The New Pornographers perform at the Midtown Ballroom on April 14. (Joe Kline/Bulletin photo)

The music stand stuck out like a sore thumb onstage at the Midtown Ballroom on Friday evening.

Canadian power-pop collective The New Pornographers would take the stage in the next 15 minutes, and crew members were busy setting up instruments, microphones — and that music stand, loaded down with lyric sheets.

What is a rock band doing with a music stand and lyric sheets onstage? Doesn’t that violate some unwritten rule of pop music? This is The New Pornographers we’re talking about here, one of the best indie groups to emerge in the 2000s, not an orchestra or chamber music group or choir.

Unfortunately, that stand — utilized frequently by vocalist Neko Case throughout The New Pornographers’ 80-plus minute set — was a harbinger of things to come. The eight-piece band (minus guitarist/songwriter Dan Bejar, who sat out this album and touring cycle) did a fine job re-creating songs from throughout its nearly two-decade career for the small crowd gathered in the venue, but that’s about all it did. Frontman Carl Newman seemed like he was going through the motions. Case, usually a live wire onstage, spent most of the evening glued to her microphone and that music stand. The rest of the band was equally stiff, playing the songs note for note from the records with little to no variation.

Granted, the band’s intricate arrangements would be challenge enough for any band to re-create in a live setting — and again, Newman, Case and company did an admirable job in this department. The deceptively upbeat “High Ticket Attractions,” a screed against Donald Trump from brand-new album “Whiteout Conditions,” opened the show with a bang shortly after 9 p.m. Newman’s lead vocal was bolstered by the three female singers in the band — Case, keyboardist Kathryn Calder and touring violinist Simi Stone — plus drummer Joe Seiders. Older songs “The Laws Have Changed,” “Use It” and “Moves” followed in quick succession, with little to no stage banter in between.

The band jumped around its extensive catalog, though songs from the electronic-tinged “Whiteout Conditions” and its predecessor, 2014’s “Brill Bruisers,” dominated the set. Songs such as “Colosseums” or “This is the World of the Theater” from “Whiteout Conditions” stood in stark contrast to the band’s more guitar-driven older material.

The acoustic guitar and piano-driven “Adventures in Solitude” provided a nice breather mid-set, and also gave Stone a chance to shine on violin. But for the most part, the band stuck to the rockers, with later highlights including the yearning pop of “Testament to Youth in Verse” and the skittering rhythms of “Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk,” which turned into a pretty complicated audience clap-along.

The highlight of the evening and final song of the main set, the Case-led “Mass Romantic,” was the only song the band played from its debut album of the same name. Here Case finally seemed to be letting loose along with the rest of the band, but it was short-lived.

Musically, the band delivered what this audience was looking for, but the band members didn’t look like they were having much fun doing it. Part of that could be due to the low turnout at Midtown, though the crowd in attendance was enthusiastic. The show easily could have moved next door to the Domino Room. This was one of the first shows on the tour; here’s hoping the band loosens up on the road.

—Reporter: 541-617-7814, bmcelhiney@bendbulletin.com