Robert Pollard rocked the Southgate House in Newport KY on the first day of December 2007. The roadtrip down south just this side of the river from Cincinnati involved a Wu Tang Clan soundtrack, Amish deluxe mixed nuts and various Dunkin Donuts products. The opening band was called Death of Fashion. The music emitted by the band was even worse than the name of the band. Two of them dudes wore suspenders. So thin as to be non-functioning. Thankfully, the banner behind the stage, a large collage image from Pollard's "Standard Gargoyle Decisions"record, had genuine visual impact. Mr. Robert Pollard did the rock job like a proud factotum and amazingly sang for 2 and one-half hours. During that time 3 bear-like dudes mounted the stage and tried to sing backup vocals. One of them managed to distract the crowd for a few seconds while he contested his ejection into the conveniently situated alleyway just off stage right. It was a cool crowd with the exception of a few hilljacks who careened among the fans with a disoriented oxycontin-induced stagger that made the even most hardcore punks and Goths cringe with overt fear. The cow mask wearing guy got plenty of love, but was predictably mute, especially when shoving a longneck brewski down his bovine gullet. Pollard's set consisted mainly of recent solo work: he released two albums on the same day this October, on Merge records. There were plenty in attendance who could sing along to the lyrics of those records. Everyone sang when the handful of Guided by Voices songs were played. Newport KY ain't what it used to be. Where once there was only a Travelodge with the sleepy walking bear, there is now a huge vestigial mall, opposite the historic Southgate house. The exact opposite.