This weekend I ventured down to Regent Street to see
Nada Surf at the Annex.
Rogue Wave and
Inara George were opening. The backstory: back in the day I bought Nada Surf's
High/Low for the expressed purpose of getting the song
"Popular." As with most of the CDs I bought during high school, this one went into the closet and gathered dust. Then about a year and a half ago, I found it and gave it a spin, again for the purpose of hearing "Popular" for the high school flashback it was sure to bring. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that the rest of the album was really good. I remember not being very impressed back in high school, but I had shitty taste back then.
Fast forward to several weeks ago. I am shopping for new CDs with the sister and I see the newest release from Nada Surf,
The Weight Is A Gift. I buy it and give it a listen. It is one of the best new CDs that I have gotten this year (and for those who know me this is no hollow compliment). Then the following week my friend Natan informs me that Nada Surf is playing Madison. What timing!
The show was great. I love seeing live music, more so when I know the songs. I met up with Natan, Chris, Bart and Dave at Lucky's on Regent (the former Oakcrest - I'll have to tell stories about that establishment later). We originally planned on meeting at Dotty's, but the hockey game made things a bit crazy in the vicinity of the Kohl Center. The show was at 9:30 and we were a bit early, enough so that we played five games of pool and had a few rounds. Natan and I ventured across the street to a coffee shop, where we managed to finish mammoth mugs before being chased out by some student showing his thesis movie, something about the relation of time and comic books. Then it was time to head on in.
The opening act was a singer named Inara George. She played guitar with another guitarist and keyboardist accompanying. I enjoyed her music, although a venue such as the Annex was a little too large for that type of music, in my opinion.
Rogue Wave was the second act. I had heard several songs by this band on internet radio as well as multiple reviews promoting them. I came very close to getting their newest album,
Decended By Vultures, from iTunes the Friday prior to the show, but decided against it at the last minute. This was probably a mistake. I was very impressed by the band's sound, and although I didn't know the lyrics I was still very engrossed in the music. They are definitely going on the list of things to buy.
Nada Surf came on as I was outside cooling off. It was pretty warm in the Annex, and I didn't think to leave my coat in the car. I came in halfway through the first song and didn't miss a beat for the rest of the show. The band played a good amount of their new songs off of
The Weight Is A Gift. I didn't expect to hear anything off of
High/Low, but I was pleasantly surprised by "Stalemate," which included an Echo and the Bunnymen cover in the middle of the song. I did have to chastise Natan a bit, since he desperately wanted to hear "Blonde on Blonde," which of course was left for the encore. I recall the phrase was "petulant bastard."
After the encore I made my way to the merch table and decided that I would buy either the new Rogue Wave or the previous Nada Surf,
Let Go, whichever I could get first. This turned out to be Nada Surf. I am enjoying this as much as their newest.
Next up, Th' Legendary Shackshakers at the High Noon on the 16th. E and I saw them last year, and it was epic. This year I am hoping for more of the same, although we'll try to avoid speeding tickets and potentially worse on the way home.
