As always, all photos copyright Alex Myers 2004.

Well, damn, this show was a fun delight. About the only acoustic thing was Matthew's amplified guitar. The venue had these high ceilings and wood panels, making the sound just fill the room in a warm glow. Everyone was in a great mood and highly appreciative of the unique experience. The boys tore through "The Proximity Effect" and "Let Go" while previewing several beautiful new songs. Chris Walla (of Death Cab for Cutie) manned the sound board. Did you know that his name anagrams into "acral hipster howl" and "tape whirl scholar"? The boys got a big kick out of the four little paper dolls brought as stand-ins for overseas fans unable to attend the show. Matthew sang "paper boats" for the paper dolls. And making the night even more cute, they ended with an original children's song about a little kitten growing into his mittens. I think everyone had the "meow meow meow" chorus stuck in our heads afterwards. All together, an astounding show. Some photos!

This is the view from the main aisle, standing about halfway between the stage and the back wall. I then went and sat on the floor in front of the stage.

Ira Elliot (drums) and Matthew Caws (acoustic guitar and most vocals)

Daniel Lorca (bass and vocals)

Matthew singing his heart out during "Inside of Love".

Ira, showing off his punk drummer moves. Matthew said it's like a game of one-two-three-red-light-green-light to catch Ira doing these crazy things, as Ira acts very serious during rehersal when they all face each other. He only pulls out the moves during the shows and Matthew sometimes forgets and then catches Ira doing something goofy. Heee.

I like the light and the shadow in this one.

One of the new songs was something like "calling all imaginary friends" and it just blew me away.

Ira's t-shirt is from a club in Spain?

Matthew also sang "concrete bed" ... I had somehow managed to forget how much I love hearing him sing.

Ah yes, the paper dolls sneak onstage.

Matthew and Daniel would switch seats when Daniel sang, including during "la pour ca".

Daniel really got a kick out of the dolls.

Yeah, Ira was laughing later at Matthew's earnest insanity, not at the dolls.

They got up to take a short break before the encore.

At the end of the night, they all laughed and smiled as we applauded. This isn't technically the best photo angle, but just look at Ira!

So yeah. Thank you, boys. And thanks to the audience for being damn awesome. More information about nada surf can be found on their official page: http://www.nadasurf.com

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