So my company held an awards ceremony this afternoon, followed by a themed reception (saying that my company does themes well is just a bit of an understatement). I'm actually not really sure what this theme was - the decorations were all tropical, there were Sudanese dancers, a lot of fake smoke, and some bizarre culinary selections. I'm actually home earlier than I planned to be this evening because I tried both alligator tail nuggets and an ostrich fajita - and while I'm brave enough to eat two animals I've only seen in zoos, I wasn't brave enough to hit the gym immediately after. So you get the Nada Surf/Rogue Wave review early.
I only say Nada Surf and Rogue Wave because rock o'clock came early last night and I missed opening band The King of France. I have never known an Exit/In show to begin any earlier than an hour after the time on the ticket, but for some reason last night's concert started promptly at 8. By the time I got there, the band was on its last song, which I only heard while waiting in line outside. Which is sad, because my friends actually gave them a decent review. Next time, I guess.
Rogue Wave came on next, and probably played for about an hour. I don't have any pictures because in my hurry to get out of the house, I left my camera behind, but suffice it to say bass player Evan Farrell makes a hell of a lot of unnecessary odd faces when he sings and plays. It was rather entertaining, but also kind of distracting. Rogue Wave as a whole was pretty impressive, but they didn't really wow me as much as I wanted them to. Descended Like Vultures, which made my top 15 of 2005, is a fairly low-key album, and while the band is a little more rock in the live setting, they didn't have that spark that makes you a bigger fan for having seen them. I loved their whole set, would see them again, and would recommend them, but I think my expectations were a bit too high.
Nada Surf, on the other hand, surprised me. I of course had heard "Popular" back in the day, wrote the band off as a one-hit-wonder, and was shocked to discover Let Go years later - there was no way that silly song I sang in school could possibly have come from the band responsible for "Blonde on Blonde." And while 2005's The Weight Is a Gift was a nice album, I thought it was a bit on the wimpy side and lacking a real rock edge. But last night I could finally see where that fluke of an MTV hit came from - because Nada Surf is still that fun rock band that kinda reminds you of high school. And I mean that in the best way possible.
Part of my impression last night probably came from the audience - I think the average age was a little young. And Matthew Caws still looks like that kid who sat next to you in homeroom - striped polo shirt, shaggy haircut, easy banter with the kids around him. He even made a few comments about that awful Sunday night feeling you get when you still have all that homework... but the TBS Sunday night movie is on (Do you do your homework, or do you watch the movie? And if you didn't have homework, would you still watch the movie?). It's strange, I've been seeing so many "new" bands lately, and compared to them Nada Surf is so noticeably comfortable on stage. Of course they've been playing together for ten years so they should be, but somehow that comfort is visibly translated into this youthful stage presence. I don't know enough about Nada Surf to say this as a fact, but I imagine their attitude on-stage hasn't changed much in the past ten years. Caws kept remarking that the crowd was "nice", and at one point he marveled at the fact that they sold out Nashville for the first time, even though they play at Exit/In like clockwork every year. They all looked genuinely happy - making eye contact with those who were singing along, noting shouted requests with a "we'll play that one later!", talking about random crap like YouTube. I've always said an audience's attitude is contagious, and now I know that's true of a band as well. The guys in Nada Surf were just likeable.
So Nada Surf pulled off what Rogue Wave really didn't - they had that spark that made me a bigger fan. The live setting brought new depth to songs that I didn't really notice before, and now I'm motivated to get the albums I haven't heard. I'm glad I got to see them play (for more than an hour and a half!), and there's a good chance I'll be there next time they sell out Exit/In.
And since YouTube was mentioned last night, here's Nada Surf doing "Inside of Love" from Let Go, which was a highlight last night:
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