After two years of solo albums, side projects, writing new material and a tour hiatus, The New Pornographers are finally back in the United States and gracing our ears with their beautiful indie-pop sounds. On June 13, they played a stellar set at Newport Music Hall in Columbus, Ohio.

Opening the night was The Dutchess and the Duke, a two-(and sometimes more)-piece band that didn’t do much to get the crowd revved up for a notably upbeat band. Their sound and look was straight out of Athens, Ohio, despite being from Seattle – plaid shirts, unkempt hair and a distinctly Appalachian/country/folk sound.

Next was The Dodos, who seemed to stun the crowd with their infectious and flabbergasting drum beats, melodious vocals and the coolest xylophone technique you could ever see.

At one point, someone in the crowd shouted to The Dodos, “You guys suck!” In response, the audience hollered out their support. Not only that, but drummer Logan Kroeber called back, “Man, you’ve got nothin’ on YouTube commenters. No one is as hateful as those people.”

Finally, at 9:20 p.m., Boston’s “Foreplay/Long Time” began playing over the speakers and the excitement coursing through the audience at the Newport was palpable. Without so much as a “Hello, Columbus” or “Bow down to us, for we are music gods,” The New Pornographers launched into “Sing Me Spanish Techno.”

The first quarter of the set was played almost straight through, pausing only for a quick “Thanks, guys” here and there, before the band finally fell into a certain level of comfort and began chatting between songs.

A highlight was Carl Newman and Neko Case going on a slight tangent about dropping out of school and doing whatever you want. At one point, Case commented on the attractiveness of Newman's wife and said, “I fuck whoever I want, I wear whatever I want and I’m not pregnant so I win,” at which point a large number of men in the crowd called out to Neko, offering their own bodies to her.

While many bands focus on new material during tours, The New Pornographers played only six new songs from their latest album, Together, in the 22-song set. “The Bleeding Heart Show,” which closed the show before the encore, was a magnificent dance/sing-along with all of its “hey-la”s and “ooh"ing.

Out of nowhere, Newman said something about “which of our songs that people hate.” This seemed to baffle a majority of the crowd because it seems impossible that any of their material is worthy of hate. Apparently, someone had been leading them astray, as they were under the impression that people didn’t like “These Are The Fables.”

Opening the encore was “Challengers,” an ode to Newman’s relationship with his current wife. For this particular song, people smartly shut their mouths and let Case and Newman serenade the crowd.

At the urgings of the audience, “Jackie” was the second song of the encore, showcasing the either very drunk or very goofy (but probably both) Dan Bejar on vocals with a beer in one hand and a microphone in the other.

Closing the show was “The Slow Descent into Alcoholism,” a surprising but not unwanted song. It ended the show on as high a note as it started, leaving people grinning from ear to ear and clamoring for more. For almost an hour and a half, fans of The New Pornographers found themselves swept away into a musical heaven with a near-perfect set and funny jokes alike.