Any love of Nada Surf out there??
gimmesometruth27
St. Fuckin Louis Posts: 23,305
absolutely love these guys. each album gets better than the last one. very heartfelt lyrics and really hooky songs. they are huge in europe but are relatively unknown in the states, and it is a shame that they are not more well known here. they are probably the most humble band that i have ever met, just super nice guys and they put on a great show and do not take themselves too seriously. who is with me on this?
"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
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www.cluthelee.com
www.cluthe.com
Fargo 2003
Winnipeg 2005
Winnipeg 2011
St. Paul 2014
About 2-3 yrs ago I heard they were coming to Florida, so i took a few days off from work and went to three shows in four days. They started in Jacksonville, then Orlando, and ended in Miami.
The show in Jax was awesome! but there werent too many people there. I did, however, get a chance to chill with Matthew (lead singer, guitar), and a little with the bass player. When he found out that I drove five hours he was amazed and told me to send him an email and he would get me on the 'list' for the other shows I was going to. Fuck yeah.
So we arrived in Orlando the next day and found ou they were doing a short acoustic set at a record shoppe around the corner, so we went to that too. Then later that night we went to the venue and it was PACKED! Sold out! But Matthew got me and my girlfriend on the list, so we got in free/vip. That show was in-fucking-credible. When they end with that 'aw-fuck-it' song, the place went nuts. I dont even think they play 'Popular' much. Funny thing though, after the show, We were walking to a back alley place for some pizza, and I ran into Matthew again! he hung with us a bit when we got pizza, but he was mostly talking on the phone (I assume to a g/f back home or something).
So, two days later I almost didnt make it to Miami because I was so tired fomr all the traveling and the show was a monday night. But I got another email from MAtthew, and he put us on the list for that one too. What a fucking stellar dude. SO I wnet of course, and it was worth it. The show rocked, but there arent too many pepoel in Miami that ar einto cool music (or maybe cause it was amonday), it wasnt too crowded.
They absolutley kill it live and the vocal harmonies ane amazing.
Also on a side note, their opening band was called the Republic Tigers, and we hug with those guys too. They are stand up fellas and have some amazing music. Buy the third show, I was just as excited to see the opening band as I was to see Nada Surf.
They're just one of those bands that sound absolutely perfect live.
Back when Let Go had just come out, they were playing the Middle East Upstairs in Cambridge, MA. A very small venue with an attached restaurant. The band was just hanging out in a booth in the restaurant before the show so I started talking to them. After I told them that I was playing Let Go for everyone I knew and that everyone I played it for was absolutely loving it, they invited me to sit down and write the show's setlist. When I added Bacardi and Paper Boats, Matthew mentioned that they hadn't played either of those songs in a long time (and seemed to be skeptical about having them in the setlist). Daniel (bassist) jumps in and says "that's ok. we can just soundcheck it in the hallway before we go on."
Later during the show, Matthew calls me out by name and says they are dedicating the show to me, something about how they disappeared for a while, but it's people like me who are turning people on to their music that have kept them around as a band.
Absolutely awesome.
"what's wrong?"
"nothing."
"are you sure nothing's wrong?"
"yeah"
"but you are sad about something?"
"yeah"
"so tell me what, i don't know."
"i can't tell you,
i can't tell you..."
because i had recently gone through a breakup with my girlfriend at that time and we had a lot of conversations like that where she was really distant. and he said that is why he wrote that because he had experienced the same conversation before as well. i told him i was in a band and we were trying to cover "hyperspace" but we could not figure out the chords for the chorus. Matthew said to "stick around after the show and i will show you, it is a bunch of weird chords that i don't know what they are called, so it is best to just show you. i will have security let you guys backstage." so they played the show and he dedicated paper boats "to our friend rod who made the trip from st. louis" and he pointed at me, which i thought was cool, embarrassing but cool. after the show we stuck around and he brought out his 70's gibson acoustic and he showed me how he plays hyperspace and blizzard of '77. he made me play those parts over and over until i got it down. it was so cool and surreal to be sitting there on the stage of the blue note with matthew caws giving me a private guitar lesson on a guitar he has played in countless youtube videos and live shows. it is the best sounding acoustic i have ever played. how many world touring musicians would ever do that? after that i saw them on the weight is a gift tour, but i did not hang out with thsm that time. they had gotten pretty big and had a lot of people around them so i just said hello and went home. then on the lucky tour we went to chicago and saw them back to back nights, and then back in st. louis the next night and got to hang with them before and after all of those shows. i learned a lot from matthew and daniel as far as guitar tone and how to keep things simple. matthew does not use distortion pedals, he uses 3 amps, one clean, one mildly distorted, and one heavily distorted and he combines 2 or all 3 to get that layered tone he has. i never ever would have thought to do that before i talked shop with those guys. daniel does the same thing. he said "get a really good amp and use that for clean, and find the shittiest amp you can find and use that one for distortion", and that was a good tip too.
overall they are super nice guys and deserve much more success than they have here in the states, but they are under the radar, and to me it is pretty cool to be a band for nearly 20 years and still be able to walk down the streets of new york and have people not recognize or bother you.
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
:shock:
That is fucking badass.
I asked him to play "Are you lightning?" -- and he was all for it, but I asked him to play "in the Mirror" and he acted all weird. He said he hadnt played that one in a long time... I wonder if it is too hard to re-create live, or maybe it was just too sentimental for him for some reason.
Awesome stories here about this killer band. I am always amazed that they arent bigger than they are.
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."