[ATTENDED: November 21, 2021] Nada Surf [rescheduled from May 28, 2020 and April 18, 2021]
This is my third timing seeing Nada Surf and I decided that S. needed to see them as well.
This was the third time for this show and I was delighted that it finally happened. And at the nearby (relatively) White Eagle Hall.
My plan was to not get too close to the stage, but we were so early that it was hard not to get too close (especially as the taller guys start filling in the gaps).
The one difference for this show was that bassist Daniel Lorca was not there. He had hurt his leg and had to miss the tour.
Friends, we sadly have to report that Daniel can’t be with us for the November US tour due to knee and ankle injuries he recently suffered. In his place will be the band’s longtime friend Ed Valauskas of The Gravel Pit. Here’s to a speedy recovery!
I wasn’t familiar with The Gravel Pit, but Valauskas did a great job. Although I did miss Lorca’s dreadlocks and unique bass sound.
Their set was an excellent mix of songs from throughout their nine song career. It was interesting that they essentially played all of the songs that the previous time I saw them in 2020 (one of the few bands I saw in 2020), but they added all of the new songs on top of it. So this concert was six songs longer!
We had a great time except for the woman in front of us.
I’ve noticed most of my complaints about concerts are the other people. And, it often seems to be women that I’m complaining about. Which I feel bad about, but which is the unfortunate truth. Perhaps I just go to more shows that women like.
Women tend to get drunker than men or, perhaps the women act differently when they get drunk. The men tend to get loud and/or pushy and probably get tossed out. Women tend to get loud and pushy but tend not to get tossed out. So this woman was unbelievable. She loudly yelled how Nada Surf was her favorite band, so I forgave some of her behavior.
Then when a guy stepped close to her she turned around and shoved him (he hadn’t done anything, I could clearly see) and yelled at him to give her space. She got into a serious yelling match with this poor guy. Later on, she did the same thing to another guy. And, craziest of all, during the encore break, she jumped on the stage and took the keyboard player’s set list.
This finally caused a security guard to come over and have a chat with him. But she seemed to charm him and he left her alone. When the keyboardist came out though, he was pissed that his setlist was gone and asked someone to return it. But she didn’t.
It was crazy to hear him singing “Always Love” while she was picking a fight with some guy. Matthew Caws even had to say something to her while she was pushing the guy around. Nice way to act in front of your favorite band.
And the worst thing was that her daughter was there with her the whole time! How embarrassing to see your mother act like that. And how terrible that that was our biggest takeaway from the show.
But it didn’t ruin the night by any means, because the band was terrific, they were really happy to be back on familiar turf (the Tri-state area) and they played a ton of songs. They even played their old song “Popular” but had Mia Berrin from Pom Pom Squad sing it. So that was fun (Pom Pom Squad have since recorded and released their cover of it).
A few days before the show I had asked Matthew (on Instagram) if they could sing “The Meow Meow Meow Song,” a song that they released on a children’s compilation that we used to sing to our kids. The last time I saw them he said they did play it from time to time.
When the set was over (after a five song encore), Matthew stepped up front with an acoustic guitar and holy shit I thought they were going to play it. But it turned out they were playing a (gorgeous) acoustic version of “Blizzard of ’77.”
And that was very cool, even if they didn’t play my request.
Usually after the shows, Matthew hangs out by the merch table and chats and takes photos. Because of COVID, he didn’t do that, but that’s okay, it got us home just that much earlier.
| November 2021 | January 2020 | March 2018 |
| So Much Love ⊄ | Looking Through ♦ | Set 1 |
| Hi-Speed Soul ‰ | Whose Authority £ | Blizzard of ’77 ‰ |
| The Plan ⇔ | Hi-Speed Soul ‰ | Happy Kid ‰ |
| Friend Hospital ⊗ | Friend Hospital ⊗ | Inside of Love ‰ |
| Killian’s Red ‰ | The Plan ⇔ | Fruit Fly ‰ |
| Looking Through ♦ | Killian’s Red ‰ | Blonde on Blonde ‰ |
| Inside of Love ‰ | So Much Love ⊄ | Hi-Speed Soul ‰ |
| Concrete Bed ϖ | Inside of Love ‰ | Killian’s Red ‰ |
| What Is Your Secret? ϖ | What Is Your Secret? ϖ | The Way You Wear Your Head ‰ |
| Something’s Growing Inside (The Gravel Pit cover) | Beautiful Beat £ | Neither Heaven nor Space ‰ |
| Happy Kid ‰ | Cold To See Clear ⊗ | Là Pour Ça ‰ |
| Beautiful Beat £ | Blonde on Blonde ‰ | Treading Water ‰ |
| Cold To See Clear ⊗ | Hyperspace ≅ | Paper Boats ‰ |
| Do It Again ϖ | Looking for You ⊄ | Set 2 |
| Live Learn and Forget ⊄ | Paper Boats ‰ | Imaginary Friends ϖ |
| Blonde on Blonde ‰ | See These Bones £ | Teenage Dreams ♦ |
| Mathilda ⊄ | Something I Should Do ⊄ | What Is Your Secret? ϖ |
| Hyperspace ≅ | encore | Cold To See Clear ⊗ |
| Looking for You ⊄ | Blizzard of ’77 ‰ | No Snow on the Mountain ♦ |
| See These Bones £ | Always Love ϖ | Out of the Dark ⊗ |
| Something I Should Do ⊄ | Blankest Year ϖ | Your Legs Grow ϖ |
| encore | Dispossession ≅ | |
| Just Wait ⊄ | Do It Again ϖ | |
| The Way You Wear Your Head ‰ | No Quick Fix ‰ (European pressing) | |
| Popular (with Mia Berrin of Pom Pom Squad) ⇔ | Firecracker ≅ | |
| Always Love ϖ | Robot ≅ | |
| Blankest Year ϖ | Stalemate ⇔ | |
| Blizzard of ’77 ‰ (acoustic) | > Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division cover) | |
| The Fox £ | ||
| Amateur ≅ |
⇔ = 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
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