Results tagged “joydivision”

What's new and/or interesting at Philly theaters this weekend.

Admittedly, when we were contacted by Fair to Midland's publicist, we agreed to cover tonight's show at the TLA (yeah, yeah, the Fillmore) without having ever heard a Fair to Midland song, owing solely to the fact that we liked the band's name. (We're big fans of "clever.") Also to the fact that we tend to be supportive of anything non-political that comes out of Texas. So we requested a copy of the band's debut CD and two tickets, and away we went.

by Vin Varstin

The band emerged onto a darkened stage, to a background of computer-provided crickets and wind. From the moment they launched into "A Forest," Nouvelle Vague had the audience. Stripped down to drums, guitar, computer and a pair of singers, the band seemed tiny on the imposingly huge and high stage of the World Café Live. The space seemed divorced entirely from the smoky jostle of the punk clubs and the intimacy of the jazz lounges that were natural habitats of the band’s twin musical inspirations. But even in the cavernous enormity of the venue, the band gave a show impossible to ignore.

By now you’ve probably heard of Nouvelle Vague, the French band covering songs of the English new wave in the loungey style of Brazilian bossanova. They’re on the stereo at your hipster friends’ parties, they’re showing up on every list as one of the best breakout albums of the summer, and most recently, they’re on the soundtrack for a T-Mobile commercial. And now the band is bound for World Café Live, the Philadelphia stop on their American tour.