Live music review: Nada Surf’s 3TEN at ACL Live two-night run was special
A group with the kind of musical chops Nada Surf displays on stage is the perfect band for a room with premium sound and lighting like 3TEN at ACL Live. The small club located on the ground floor of the ACL Live building has the same million-dollar sound system as the big room upstairs. What’s more, the stage and lighting provide ample quality line-of-sight views for all 400 plus fans in the room. The patio door also opens up to Second Street so passersby can see and hear the music being performed inside. In short, we can’t think of a better venue to host the indie-pop act showcasing their seminal record, Let Go which dropped nearly a decade after their initial hit single in 1996. Nada Surf’s 15th anniversary performance of the record was special. The band’s core fans showed up in large numbers, selling out both evenings the band booked.
The show opened with two members of the band singing a capela, introductory song, “Blizzard of ’77.” Lead singer Matthew Caws stepped onto the stage to cheers as the entire band delved into the rest of Let Go for a truly special opening set. It was amusing to hear the group sing in French (“Pour La Ca”) but extremely impressive to hear the song performed live. It felt as though the audience were being transferred to a different time and place with the fog machines and pro-style lighting schemes.
The second set had a less formal feel to it. The band appeared to loosen up after they’d gotten through the anniversary album performance. With the mood lighter, Nada Surf ramped up the tempo, including a Joy Division medley that had fans flashing back to the synth driven UK 80s scene. Even with an extended two-set performance, the band wasn’t done playing when the show ended. Instead, the band headed off stage on onto the street with Caws carrying his acoustic onto the patio to get closer to fans.
We spotted venue booker, Jack McFadden (a huge Nada Surf fan) watching quietly from the back of the room near the end of the show. He looked pleased with himself as he should have given the success of the two-night stand of truly exceptional music.
Nada Surf continues their Let Go tour in Europe through November. Perhaps fans will get lucky and they’ll add more U.S. dates? Until then, do yourself a favor and add their music to your playlist. We suspect you’ll be ready to buy Let Go (or another title) before long.
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