Nicholas B. Jackson

Date: 2005.10.20
Artists: The New Pornographers | Destroyer | The Immaculate Machine
Venue: Metro
Location: 3730 N. Clark St. | Chicago, Illinois
Time: Doors: 8:00 P.M. | Show: 9:00 P.M.
Type: 18+

Anybody who either 1) has been to more than a few shows in Chicago that are not meant for ‘all ages,’ or 2) enjoys somewhat disturbing, off-the-wall poetry probably knows who Thax Douglas is. And anybody who knows who Thax Douglas is knows that when he opens a show, it will be a good show.

The aging poet from Chicago took to the Metro stage on Thursday night to introduce Dan Bejar’s group, Destroyer, to scattered applause and glances of confusion from the Twin Cinema crowd. You know them; they were the ones singing “Float On” at the last Modest Mouse concert and nothing else.

A still sober Bejar led his group through a powerful set that was second in the New Pornographers marathon event. The indie-rock triad The Immaculate Machine set the bar for the night by playing first, but when lead singer and keyboardist Kathryn Calder — who also happens to be the niece of Carl Newman — joined Bejar with six other members of the cult-family style Canadian supergroup that bar was easily surpassed.

Opening with “Twin Cinema,” the first single from their third LP, and “The Bones Of An Idol” it looked as though the band was set to play through their latest track list but, with much support from fans from the 2000 debut Mass Romantic, Carl Newman and Neko Case led the team through old favorites “Slow Descent Into Alcoholism,” “Letter From An Occupant,” and others.

Newman suggested that audience members suggest songs they wanted to hear but then mocked them when those with audible voices recommended the famous hits; You wouldn’t go to an R.E.M. concert and tell them to play “Losing My Religion,” he said. By the end of the night, predetermined set list or not, everyone was satisfied and all of the major radio hits had been covered as well as the more obscure fan favorites.

There has been much debate as to who is the figurehead of the group: Neko Case or Carl Newman. Both have recorded what is now recognized solo work and both have played with groups outside of The New Pornographers: The Sadies and Zumpano. Either way, the crowd loved both. They also loved the now plastered Dan Bejar that stumbled onstage for his signature pieces. They loved everything, really, all the way up through the end of the second encore set.

• Originally published: SHEER 2005.10.21