concert review: The New Pornographers (part of WinterCity) @ Nathan Phillips Square(Toronto, Ontario), February 3, 2007
I'm so hardcore. It may have been -14 degrees Celsius weather[colder with a wind chill] this past Saturday night, but it didn't stop me from checking out The New Pornographers who were playing a free show down at Nathan Phillips Square as part of WinterCity. Poor Carl Newman that his propane heater onstage kept on going out on him. Continually mentioning how cold it was, in jest Carl said he thought he was going to die, even directing a quip to keyboardist Kathyrn Calder to not let him fall asleep. Ha ha. In another moment, Carl and Blair were speaking about how Toronto was so cold and that it was going through a reverse global warming. At one point between songs, Carl had to tune his guitar and blurted out "Fuck" only to jokingly explain that he said "Funk", which prompted the band into an impromptu instrumental version of Parliament's "Give Up The Funk". Kathyrn Calder looked so cute in her mouse-ears toque as she grabbed a tambourine and started to dance to the groove. Such were the moments that kept the crowd going through an hour plus set in the bitter cold, though I must say the body heat from the crowd and a little bit of dancing/moving kept things somewhat comfortable. They performed most of the tunes that I could have hoped for including "Use It", "Sing Me Spanish Techno", "Mass Romantic", "Miss Teen Wordpower", "The Bleeding Heart Show", "From Blown Speakers"(during the encore), and what for me was the highlight of the show, a stirring rendition of "Streets of Fire"(complete with singalong from the crowd). Kudos to the band for braving the cold and performing a great set.
Here are my photos from the show.
I found some live video clips from the show on YouTube. Check 'em out:
YouTube: The New Pornographers - Sing Me Spanish Techno (4:11)
YouTube: The New Pornographers - The Bleeding Heart Show (1:59)
YouTube: The New Pornographers - Give Up The Funk (0:31)
YouTube: The New Pornographers - Streets of Fire (1:17)
YouTube: The New Pornographers - Testament To Youth In Verse (2:37)
YouTube: The New Pornographers - From Blown Speakers (2:39)
MySpace: The New Pornographers
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