I wish I could remember why I bought Nada Surf’s second album in 2004. I had seen their music video Popular in high school (roughly 2000) … but I never checked out anything else. Mysteriously, my next memory of Nada Surf is in 2004: my senior year of college, listening to their second album in my car on the way back from Ridge winery. I don’t remember how I got the album, why it was in my car, or why I listened to it that day … but it was one of those listens that sticks with you: the one where you start appreciating.
Fast forward another four years to 2008: an article in Paste prompts me to check out their new album, Lucky, and after a good listen online I buy tickets to see two Nada Surf concerts within a month of one another.
That was the path that brought me to the Swedish American House and the Fillmore to see Nada Surf. The first show was an acoustic warm-up for their upcoming tour and the second show was the big show with a full band. It’s no surprise that the acoustic show – which was much smaller – was more interesting because it was more intimate … but what was surprising was how enjoyable the Fillmore show was given how spoiled I had become from the acoustic show.
Per usual, my random takeaways from the shows…
- See These Bones wasn’t very impressive on the album … but it was amazing live (at both shows).
- At the acoustic show, the band joked that their ending high-pitched fade-out of Weightless sounded like a “herd of cats.” At the electric show, the band asked the audience to sing along with them at the end. It sounds decent to me.
- I liked the lead singer’s at the acoustic show that Are You Lightning is not about God; it’s actually about his son.
- The drumming (really just tapping on a wooden box) at the acoustic show seemed utterly simplistic. I probably can’t judge since my only drumming experience is a couple songs in Rock Band … but it really seemed like they used the same beat for just about every song.
- At the acoustic show, I sat one seat down from a 10-year boy celebrating his birthday by attending the show with his parents. I thought it was a little odd … but then at the Fillmore show, there was another young kid there … odd. San Francisco Parenting 101.
- Positively impacting my opinion of both of these shows were my choice seating arrangements: I went alone to the acoustic show and snagged a seat 15 rows from the front … and at the Fillmore show, I went early and sat at the table upstairs closest to the stage. Very nice.
- The show posters for the acoustic three-city pre-tour shows were awesome: each city’s poster fit with the others to make a larger poster. Each poster was normally $10, but since it was the end of the tour, they sold the three-pack for $20 total. I was the last person to get the three-set before they sold out. Those three along with the Fillmore show make me look like a much bigger fan than I really am.
- Last note: Sea Wolf opened at the Fillmore and did a decent job. I familiarized myself before the show and was immediately hooked as Middle Distance Runner started playing … but I haven’t found another song to match it.
That’s it.