Nouvelle Vague, live at The Brook 31 January 2008

How often do you go to see a band and you don't know what they look like??

Lack of research on my part maybe, but it did add somewhat to the air of anticipation as I stood at The Brook waiting for Nouvelle Vague to appear on stage.
Loving the first album and disappointed by the second, I was also unsure what to expect from the set - and the tempo of the evening. Chilled, at the very least.
A third major ingredient in my anxiety was the presence of Mrs Birdsong beside me - we just don't agree on anything to do with music and have agreed to disagree on the subject for many years.

So in that respect, NV are a refreshing change - something we both like. Time to bury the hatchet with the management of The Brook, who I have struggled to forgive since they spectacularly failed to walk round the corner to my house personally in 1997 and announce the return of John Foxx...

But if I can teach you one thing, my son it is this – never assume, unless you are prepared to be wrong.

I should at eats have known they use two vocalists. Phoebe and Melanie (???) take centre stage and sing so well together, and separately, that only two songs in (The Hanging Garden ? and Ever Fallen In Love) was clear that this going to be a rare treat. Mind you, I am a sucker for tall girls, and shiny red shoes.

Phoebe has that beautiful light of madness in her eyes, and her performance of Human Fly (The Cramps) was breath-taking. She took the song to a whole new level, and introduced me to a much darker, Gothic and sinister side of the band. Her later dramatic interpretation of Bela Lugosi (Bauhaus) oozed credibility and confidence like blood from a coffin.
Perfectly followed by a rendition of Enola Gay (OMD) that practically brought the house down! This was Melanie's moment of glory, singing/talking/whispering with just a very low, melancholic keyboard humming in the background.

Other highlights of a set that was much more up-tempo and dance-worthy than I expected were the drum-and-voice solo of Grey Day (Madness) and the seven-minute jazz/baroque/bossa-nova heavy-on-the-double bass interpretation of The Dead Kennedy's Too Drunk (To F*ck)

Nouvelle Vague prove very effectively that experimental music isn't necessarily about making weird noises. You can muck around with arrangements and interpretation with the same effect - no-one is quite sure what to expect, and its a fairly safe bet they won't have heard anything quite like it before.

It's all in the shoes, and I Just Can't get Enough.

7/10. Surprising. Refreshing and sexy. Disappointing encore and over-priced at £16.50

Bande A Parte Nouvelle Vague