time we toured America — was with Andrew Bird.

"It's nice when years pass and you can play together like seven years later and see that we've all gotten to another place. Our careers have grown and Andrew's had an amazing birth of popularity in the past year. He's an intimidating musician. Whenever we played with him, we'd come on after his set and I'd just feel like we're a bunch of hacks. He's so musically trained and artful, and we're just smashing away at our guitars."

Newman hung out and became friends with The 1900s that night after seeing them live, and the Pornos have toured with Visqueen in the past. Visqueen lead singer Rachel Flotard has also toured with Case as a backing singer and comedic foil. Being a native Vancouverite, Newman has known the members of Black Mountain and Nardwuar and the rest of The Evaporators for years. In fact, New Pornos bassist John Collins is a member of The Evaporators. See what we said about this being a big love-in?

Continuing the goodwill, the festival will raise money for two organizations: the ALS Society Of Canada and the Urban Native Youth Association. The former is dedicated to the fight against Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease), while the latter's mandate is to help native youth adjust to urban life after leaving reserves.

Though all signs point to the Stanley Park Singing Exhibition continuing the Pornos' hot streak, Newman remains realistic.

"Hopefully it's a success, and maybe next year we might want to do the same thing again. Who knows? Maybe people won't want us to do it again. If they want us, we're there. We work on that kind of supply and demand method."