Still tired from my excursion to San Francisco, I bravely forged ahead to see New Pornographers play at the Fonda (which they are desperately trying to get people call the Music Box).
Opening for NP was Lavender Diamond, a band I’ve been meaning to check out for some time. Before them was Fancey on Wednesday night of the two night engagement and The Awkward Stage on Thursday.
I left Long Beach with enough time that I figured I’d be able to catch LD and NP and hopefully a song or two from Fancey. Unfortunately, the 101 freeway had different ideas and I ended up getting there about a half an hour later than I had planned. This did give me enough time to catch a little bit of LD’s set and all of NP though.
Lavender Diamond is often called ethereal, so I’ll stop myself from doing that. Singer Becky Stark is naturally the focus point of the band. With vocals reminiscent of Mazzy Star and Vashti Bunyan and a charming stage persona, it’s easy to see why she is getting so much attention lately. Only being able to see a little bit of the show, I don’t think I can properly evaluate the performance, but what I saw was enjoyable, although I’d probably enjoy it as much sitting in the balcony as I did standing near the stage. Stark does seem to genuinely enjoy herself on stage, which is refreshing. As she chanted the refrain of the surprisingly upbeat “You Broke My Heart” she smiled and pointed to various audience members. At the end of the show she thanked the audience and told them to “keep up the good work.” Well, ok Becky!
Since I had seen New Pornographers at Coachella without Neko Case and had seen Neko Case at Sasquatch with her solo act I was interested to see them together. The first couple songs it seemed that there were slight audio problems; it all sounded a bit muddled. They did rectify that quickly though. Luckily, they catered a bit to Case’s extraordinary vocal prowess. While she was featured on nearly all of the songs, she was the main vocalist on a few, and while not necessarily the outfit’s best songs, hearing her sing is always amazing. It’s refreshing to see a band that doesn’t seem to be afraid of sharing the spotlight. AC Newman is the true leader and main songwriter of the band, but he allows others, like Case and Dan Bejar (of Destroyer), to shine when needed. After a while I did get tired of standing, but it was an enjoyable show.
