I went to see the New Pornographers and Okkervil River play at the Phoenix in Toronto on Wednesday night. The concert was surprisingly good. I say surprisingly first of all because the New Pornographers were excellent, though they don’t have much of a reputation as a live act. Carl Newman can churn out cheery distortion pop like nobody’s business, and he comes across as one of the nicest musicians you’d ever want to meet. But as my good friend the Baronist pointed out, when the music’s on, he comes across as one of the nicest musicians you’d ever want to meet. Dude rocks out with his **** in. Still, since Neko Case^{*Who I remain willing to marry despite her steadfast refusal to send me a mason jar with one of her high notes trapped inside.} was singing and twitching the best tambourine this side of Betty,^* I was impressed.

I was also surprised the show was good because it was the dreaded early-in-the-tour concert—the first stop on a two-week hitch for both bands. Now, far be it from me to complain about seeing live music by acts that I like, but, well… maybe I should rephrase. Near be it to me to complain about seeing live music by acts I like: early tour shows are one of life’s great disappointments.^{*Ranking just before seeing the Mona Lisa, and just after realizing you don’t have what it takes to fulfill any of your dreams.} You get that excited-to-be-on-tour energy, sure, but for any band that has more than an album or two worth of material, the shows get much more interesting as tours go along.

This year I’ve spent more on three Bruce Springsteen concerts than every other show I’ve been to combined—first here in Toronto early on in the short first leg of the Magic tour, then early in the second leg in Montreal and Hamilton. And I have to say, for all the love and passion poured into the band by some of my more longstanding Bruce-fan friends (these were my first three concerts), and for all the polish of the E Street Band, I was a little put off by how similar the sets were, and how much of the dreaded New Album was on the setlist each time.^{*In fairness to Bruce, he probably sensed my bad attitude and punished all three arenas for my lack of faith.} Since then, the Baronist, one of the aforementioned Bruce fans, has sent out repeated reports about the many great songs that have been incorporated into the set as the band has carried on through the States. Argh!

I also saw a weak first show by Pearl Jam last year, which I think amounts to more than enough evidence to support my contention that Canada has become a Grapefruit League for rock bands—the place they come to get their game in order before the shows that really count. Sure, I could deal with this by not going to early tour shows, but let’s face it, I’ve earned the right, over the course of years of general excellence, to have the best rock ‘n’ roll bands in the world do things the way I want. And if they won’t, then the Canadian government should step in.

We’re already trying to up the discrimination factor in our immigration policies anyway. Why not extend this to the people who really deserve it? Henceforth, visas should only be granted to bands who have played at least ten shows on their tours already. Springsteen, Vedder—consider yourselves warned.

Next, on the Bironist: Neko Case guest blogs about our fabulous honeymoon at a dude ranch run by homeless former indie rockers.

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Posted on Friday, April 11th, 2008 at 11:58 am. Follow comments through the RSS 2.0 feed. Comment or trackback.