Not just my soul, but my shoulder. You see, me and jagged went to go see her perform at Sons of Herrmann Hall here in Dallas, where I concocted a very simple plan immediately after the opening act (the incredibly mongerous Johnny Dowd) left the stage. I noticed Dowd and his band had to navigate through the front right portion of the crowd to exit the room, so me and Shawn decided to mosey on over there and position ourselves immediately in the performer's pathway. Being such an enormous fat ass, I figured there was a greater-than-zero chance Neko would have to put her hand on my lower back to politely get me to step aside. Well, it wasn't but just a couple of minutes after hatching this madcap scheme that I felt a most sublime hand gently depress the top of my right arm where it meets the shoulder. Before I had a chance to fully absorb what had happened, Neko had whisked herself onto the stage, leaving a delightfully befuddled FT in her wake.

As for the show, Neko Case was simply amazing. She did not miss a single note the entire night. WHAT A VOICE!!! Both me and Shawn (and the entire packed house) were absolutely blown away. Neko was so delighted by the reaction that her and the band played an extended encore set. It was just a fantastic show from start to finish. If she comes to your town, you MUST see her! It was an unforgettable night...I'll never wash my shoulder again.

How was Johnny Dowd? Personally, I like him ALOT more than Neko, although I guess I'd rather have Neko rest her hand on my shoulder than Johnny.

i shook jonathan richman's hand last night. although i think, in theory, you win.

The real question here is are FT and Jagged going steady?

At first, we couldn't figure out whether or not he was a gag. I mean, this guy is an over-the-top hybrid of Billy Bob Thornton, Jim White, and Kris Kristofferson. He played the most unusual cover of "Johnny B. Goode" I've ever heard, which ended with the riff from "Iron Man." He told rambling stories mid-song (not BETWEEN songs, but DURING songs), and was all over the map, but by the end of his set he had won all of us over. I leaned in to Shawn at one point and told him this was right up the respective alleys of Elvis Fu, LooGAR, and Bloor...among others. It's quite possible Dowd is even related to Radcliffe.

NSFW:

http://www.zoilus.com/documents/neko3.jpg

We've been outed!

shiv with an appropriately altered version of the OPA!/Dalen couple pic in 3...2...1...

interesting. i'm going to see him here on friday, sounds like it should be fun.

when new pornographers played in philly two years ago, i saw neko case on the sidewalk from my car and almost got into an accident because of it. ten minutes later after i'd parked and was walking toward the venue, she brushed by me. aw..

Let's just say I'm glad I wasn't driving last night.

Interesting is a very good way to put it. My biggest complaint about a lot of today's indie or alternative artists, is that so many of them sound so much alike. You could never accuse Dowd of that. It took me a long time to decide whether I really liked Dowd or not, but I could never really stop listening to him.

His voice is not so much even an acquired taste but something you need to get past and learn to tolerate. His blues-infused guitar playing though is excellent and his stories are always interesting even if his phrasing could be a bit better. I've never heard Billy Bob Thornton's music, but in terms of his general character, its an appropriate analogy. He's a dark, strangely intriguing and talented guy. I'd say he's got a bit of Nick Cave and Jim Thompson (crime novel writer) in him too.

Virtually all his songs deal with tales of murder, sin (probably the source of the Monger description), paranoia or for the lack of a better word disturbing love. For example, he's got a song that initially seems like its about a shy guy with a crush on a woman who doesn't notice him. It later turns out the object of the crush is a young schoolgirl he's borderline stalking.

I really want to love the guy cause he's so interesting but his voice and at times flawed writing make me only really like him. He'll never bore you though and I'd imagine he'd put on a great show.

np: Carla Bruni

Exactly. He's a one-man train wreck, from whom you simply cannot turn away your eyes or ears. I've also never heard Billy Bob's tunes, so it was more his general appearance/presence I was referencing there. But he is definitely NOT boring. And his backing band was outstanding.

if i was you, i'da went all cum st. helens. ooh. la. la.

I touched Neko's shoulder last time I saw her play. I said Hi.

Stalker.

And right after the Dallas show, Neko went to the local police station and got a restraining order.

I have my own "Neko touched me" story.

The first time I saw the New Pornographers I went to the merch table after the show was over to see what they were selling. I felt someone gently touching my arm from behind and saying, "Excuse me." I turned around and looked down into the face of my rock n' roll crush. I moved out of the way and told her that I really enjoyed the show. We exchanged a few more words while I bought a shirt, and then I floated away in state of bliss.

Clearly, the woman is a serial gentle arm toucher. Disgusting.

I don't have any "Neko touched me" stories.

So...is she like a natural redhead?

You're just jealous you don't have an "A.C. Newman touched me last night" thread to start. (j/k)

we also learned that former Sooner and ATL Falcon defensive back Scott Case is her cousin

nice

no shit? I was a big Scott Case guy back in the day......WOW!

<----currently listening to a radio show cohosted by former Falcons DE Big Chuck Smith

yea, she said that she tried to come up with some Dallas anecdotes to pander to the crowd, but couldn't think of anything...then someone screamed out something about the Cowboys and that's when she remembered that he played for Dallas during his last season

Howzabout some more in-depth analysis of the show, Shawn? We need your take on Johnny Dowd...and Neko, of course.

And FT's shoulder, of course