Kevin Bronson on December 9th, 2010

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The only thing missing from the finest power-pop show of the year were a few hundred more fine power-pop fans.

The Posies and Brendan Benson visited downtown Los Angeles last weekend, landing in Club Nokia when a clubhouse probably would have done, or the Troubadour. I think they call this an “overplay,” and on a night you could’ve gotten to know most of your fellow concert-goers on a first-name basis, it sapped some of the energy out of an otherwise electric performance.

Benson, the 40-year-old Michigan native and Jack White’s co-conspirator in the Raconteurs, dipped deep into his four-album catalog, landing crisply with a couple of songs off 2002’s “Lapalco” that were co-written with Jason Falkner. The material off his most recent album, 2009’s “My Old, Familiar Friend,” sounded gutsier live than it does on the record – attributable, probably, to the fact Benson was flanked by Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow of the Posies, and you’d have to look hard to find two finer players.

The harmonies weren’t perfect, and there might have been a hiccup or two, but as loose as the performance was – Auer shredded and tossed around guitar picks, while Stringfellow cracked wise and tossed around bad puns – it brought a welcome rawness to Benson’s lovelorn tomes.

Mixing crackle from their catalog with snap from their new album “Blood/Candy,” the Posies delivered a clinic in guitar rock that had to satisfy the many L.A. musicians populating the audience. As Auer pirouetted with his instrument and Stringfellow kept going airborne, you had to marvel that, after more than two decades, their musical partnership was still this much fun.

Photos by Scott Dudelson