Nouvelle Vague - Joe's Pub, 4.12.05



Nouvelle Vague's self-titled album last year was a remarkably satisfying listen considering the concept - acoustic bossanova covers of new wave and post-punk classics. By stripping each song down to its core and reimagining the context, they avoided being a novelty act - but my guess is they'll still be remembered more from mixtapes. On Tuesday, though, they showed they could also bring the goods live at a fun show at Joe's Pub.

Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux handle all of Nouvelle Vague's music, with a rotating cast of French singers handling the vocals. They brought only Camille and Melanie with them on tour, but both had great stage presence. They started the show with The Cure's "A Forest" and, by design, stuck to the hits from there. They played most of the album - "Just Can't Get Enough," "Love Will Tear Us Apart," "Making Plans for Nigel," "(This Is Not A) Love Song" (my favorite), "Teenage Kicks," and more. They also played some new ones, including "Bizarre Love Triangle" - which was good, but Frente did it first. "Guns of Brixton" was a standout, with Camille adding a nice scat trumpet solo at the end - closer to Michael Winslow than Sarah Vaughan. But "Too Drunk To F*ck" is the tune everyone will remember from this show. During the bridge, the singers said they weren't drunk enough - so they walked back to the bar. By the time I realized what was happening, they were standing on top of the bar and Camille was taking swigs (!) from a bottle of Courvoisier. They brought the bottle back on stage with them and picked the song up where they left off. Can't say I've seen that before.

All in all, a good time. This isn't the kind of show that'll blow your mind, but it was definitely entertaining. And it reminded me that Joe's Pub is one of the best venues for live music in NYC. I don't end up there often, but I always love it - great views, sound, and atmosphere. If only they could do something about those $9 vodka tonics.

(My pictures are a little blurry, BTW, but they were coming out much better without a flash. There are a couple more shots after the jump.)