The New Pornographers electrified the stage at the Bronson Centre Thursday night bringing with them Born Ruffians. The stage, laced with neons, had the packed audience buzzing and ready to sing and dance along to their favourite songs.

Building a following since the release of their first album in 2000, The New Pornographers have since paved their way as a Canadian band based on the West Coast. The has included a variety of musicians throughout the years which as allowed them to continue to grow throughout their albums. The band has recently released their seventh studio album Whiteout Conditions. Officially forming in 1997, The New Pornographers are touring in their 20th year and are making stops across Canada with the openers Born Ruffians.

Born Ruffians opened up the night, the Ontario native’s songs are light with a hint of post-punk heaviness thrown in. Having been together since 2007, the band has created a name for themselves, touring all around the world with bands like Franz Ferdinand and Toyko Police club. Their popularity is made clear by the active audience singing to their songs and encouraging their stage banter about accidentally spitting into the audience, which was apparently welcomed by some audience members. They band’s most recently album was released in 2016. They remain active on tours and doing shows to feed the hearts of their many fans.

Kicking off their set with Jessica Numbers and Whiteout Conditions, The New Pornographers continued to jump between old albums and their latest. They left the long time fans in the audience happy by mixing it up and keeping things interesting while still showcasing their latest music. The band is made up of seven musicians that include a number of guitars, a violin and their recognizable synths. The crowd was energetic to say the least, singing and dancing to their favourites from past albums and taking in the new songs as the night went on.

Thursday night at the Bronson Centre was light, bright and energetic. The Bronson Centre will be showcasing a variety of music this weekend including Ria Mae vs. Scott Helman on Friday, and Propagandhi on Saturday night. As for Born Ruffians and The New Pornographers, they have two more stops this weekend. They will be at Theatre Corona on Friday night, and Saturday at Massey Hall in Toronto.

Photos by Els Durnford (Twitter: @elsdurnford Instagram: @elsdurnford)