I Want To Make Out At The Gay Club
TMN favorite NVDES opened up with an electrifying performance in support of RAC last Tuesday night. Playing in the intimate setting of The Independent in San Francisco, NVDES surprised an open-minded crowd that collectively seemed unfamiliar with their work. Frontman Josh Ocean and his long time collaborator, fondly known as Lemon Girl, rocked out with endless energy and charisma.
Attendees jammed out to tunes from NVDES’ most recent EP, La Nvdité Vol. 1. The EP was featured here on TMN and went along with an exclusive interview; check it out here. Highlights included the infectious electro-punk tracks “Dancer from New York” and “May and June”. Ocean and Lemon Girl also graced us with tracks from their older discography, like “I Wanna Make Out at the Gay Club”. True to NVDES nature as a revolving collective, frontman Josh played a few tracks that bandmate Lemon Girl did not know. Much to his credit, Lemon Girl improvised flawlessly and put up a great performance throughout. Finally, they played some unreleased material, sharing some of their political leanings as well as their love for the Hyundai Elantra. Truly an eclectically enjoyable experience– one of the top 3 shows this Music Ninja has been to this year.
Following NVDES, headliner RAC (Remix Artist Collective) delivered a joyously feel-good set full of classic tracks and homages to their favorite artists– as is their style. Featuring a live band of five members, headman André Allen Anjos and crew all rotated through the vocal spotlight. There were nothing but smiles to be seen as the RAC went through their summery electro-dance repertoire. Crowd favorites seemed to be “Hollywood” (ft. Penguin Prison), “Cheap Sunglasses” (ft. Matthew Koma) and their rendition of K.flay’s “Heartbreak Summer”. RAC also performed an incredible take on Odesza’s “Say My Name”, doing the original justice and then some.
NVDES and RAC made for quite the dynamic duo. Their styles and individual flavors meshed brilliantly and led to a night of pure fun– check out the rest of the spread from the show below. Don’t sleep on the opportunity to see these bands live!
