November 20 2005: Nada Surf, John Vanderslice – Elysee Montmartre, Paris France
So my friend Harmony and I took a vacation as neither of us had been to Europe before. And we got relatively cheap airline tickets. And a certain group was scheduled to play London later in the week, but for now we were in Paris to (a) look around and (b) drink cheap Bordeaux and (c) see Nada Surf play some french songs IN FRANCE.
Unfortuanately the Bordeaux cut into the first few Vanderslice songs because our tickets clearly stated that someone by the name of Howie Beck was to open the show and that the show was to begin at 730pm. And yes, the tickets were printed in French and no I am not even close to fluent in the language but I maintain that the info presented on the tickets mislead us. Because while we were drinking wine back at the hostel the doors must have opened early and as we arrived at the venue just before 8pm we could hear JV playing inside. Goddamn wine gets me every time.
Vanderslice was playing as a two piece, with just his drummer backing him. It was lots of fun. The room was like a fucking airplane hangar, packed and sold out with all sorts of crazy French-speaking people. Easily the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen JV play to, by a factor of ten. And it was nice to hear his songs arranged slightly differently. “Pale Horse” was really cool, with way less guitar than is normally used on it and with the drums playing not so much of a driving beat throughout.
And the French fucking LOVE Nada Surf. I fucking love Nada Surf. It was a good place to be that night. Lots of good songs. Almost a two-hour show. I hadn’t seen them play since “The Weight is a Gift” was issued, and also since I’d (finally) bought “The Proximity Effect” last month. And then they played “Popular” during the last encore (never seen them do that before, even way back in the proverbial day). Fucking nuts. I love hearing songs live that I was listening to in high school and never thought that maybe I’d see it live in Paris. I love Paris. I love Nada Surf. I love cheap Bordeaux.
Unfortuanately the Bordeaux cut into the first few Vanderslice songs because our tickets clearly stated that someone by the name of Howie Beck was to open the show and that the show was to begin at 730pm. And yes, the tickets were printed in French and no I am not even close to fluent in the language but I maintain that the info presented on the tickets mislead us. Because while we were drinking wine back at the hostel the doors must have opened early and as we arrived at the venue just before 8pm we could hear JV playing inside. Goddamn wine gets me every time.
Vanderslice was playing as a two piece, with just his drummer backing him. It was lots of fun. The room was like a fucking airplane hangar, packed and sold out with all sorts of crazy French-speaking people. Easily the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen JV play to, by a factor of ten. And it was nice to hear his songs arranged slightly differently. “Pale Horse” was really cool, with way less guitar than is normally used on it and with the drums playing not so much of a driving beat throughout.
And the French fucking LOVE Nada Surf. I fucking love Nada Surf. It was a good place to be that night. Lots of good songs. Almost a two-hour show. I hadn’t seen them play since “The Weight is a Gift” was issued, and also since I’d (finally) bought “The Proximity Effect” last month. And then they played “Popular” during the last encore (never seen them do that before, even way back in the proverbial day). Fucking nuts. I love hearing songs live that I was listening to in high school and never thought that maybe I’d see it live in Paris. I love Paris. I love Nada Surf. I love cheap Bordeaux.
posted by Peter Sohriakoff | 1:03 PM
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