Reflecting on The New Pornographers’ long career, AC (Carl) Newman recalled how, shortly after the current version of the 9:30 Club opened, the band opened for Guided by Voices. Over the ensuing two decades, their skewed take on classic power pop, always a critical favorite, has found its audience, and they’ve steadily grown in popularity. Recently, indie rock’s premier Canadian collective was back at the 9:30 Club, touring behind their latest album, The Former Site Of, which was released earlier this year.
While there are still plenty of catchy hooks and lots of energy in these new songs, they are, relatively speaking, a bit more melancholic and subdued than a lot of their work; they describe the album as “ten short stories of people at personal and societal extremes.” (It’s not a major change in direction, as earlier records contain songs like “Adventures in Solitude.” This was clear from the start of their set, which they opened with “Pure Sticker Shock.” Carl introduced the title cut as “a bit of a sprawler,” while “Votive” spilled over with anxiety. “Spooky Action” has one of the line best lines Newman has written, “”filling my boots with stardust, filling my pockets up with rocks, follow the breath of empire rise and fall.” It’s been that said, while The New Pornographers are influenced by power pop, their penchant for these more abstract lyrics makes them more of an indie band.
A couple more cuts from the new album were interspersed throughout the set on May 21: “Ballad of the Last Payphone” and “Great Princess Story.” The rest of the performance drew pretty evenly from their other albums. Before playing “The Jessica Numbers” (from Twin Cinema, arguably their strongest work), Carl asked the audience to pick a number between 1 and 22. Another cut, “Use It,” followed their opening number, and they finished their main set with “The Bleeding Heart Show.”
Watch The New Pornographers perform “Ballad of the Last Payphone” live for wfuv.org on YouTube:
Perhaps no song captures this band’s unique take on pop than “The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism,” from their debut album, Mass Romantic. From that title, you won’t be surprised to find the lyrics quite harrowing, but they go down easily because of the way the melody serves as a spoonful of sugar to deliver medicine. The New Pornos pulled out the title cut for their encore, which also included “Testament to Youth In Verse” from their sophomore effort, Electric Version. (The main set also included another fan favorite from that album, “The Laws Have Changed.”
Newman’s lyrics have a distinctly intellectual bent, especially on songs like “Pontius Pilate’s Home Movies.” They can also be tender, like in “Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk,” and many are filled with startling, unusual images, like “Falling Down the Stairs of Your Smile.” They also played “Champions of Red Wine,” “Brill Bruisers,” “All the Old Showstoppers,” “Cat and Mouse with the Light,” and “Whiteout Conditions.”
Will Sheff, frontman for Okkervil River, got the evening started with a solo opening set, beginning with “Nothing Special” followed “Some of Our So-Called Friends.” Between songs, he recalled first touring with The New Pornographers 18 years ago, then played “A Stone” and “Extra Mile,” which he described as “sort of autobiographical.” Will explained that he wrote “Funny Feeling” and sung it to his dog while it was dying, which almost caused me to lose it. (It’s an emotional trigger for me.) He rounded out his set with “No Key, No Plan,” “Down the Deep River,” and “The Valley.”
I’ve seen Okkervil Rivera few times, but this was my first seeing Will play solo, and he complimented The New Pornographers perfectly. Both bands expand the limits of what pop can be, marrying sophisticated songwriting to engaging tunes. As heavy as the songs can get, there’s always a joy and energy here; I often feel the urge to dance to The New Pornographers’ music, an urge I resist because I am old and feeble.
Here are some photos of The New Pornographers performing live at 9:30 Club on May 21, 2026. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Casey Vock.
And here are some photos of Will Sheff opening the show!
