Seattlest doesn't go to a lot of concerts -- we never did, and once parenthood embraced us we tend to invest in babysitters for stuff like movies and restaurants. There's less thrill in staying up until 1:30 when you know, no matter what, that 7:00 would be sleeping in.

But the New Pornographers? Frankly, Seattlest hasn't loved a band this much since high school, when we fell for the Beatles. Concerts weren't much of an issue twenty years after Sgt. Pepper. The NPs are pretty much the band we can say "I remember when" about -- "I remember when we saw them at the Crocodile three times in one year," for example.

We missed their Twin Cinemas tour -- Little Miss Seattlest arrived just three days before they did, and we thought it maritally prudent not to slip out to a show quite that soon. So this tour was irresistible, sleeplessness be damned.

Happily, the rumors of a "full strength" band proved true. Not only was Neko Case there -- we haven't actually seen them perform without Neko, come to think of it -- but the famously "not pictured," rarely touring Dan Bejar was there, and we've never actually seen them perform with Bejar. So "Myriad Harbour," a contender for our favorite song on Challengers, was in the setlist.

Of course, we don't go to concerts just for the songs. We go for the banter and the interplay and the stage presence -- something the NPs have always done well. The "asshole thing" that prompted Carl's response? As drummer Kurt Dahle set the beat for a song, someone in the audience started clapping in a different beat. Song rebooted, audience gently chided. Neko said, "We're weak. We're only human."

Newman also recommended that we all watch The Littlest Hobo. "Imagine how much better this country would be if you spent half an hour a week watching a little dog help people. And you're already pretty awesome." Neko chimed in: "That'd tip us right over the edge." Later, she sang some lyrics from Annie about growing up poor.

And Newman called out Bejar, who broke a string during "Myriad Harbour": "You break a string, you gotta play another song." Hence, "Jackie." Later, when they were waiting for Bejar to come back on stage, Newman speculated that he was backstage snapping strings.

The band closed their set with what's becoming the consensus New Pornographiest New Pornographers Song, "The Bleeding Heart Show," then came back for an encore of "Testament to Youth in Verse," "The Laws Have Changed," and "Letter from an Occupant," which is the single greatest song of all time. Sure, we missed a couple of songs ("Failsafe"! "The Slow Descent into Alcoholism"! "When I Was a Baby"!), but you can't complain when a band has too many awesome songs to cram into one concert.

See you in a couple of years.

Photo by HeyRocker, from our Flickr pool.