Nada Surf, Big Thief and Bird of Youth played Paradise – 6/4

Touring in support of their eighth studio effort, New York indie pop mainstays Nada Surf headlined the Paradise on Saturday night with Brooklynites Big Thief and Bird of Youth in tow. On first, singer/songwriter Beth Wawerna’s Bird of Youth channeled grief and despair into catharsis with a touch of Telecaster twang. The band’s just-released sophomore record Get Off is a deeply personal set of songs for Wawerna – the death of her father and the subsequent emotional fallout were a central influence on its construction. The songs dodge melancholy in favor of a sort of unflinching pop sensibility though, and they translated well by way of a five-piece lineup with Wawerna at the helm. Lead guitarist Clint Newman had plenty of moments to shine. (In a fun celebrity cameo moment, I spotted Okkervil River frontman/Bird of Youth collaborator Will Sheff cheering the band on from the back of the room).

Big Thief, who also have a new record out entitled Masterpiece, followed up with a more psychedelically-inclined set. The foursome took a breezy psych-folk template in frequently unexpected directions. They were sparse and spacey one minute and propulsively groovy the next.

Nada Surf’s headlining set was a bit of an odd look for the bookish band. Fog and flashy backlighting spruced up the normally nondescript Paradise stage, presumably for the benefit of the Yahoo livestreaming event that packed the room with videographers and stationed a huge satellite truck outside. The band didn’t seem phased though, and delivered a lengthy set of their reliably tuneful songcraft to an appreciative crowd. Nada Surf have been unfairly pegged as a one-hit-wonder for 1996’s “Popular” (and man, people were mean about it), but their catalog offers no shortage of gems, and we got plenty of them on Saturday. (Side note: “Popular” transcends its novelty hit reputation, is still a great song.)

Photos from all three sets below.