Okkervil River And New Pornographers Make A Fine Concert Tandem

Phoenix Concert Theatre

Toronto, ON

on Apr 9 2008

Steve McLean (CHARTattack)

04/10/2008 4:30pm

The New Pornographers and Okkervil River launched their 15-date tour with the first of many sold-out shows they'll play across North America over the next two weeks. Even though I've seen both bands within the past month, it was a double-bill I couldn't pass up.

Okkervil hit the stage at 9 p.m. sharp, with all six members of the Austin, Texas group looking dapper in either ties, jackets or both. Singer/guitarist Will Sheff started "The President's Dead" acoustically before his bandmates jumped in halfway through to drive the tune home. Things stayed in high gear with "A Hand To Take Hold Of The Scene" and "The Latest Toughs," and two comparisons to The Old 97's jumped to mind. First, there are musical similarities, with both Texas groups specializing in well-written, roots-influenced rock songs. Second, Okkervil seem to be turning more and more into the Will Sheff show, just like the other members of The Old 97's have sunk deeper into the background behind frontman Rhett Miller. Sheff really shines in the spotlight, however, and Okkervil's other members (handling guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, trumpet and backing vocals) are excellent musicians who seem content with their roles, so hopefully it will all work out for the best.

The excellent "Plus Ones," a cleverly written number with lyrics that dare music geeks to discover all the references to other people's songs, was a highlight before Sheff dragged an acoustic version of "A Stone" on too long. "John Allyn Smith Sails" pricked up some ears when it morphed into The Beach Boys' "Sloop John B." The audience clapped along to "Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe," and both the band and the crowd really got into "For Real." There was an almost Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band-like denouement to closer "Unless It's Kicks."

Okkervil's set was entertaining, but lacked some of the excitement and dynamism of when I saw them last month during the South By Southwest Music Festival. Perhaps it was because their hour-long performance was doubled in length down south and they paced themselves more, or maybe it can be chalked up to not having a fervent hometown crowd to feed off. Still, despite the arrival of allergy season, an Okkervil River gig should never be sneezed at.

The New Pornographers were just as punctual as their new tourmates when they opened their set at 10:30 p.m. with "All The Things That Go To Make Heaven And Earth." The vocals were mixed too low, but that problem was thankfully fixed by the next song, "Use It." The group's performance at last month's Indie Awards was the first time I'd seen them without occasional live member Neko Case. No offence to singer/keyboardist Kathryn Calder (I like her band Immaculate Machine, too), but it just wasn't the same. Case takes things to the next level and the combination of the two women's voices on Wednesday night was strong and effective.

Case also makes a good between-song sparring partner for singer/guitarist Carl Newman, since (apart from occasional comments from drummer Kurt Dahle) the rest of the band are pretty inanimate. When a fanboy in the crowd asked Case to marry him, Newman said a homeless guy outside the club had beat him to it. The two of them also riffed on the giant paintings of evil clowns that adorn one of the Phoenix's walls, with Case saying that the venue had changed its decor from "kind of goth to a 15-year-old on crystal meth."

When Newman smelled marijuana wafting up from the crowd, he joked about "Vancouver stoners" and said, "The next time we're here, I want to smell coke."

With the exception of the aforementioned "All The Things That Go To Make Heaven And Earth," "All The Old Showstoppers" was the only song from last year's Challengers that I fully appreciated. While the set was obviously biased toward that most recent record, there was enough older material to keep myself and the other fans who packed the club happy.

I'll put the respective "Mass Romantic," "The Laws Have Changed" and "Twin Cinema" from the group's first three albums against any other band's similar trio of singles from the past eight years and defy them to top them. Those brilliant pop songs that were wonderfully performed, as were almost-as-strong tracks "The Electric Version," "Testament To Youth In Verse," "Sing Me Spanish Techno" and the set-closing "The Bleeding Heart Show," which had a bit of a gospel revival quality to it in parts.

After briefly ducking offstage, the Pornographers returned and covered the perfect song for them: Electric Light Orchestra's "Don't Bring Me Down." I finished my last beer as the 80-minute set ended with "The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism."