[ATTENDED: January 30, 2020] Nada Surf
I’ve been a fan of Nada Surf for a really long time. I was so excited to see them live two years ago (on the 20th anniversary tour for Let Go). That was two sets and a ton of music.
I was pretty excited that t hey were coming back to World Cafe Live to tour for their soon to be released album.
I arrived just in time for the opening act and was really surprised at how empty the venue was (last time it was packed to the rafters). By the time Nada Surf came on, though, it was pretty crowded, so that’s good. Nevertheless I was right up front. So close that I could read Matthew’s water bottle.
I assumed that the last show was so comprehensive (all of Let Go, plus a full set of 20 songs) that there wouldn’t be a lot of difference in this show. And I didn’t mind at all, because there’s hardly a dud in their entire musical output).
Amazingly they played NINE new songs at this show (including three brand new ones). And as I was comparing the setlists, I couldn’t believe some of the songs they didn’t play last time–and that show was so good I didn’t even miss these terrific songs. Well done, Nada Surf!
This show was also a little bit different because Doug Gillard from Guided By Voices is no longer in the band. I don’t know why (I guess he’s back with GBV?), so that changed things a bit. But Gillard was replaced by a dedicated keyboardist Louis Lino who had a microphone but didn’t really use it.
Rather, this was basically Nada Surf as a trio–and they fell back in to the ways of a trio very easily , with Matthew caws playing some wonderful guitar solos throughout the night.
They opened with “Looking Through” a song that I didn’t exactly recognize and which I thought was new until the guy behind me was singing along (it’s possible I don’t know the Stars album all that well–gasp).
Then it was on to “Whose Authority” a song that I absolutely love (and which in retrospect I can’t believe they didn’t play last time!). Matthew Caw’s voice sounds just fantastic after all of these years and the songs continue to sound fantastic.
Last time, I noticed how great Daniel Lorca’s bass sound is. I just love it and I realized while listening to a song like “Hi-Speed Soul” that his bass contributes so much to so many songs. It’s never flashy or show-offy, but it’s so much more than just following the main melody line. He’s also a lot of fun to watch.
Up next was another song they didn’t play last time, the beautiful “Friend Hospital” which manages to have two catchy parts in different sections of the song.
Then they jumped back to their debut for “The Plan.” This song has the best juxtaposition of slow and mellow to super fast punky ending. The chords at the end of the song are so intense and fast and work perfectly with the previous line “I need a map to get us out of this town.” I love the way this song is constructed.
So the dudes behind me were huge fans of the band. Amazingly though they talked about how much they loved the band all the way through the songs! You can even hear him saying “great line” after the map lyric above. Why did he feel the need to talk through the show? Do I do concerts incorrectly? Are you supposed to talk with your friends while the band is playing?
They played the cool and somewhat creepy “Killian’s Red” (as the stage lights turned all red). Then after one more brand new song “So Much Love,” they played a song from Let Go, “Inside of Love,” another gorgeous, sad song.
Last show I couldn’t see drum Ira Elliott all that well. I had a good view of him tonight and noticed that he contributed a lot of backing vocals as well.
The rest of the set included songs from throughout their albums. A wonderful “What is Your Secret” was followed by one of my favorite songs (heck, they’re all my favorite songs), “Beautiful Beat,” which they did not play last time.
Somewhere in the middle of the set Daniel needed a cigarette. I’m not sure if he ever lit it, but at some point I noticed he had one in his mouth. I laughed when he was able to sing backing vocals with it in his mouth and then when he apparently spit it out as it went bouncing across the stage.
After the lovely “Cold to See Clear” and the fantastic “Blonde on Blonde” they played “Hyperspace” from their second album.
They played another new song, “Looking For You” and Matthew told us that although the album was coming out next week, we could buy a copy tonight (which I did).
After “Paper Boats” they played “See These Bones” which has such a cool chorus. I know that the phrasing of it is not unique, but it’s such a cool conceit for a chorus:
Look alive
See these bones
What you are now: we were once
Just like we are: You will be dust
Just like we are: Permanent
Nada Surf lyrics area ll about living life now. And about love, of course.
After “Bones” a roadie brought a lyric sheet out and they started playing the new single, “Something I Should Do.” I didn’t think too much of it until I realized that this is the song with the big spoken section at the end.
So he had the lyrics to that final section printed on the paper and it blew my mind that while he obviously knew them (he wrote them) he had to read them for this part. But the real mind-blowing part is that he could read them while playing guitar AND while getting the chord changes (and the tempo change) perfectly on time. 
I was asked to write a song about social media
And I didn’t want to anyway I’m pretty hooked
So don’t feel I’m in much of a position to critique it
And self-critique is loaded for me
Anyway because I have plenty of that
And while I know that people can identify with it and get
Comfort from hearing someone else address themselves sternly
I’m also trying to get away from self-regard in
General even though the unexamined life is not worth living
More opposing truths, they’re everywhere
Still training to to hold them
I’m trying to look out
Leave the mirror out of it
See the tree and contemplate it
And not question who or what
I am in a relation to the tree but I don’t know what it means
Yet that we are partially migrating into a silent conversation
It seems to be increasing unity and tripalism at once
And maybe the two are racing now without a finish line
I was going to say that likely few got goid thinking
Done during the seventeenth century
Dutch tulip craze and this is not so different
But I’ve recently been heartened and disappointed to learn
That story was greatly exaggerated
Anyway we’re crazy but also we’re not crazy
But we’re complicated
And we want things to be simple
And we polarize into camps and we harden and entrench
And distort and amplify and shut down and entrech some more
Now you don’t have to joine a drum circle
And get all peace and love and haight ashbury
And anyway that took
Only a few months to turn into a bad
Scene hard drug where some people will rob you
And you can’t be too open but the
Hippies sure had a point empathy is good
Lack or empathy is bad
And now the lines or non facts waiting to
Get in the conversation are longer and longer
And some people can’t be beat in an argument
We have to hold to that hippie point harder
Empathy is good lack of empathy is bad
Holy math says we are never not together
Amazing.
Last time I really wanted to request “Meow Meow Lullaby” a children’s song that they released. After that show I told Matthew that I wanted to request it and he said they do play it from time to time. I was just five feet away from him but I never had the chance to request the song (it’s a weird request for sure). They kept the show moving a long pretty swiftly with hardly a pause for shouting out requests.
The band took a short break and the roadie replaced the lyric sheet with an acoustic guitar.
Matthew came out with his acoustic guitar while Daniel and Ira stood at the other microphone singing harmonies as Matthew sang a gorgeous “Blizzard of 77.”
Then they played the always beautiful “Always Love.” Its such a wonderful sentiment.
They ended the set with one of the most fun rocking songs in their catalog, the delightfully vulgar “Blankest Year.” The opening lyric: “Oh fuck it, I’m gonna have a party.” They played this last time too and of course the audience loves to sing along to the fuck it FUCK IT! part.
They played this song for a nice long jam, but when it seemed like it was over it turned out that Daniel wasn’t willing to let the song go yet. He put his bass on the ground and just kept the song going with a low rumble until Matthew gave us another couple of choruses to sing along to. It was a really fun ending to a fantastic set.
As the band put there instruments down, I watched as Ira walked to the front of his drum kit to shout “thank you” into his bass drum microphone. He made me laugh even further as he stood at the front of the stage, arms raised accepting adulation while he mouthed the words “I’m the drummer!”
Matthew is always willing to hang out after the show to meet fans and sign merch. They had two gorgeous posters for sale this time so I got one of each and he very graciously signed both of them.
I told him to please tell Daniel (who doesn’t come out to say hi) how much I loved his bass work and Matthew seemed to appreciate hearing that for his friend. He seems like a genuinely decent person and I’m glad that the new album is getting really good reviews.
I also just saw that they are playing in Jersey City in a couple of months. Maybe I need to drag S. to see what a wonderful show they play.
SETLISTS
| 2020 | 2018 |
| Looking Through ♦ | Set 1 |
| Whose Authority £ | Blizzard of ’77 ‰ |
| Hi-Speed Soul ‰ | Happy Kid ‰ |
| Friend Hospital ⊗ | Inside of Love ‰ |
| The Plan ⇔ | Fruit Fly ‰ |
| Killian’s Red ‰ | Blonde on Blonde ‰ |
| So Much Love ⊄ | Hi-Speed Soul ‰ |
| Inside of Love ‰ | Killian’s Red ‰ |
| What Is Your Secret? ϖ | The Way You Wear Your Head ‰ |
| Beautiful Beat £ | Neither Heaven nor Space ‰ |
| Cold To See Clear ⊗ | Là Pour Ça ‰ |
| Blonde on Blonde ‰ | Treading Water ‰ |
| Hyperspace ≅ | Paper Boats ‰ |
| Looking for You ⊄ | Set 2 |
| Paper Boats ‰ | Imaginary Friends ϖ |
| See These Bones £ | Teenage Dreams ♦ |
| Something I Should Do ⊄ | What Is Your Secret? ϖ |
| encore | Cold To See Clear ⊗ |
| Blizzard of ’77 ‰ | No Snow on the Mountain ♦ |
| Always Love ϖ | Out of the Dark ⊗ |
| Blankest Year ϖ | Your Legs Grow ϖ |
| Dispossession ≅ | |
| Do It Again ϖ | |
| No Quick Fix ‰ (European pressing) | |
| Firecracker ≅ | |
| Robot ≅ | |
| Stalemate ⇔ | |
| > Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division cover) | |
| The Fox £ | |
| Amateur ≅ | |
| See These Bones £ | |
| Encore | |
| Popular ⇔ | |
| Always Love ϖ | |
| Blankest Year ϖ |
⇔ = High/Low, 1996
≅ = The Proximity Effect, 1998
‰ = Let Go, 2003
ϖ = The Weight is a Gift, 2005
£ = Lucky, 2008
♦ = The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy, 2012
⊗ = You Know Who You Are, 2016
⊄ = Never Not Together, 2020
Leave a Reply