The New Pornographers show at the High Noon Saloon had everything you’d want at a concert, great band and free whiskey. Arriving at the High Noon it appeared that they had over-invited people for the Jack Daniels sponsored event. However, the crowd gradually thinned out as those there only for the giveaways made room for the reason the majority of us where there in the first place, to see AC Newman and his band blaze through their catalouge of songs.

Prior to the show, there were rumors that Neko Case would be performing with the New Pornographers, but I wasn’t surprised when those turned out to be false. As much as I love Neko, I must admit that I didn’t notice her not being on stage. The young lady taking Neko’s place does her a lot of justice, and really fills her shoes, which is something I was interested in seeing attempted.

Right before the New Pornograpehers took the stage and right after Archer Prewitt played his last song, 105.5 Triple M and Jack Daniels drew the raffle numbers for an autographed electric guitar that one lucky guy ended up taking home. Halfway through the New Pornographers set and in between handing out full bottles of Jack Daniels to the crowd, AC Newman got the guitar from the winner, and proceeded to play the entire rest of their set with the guitar, making it even more special.

I had to wait a long time to see the New Pornographers play Madison, but I can say that last night’s performance was well worth the wait. You could definitely tell that the band was enjoying the hell out of being at the show as well, and opener Archer Prewitt proved once again why his album, Wilderness was one of my favorite albums last year.