Nada Surf - Live at the 8x10

Its taken me three days to actually be able to process my thoughts enough to post about this amazing show. Laurent the Laurent has posted about Sea Wolf opening this show, and I second everything he wrote. They were a great opener, but the crowd was there for the main event. This was the second sellout crowd for Nada Surf at the 8x10 club in lovely Federal Hill in Baltimore.

Nada Surf took the stage to a serious ovation. They commented on how it was great to be back, and thanked the crowd for coming out. They opened the show with Happy Kid, but about a minute into the song, Matthew stopped playing, and said something along the lines of, "forget all that, I'm really in the bathroom right now," and ran off stage only to return with a different guitar. He quickly reiterated all the previous remarks, and started Happy Kid again. This set a playful and loose mood for the set that would ensure a good time for all. After rocking through a few favorites, the real nature of the show and the crowd was revealed when they played Fruit Flies. It would have been great no matter what, but when the song got to the whole "I'm sorry, you've got no where to go" part, the Matthew let the crowd sing along, and WOW, what a moment. I've seen a LOT of Nada Surf shows, but never have I witnessed a crowd so well versed in their music, or so into the show. All throughout the set, the crowd sung along loudly (myself included). It's great to see that people have finally discovered this incredible talent.

Anywho, Nada Surf rocked through an amazing set that included two new songs, Whose Authority and I Like What You Say which can be found here as part of a live acoustic show. The new material sounds great; Certainly they fit well with the Nada Surf library of music.

As far as the older material, Nada Surf really brought the fire to this show. Maybe it was because this was the last date of this tour, or maybe because of the great crowd, but they played at a whole new level. Every transition was sharp. Matthews voice sounded better then I've ever heard. They were clearly having a good time on stage.

The last two songs of the main set, Paper Boats and Hyperspace rocked to no end, with extra crazy jamming at the ends, that included Matthew playing his guitar on his mic stand during Hyperspace. After a very brief break which had the crowd chanting Nada Surf, they returned to the stage and brought with them Lisa Fendelander, the keyboardist from Sea Wolf to play the accordion for Blonde on Blonde. It was a nice addition to the song. After absolutely killing Do It Again, the crowd got another bonus. Alex Church, the front man of Sea Wolf joined the band for a song. I don't know what it was called, but it was pretty cool. After that, they closed the set with Always Love and a crazy singalong version of Blankest Year that had the crowd screaming "fuck it" back at the stage. The song concluded with two separate crazy breakdowns, only to return to the main of the song.

What else can I say. This was easily the best Nada Surf show I've ever seen. I can't wait for the new album in February, or the tour that is sure to bring them back to Baltimore. Wow. I sound like a total fan boy. I guess I am.

Do It Again
Blizzard of 77
See These Bones

Full Setlist:

Happy Kid
Hi Speed Soul
What is Your Secret
Fruit Flies
Killians Red
Whose Authority
Blizzard of 77
Concrete Bed
Inside of Love
80 Windows
I like What You Say
Imaginary Friends
Paper Boats
Hyperspace

Blonde on Blonde
Do It Again
The Killing Moon by Echo and the Bunnymen w/ Alex Church
Always Love
Blankest Year

Update:

A new Nada Surf song called "Weightless" will be featured on Heroes tonight. Even more reason to watch the best show on TV.