Weeknotes: April 27–May 2, 2026
Monday, April 27
The New Pornographers are playing El Club in Detroit. I last saw them in 2014 on the Brill Bruisers tour and I'm surprised how much better they sound tonight in a smaller venue with a retooled lineup. Dan Bejar is no longer with them, so I don't expect to hear any of his songs. As usual, the excellent Kathryn Calder handles Neko Case's parts on stage, along with all her own vocal contributions and the lion's share of the keyboard parts. Joining her is newcomer Jess Nolan who sings lead on a couple songs, plays additional keys, and melodica. The other new touring member is drummer Joshua Wells from Destroyer and Black Mountain.
I was a big fan of original drummer Kurt Dahle and missed the entire Joe Seiders era — probably for the best, given his disgraced exit. The New Pornographers are a rhythmic powerhouse with technically challenging parts, not just for the drums, but vocally and instrumentally. Wells is a perfect fit — a hard-hitter with a deep rock vocabulary and infectious energy that propels the whole band. Nolan, for her part, steals the show a couple times and compliments Calder's voice well. Carl Newman's songwriting is the backbone. Packed in a sweaty room a few feet from the stage, I feel the old magic as they rip through "Use It," "The Laws Have Changed," and "The Bleeding Heart Show."
Weeknotes: April 28 – May 2, 2025
Monday, April 28
Taking a break from my A-Z listening, I put on Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, an album so famous I sometimes forget to listen to it. Growing up, Floyd was hands-down my favorite band. My early fandom coincided with their Roger Waters-less revival, and in 1988 my parents took me to see them play at the Palace of Auburn Hills. I was 11 and my neural pathways were wide open for the pomp of a big art-rock stadium show. The lasers, lights, projections, fog machines, flying pigs and airplanes, and most of all the music… I assumed that's what all rock shows would be like from that point forward. Between us, my brother and I collected all of their albums, read articles in guitar magazines, and learned everything we could about Floyd's different eras, from Syd Barrett's woeful decline into mental illness and the deep experimentation of the early-'70s on into the peak commercial period that stretched from Dark Side to the The Wall.
I'm remembering all this because I saw the new 4K cut of Pink Floyd at Pompeii – MCMLXXII on the big IMAX screen yesterday and it blew my mind all over again. When I saw the Becoming Led Zeppelin documentary at this same multiplex in February, I was one of about eight paying customers and expected something similar for Pompeii film. I was a little shocked when the theater filled almost to capacity with rowdy, excited fans for a Sunday matinee. After the slow-zoom opening shot of the band beginning "Echoes" in the empty Roman amphitheatre, it kicked into close-ups of David Gilmour and Rick Wright harmonizing and they became my favorite band all over again.
Today the neighbors are getting a new roof. There's a lot of hubbub on the block. I run five miles and officially kick off the training schedule for my next race which is at the end of summer. I prefer running in the shoulder seasons, but this one fits my schedule and I've never run it before. A new challenge.