Nouvelle Vague provides la piéce de résistance while Clare gives Chicago a Reason to remember Genesis

January 29, 2009, at Lincoln Hall

By Selena Fragassi
Published: February 1st, 2010 | 12:17am

After weathering the hibernation of Chicago’s live music scene for yet another winter, there was finally a show to come out of the shadows and remind the forlorn that grand spring and summer lineups were upon us. It was a night that combined saws and silver trees, floral hair garland and sparkling berets, French sex and American sensitivity. Hell – even Phil Collins made an appearance at Lincoln Hall.

Openers Clare & the Reasons surprised most of the room — save the lucky few who’d heard their new album Arrow (Frogstand) — with a reinvented version of Genesis’ hit, “That’s All,” to end their set. Although French headliners Nouvelle Vague would soon sweeten the deal with their trademark bossa nova covers of everyone from Depeche Mode to the Cramps, Clare Muldaur and the Reasons (including husband and fellow Frenchman Olivier Manchon) gave the horn-heavy standard modern appeal with Sunday afternoon easiness.

Compared to the va va and Zsa Zsa of Nouvelle’s sex-charged frontwomen, Clare could have just as well been a Disney princess with the innocent flowers in her hair and pixie-passionate voice that timidly engulfed such modest-sounding numbers as “You Getting Me” and “Alphabet City.”

The Brooklyn band used whatever instrumentation necessary to create their own score — a saw and violin bow for woozy reverb, a tambourine motored by foot pedal for soft percussion, and a kazoo for comedic relief of the emotional grip they had over the crowd. Although the song “Our Team is Grand,” may have been written about bees, it could just have well been the band’s own declaration.

No sooner than the wintry décor was struck from the stage, Nouvelle Vague stalked the planks with a lustiness that left many without a post to scratch. Noted band leader Marc Collin was happy to play follower to singers Martine and Karina, two of the better additions that the rotating lineup of first-name frontwomen has seen.

While the set began with subdued numbers like the Police’s “So Lonely” and the Cramps’ “Human Fly,” it wasn’t long before Martine and Karina kicked off their heels and gave their boudoir best on Depeche Mode’s “Master and Servant” and the Dead Kennedys’ “Too Drunk to Fuck.”

The 22-song set was a glamorous game of “Name that Tune,” that brought out keen emotional cues and hidden sensuality from songs so often catalogued on dingy bar jukeboxes. What could come off as dodgy cabaret or pathetic wedding band fare was replaced by a ‘60s soul flavor that proved the French often do it better.

Somewhere after “Blue Monday” and “Road to Nowhere,” but before “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” came “Bela Lugosi’s Dead,” the absolute highlight of an already climactic night. Martine, dressed in a blue sequined dress and matching beret, was splayed out on top of a speaker providing breathy back-up vocals while Karina led a parade on the floor as she attacked the chorus with bluesy ammunition so desperately missing from the recording on Bande å Part (Peacefrog).

It’s a shame Nouvelle Vague makes so few appearances in the States, because judging from the elated fervor swallowing the hot and heavy room, their fans “Just Can’t Get Enough.”

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For more photos from this show visit Venus Zine's Flickr page

Clare & the Reasons MySpace page

Nouvelle Vague MySpace page

Frogstand Records

Peacefrog Records