Rogue Wave "Catform" from Descended Like Vultures Live at The Annex Madison, WI Mar 4, 2006

Who would've expected such a thorough sell-out at a Nada Surf show in 2006? Not only that, but a sell-out packed with fans who know all the words and the old songs and everything? Not I, I'll tell you that.

But more on Nada Surf when I post the first of their clips tomorrow. The show was opened by Inara George, whose beautiful voice (reminiscent of the singer from Eisley) was poorly matched with uninteresting material. Then came critical darlings Rogue Wave, who I saw about a year and a half ago opening for A.C. Newman. To be honest, they were really boring at that show, and I've basically given up trying to be a fan of their records. And yet, their set before Nada Surf was really terrific, much better than their actual albums. The new material from Descended Like Vultures was especially good. Ryan from Muzzle of Bees has video of them at an "in-store" appearance (actually "in-parking-garage") from earlier in the day, which is great as well.

By the way, if the sound is distorted in this clip it's basically because the bass was turned way up and I was literally right underneath the left speaker stack. It turned out to be an interesting spot later on, though...