Nouvelle Vague Cover the Classics in Chicago
January 30th 2010 10:00AM
Friday night at Lincoln Hall in Chicago saw Parisian collective Nouvelle Vague perform 22 re-imagined covers of '80s New Wave and punk classics. Creator Marc Collin sat on the sidelines and played his acoustic guitar with three other band members while he let the true stars of the show, two female singers (Martine, from France, and Karina, from Brazil), titillate the crowd with their bodies and voices.
Dressed in heels and dresses that at times barely left much to the imagination, the girls opened with a hazy rendition of the Police's 'So Lonely.' Sporadically, the singers turned to each other and bounced up and down like giddy teenagers, which was infectious enough for the audience to mirror their actions. After performing a countrified version of Depeche Mode's 'Master and Servant' and a synth-less but upbeat 'Blue Monday' by New Order, Karina kicked off her shoes and stood atop a speaker where she suggestively gyrated her hips and incited the crowd to make a buzzing sound with her. She parlayed the noises into 'Human Fly' (originated by punk pioneers the Cramps), and despite the bluesy effects, maintained the punk spirit of the song.
Halfway through their set, Nouvelle Vague became more uninhibited when they introduced the Dead Kennedys' curse-filled song 'Too Drunk to F---.' "Give us a big f---," the girls coquettishly yelled to the crowd. While they let loose onstage, the drunken crowd happily shouted out the expletives. The remaining few songs drew from the band's self-titled debut including Depeche Mode's 'Just Can't Get Enough,' Modern English's 'I Melt With You' and the Specials' spastic and à propos 'Friday Night, Saturday Morning' (it was already the next day). The girls ended
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