I just saw Noah & The Whale play at Sidewalk Cafe in New York City. Wow what a show! This was my first time at Sidewalk Cafe, and I must say it was quite the interesting place. The show area was really tiny and the stage could barely contain the 6 members of NATW. But the myriad of instruments covering the walls set the tone for what was to be a great night of music. The opener was Canadian singer/songwriter Lindi Ortega. I had never heard of her up until tonight but I was really impressed by her performance. She sort of has a little bit of a country feel to her, and her voice is seriously amazing. I definitely suggest you check her out. And if you are planning to see Noah & The Whale at any of their next 9 gigs Lindi will be opening. And she is Canadian, nuff said.

Only a few minutes after Lindi finished her set and the tip jar was passed around to collect donations, Noah & The Whale took the stage. It’s a good thing they weren’t joined on stage by Laura Marling, who sings beautifully all over their debut album, Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down, because that stage was SMALL! Anyways, what first surprised me about the band was how young they appeared. They just sound so mature on the album that I figured they would be older. But this was not the case. They are a band of fresh faced young britts, who make some of the catchiest music I have heard in a long time. I wasn’t sure how big of a following they have on this side of the world but it seems that word travels fast, because the place was packed. And there were even people singing along and loving every minute of it, as I was. They played most of my favourite songs including “2 Atoms in a Molecule”, “5 Years Time” and “Give A Little Love”. They also played a couple of new songs, including one from their side project punk band the A-Sides. In the encore they gave the fans the choice of either hearing their song “Mary” or a Smiths cover. Since the audience was split between the two they decided to play both, starting with a revamped version of “Mary” and finished with an awesome cover of the Smiths’ “Girlfriend in a Coma”. It was all in all a great show and I can’t wait to see them again.

The show was free (with a suggested donation of $5.00 per person), and it was the first of NATW’s 3 shows in NYC this weekend. Tomorrow (Saturday), they are playing at the Virgin Megastore in Union Square during the day and then at night they are playing at Mercury Lounge. And Monday night they are playing at Les Saints in Montreal so I’m hoping to check that show out as well. After that they have a slew of upcoming dates if you would like to check them out (which I strongly suggest you do). here they are:

Here are some pics from the show:

And finally, here is a video of them performing a new song that I don’t know the name of:

Wow-what a great album from Noah and the Whale!

This album has been constantly going through my head since I downloaded it last week and there are some absolute crackers. There are about 5 standout tracks which for an album is quite good- it kicks off with 2 Atoms In A Molecule which is so boppy you foot just gets a mind of its own. Followed then by Jocasta which is another great upbeat number and then for the triumvirate Shape Of My Heart which has various instruments and definitely a mariachi feel (which can be seen in the YouTube below).

Then the tunes go a bit on the slow side and while good they just dont hit the mark for me. It’s only with 5 Years time that they seem to get their boppiness back and this ones getting a lot of airplay with it being their first single- have to admit it gets the foot moving everytime I hear it. Rocks and Daggers then is the last standout one for me- not quite as toe tapping as the other standouts but there is a lovely quality to it and some great beats which remind me quite a bit of Loney, Dear who I have had to break out again.

So the album is definitely worth listening to (especially with the free download which is still available from Vertigo -DRM and will time out after two weeks) and one to look out for when it is released on the 11th of August- you can preorder from their official site.

Only two official videos so far but hopefully more in the pipeline…

5 Years Time

Shape of My Heart