Nada Surf – Live at Warm Up Festival 2018 – Murcia, Spain – May 7, 2018 – Radio Nacional España
First off – great concert, strange soundboard mix (vocals are somewhere in the ozone and the bass is heavy) – Second; since it’s a live broadcast by way of RNE Radio 3, there’s a lot of talking between songs – A LOT. Some of it goes over song intros and can be really annoying if you want it to be. That said, this is a nice addition to what is shaping up to being a memorable year for festivals (so far) and a great concert from an essential band. The extra added bonus was a guest appearance by Holly Miranda, one of the “must keep an eye on” singer/songwriters making waves.
In the odd event you aren’t familiar with Nada Surf: Formed in 1992 by Matthew Caws and Daniel Lorca. Concerning the band’s name, Matthew said, “it’s actually referring to something much more existential, it’s just surfing on nothing. Being lost in your head or in your imagination but you know, whenever I listen to music I always find myself off somewhere. Somewhere in space. You know, in mental space and it’s a reference to that.” They met in the Lycée Français de New York; both spent some of their childhood in France and Belgium, and played in many bands, including The Cost of Living and Because Because Because. Their first drummer, Dan (later alluded to in the song “The Plan” from the album High/Low), was replaced by Aaron Conte, with whom the band recorded its first 7″, The Plan/Telescope (1994/Stickboy), as well as the demo tape Tafkans, the raw version of High/Low. Those raw versions were later released on their second 7″, Deeper Well/Pressure Free (1995/Deep Elm Records), on the Karmic EP and on North 6th Street.
Nada Surf’s eighth studio album, You Know Who You Are, with an official release date of March 4, 2016, was released for streaming in late February 2016.
In 2018, for the 15th anniversary of Let Go, the charity cover album Standing At The Gates: The Songs Of Nada Surf’s Let Go was released, benefiting ACLU and The Pablove Foundation. The album features artists such as The Long Winters, Ed Harcourt and Aimee Mann. This is a full-plate year of concertizing; doing an initial swing through the Europe – heading over to the states for gigs in L.A., Seattle, San Francisco and Portland. Heading back over to Europe in August for a pile of dates as well as festival gigs.
Busy year, loaded with concerts worth catching. In the meantime, crank this one up.
