Nouvelle Vague + Kill the pain at Band on the Wall

Johnny James, Managing Editor
Band on the Wall

Nouvelle Vague + Kill the pain at Band on the Wall, Manchester 23 February 2024 Entrance is free — Visit now

Celebrating 20 years since the release of their seminal, self-titled debut album, Nouvelle Vague are performing at Band on the Wall with Kill The Pain, an intriguing duo featuring Nouvelle Vague’s own Mélanie Pain.

Bossa Nova = Nouvelle Vague = New Wave. This transliteration was the starting point for Marc Collin and the late Olivier Libaux’s unique project, Nouvelle Vague. The French musicians and producers set out with the intention of doing something that hadn’t been tried before: running punk, post punk and new wave classics through a bossa nova filter. To further distance the songs from their original versions, they’d recruit female vocalists who were unfamiliar with the 80s classics.

Nouvelle Vague’s debut album, featuring covers of Joy Division’s ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’, XTC’s ‘Making Plans For Nigel’ and Tuxedomoon’s ‘In a Manner of Speaking’, was initially conceived as a one-off. Little did Collin and Libaux know it would soar to global acclaim, the band’s unique fusion of melancholic post punk and bossa nova, coupled with their daring French reinterpretation approach, immediately setting them apart.

Naturally, two more albums followed fairly swiftly, revealing many new and brilliant vocal talents, among them Mélanie Pain, Camille, Phoebe Killdeer, Elodie Frege, Nadeah and Liset Alea. 3 also featured collaborations with Depeche Mode’s Martin Gore, Ian McCulloch from Echo and the Bunnymen, Terry Hall from The Specials and Barry Adamson. Further acclaimed albums were released in 2010, 2016 and 2019, the band performing them to rapturous audiences worldwide.

Nouvelle Vague’s 2024 worldwide tour celebrates 20 years since the release of their seminal first album alongside the launch of their next classic LP, timed specifically to coincide with the UK leg of the tour.

One member of the band will find herself particularly busy on this tour. Mélanie Pain, the unmistakable voice behind many of Nouvelle Vague’s covers, has launched a new project with Phoebe Killdeer, the Australian singer and songwriter of the international number 1 hit ‘Fade Out Lines’. Aptly titled Kill The Pain, the duo’s music flits between nostalgic hedonism and something more futuristic, splicing angular post punk with elastic synth pop, off-kilter funk and far-flung genres.

Kill The Pain’s self-titled debut album, which dropped in 2023, whirled through a kaleidoscope of sounds and styles – a joyful helter-skelter of Latin percussion, funky bass, fraught electric guitars, uninhibited vocals, Afrobeat drums, and 80’s indebted keyboards. Featuring the singles ‘I Do What I Do’ and ‘Zig Zag’ among its many highlights, Kill The Pain scrawled the duo’s name onto that long list of outlandish women prepared to push pop culture to its limits.

It’s a great two-for-one at Band on the Wall, and the perfect balm for those winter blues.

Nouvelle Vague + Kill the pain at Band on the Wall, Manchester 23 February 2024 Entrance is free Visit now

What's on at Band on the Wall

MusicManchester
Chalk at Band on the Wall

Twisting the sounds of techno and post punk, the much-hyped three-piece Chalk are bringing their high octane live show to Band on the Wall.

from £15.59

Where to go near Nouvelle Vague + Kill the pain at Band on the Wall

The Rose & Monkey Hotel
Manchester
Restaurant
The Rose & Monkey Hotel

The Rose & Monkey Hotel is one of the Northern Quarter’s best music-led bars, with a truly impressive beer garden. Our new favourite Manchester pub.

Manchester
Restaurant
Foundry Project

The Northern Quarter’s self-styled ‘happiest place in Manchester’, based at the old Bluu site.

Stray
Manchester
Restaurant
Stray

Stylish modern bar serving sophisticated cocktails in the Northern Quarter.

Ancoats
Restaurant
Ramona

If you haven’t heard of Ramona by now then where have you been? Taking Manchester by storm, Ramona is a Detroit Pizza restaurant, with a salty twist… Frozen margaritas!

Manchester
Restaurant
The Firehouse

The Firehouse serves up quality food and drink at its new Wednesday evening supper club.

Manchester
Restaurant
Mackie Mayor

A Grade II listed market building in the Northern Quarter, Mackie Mayor is a key fixture in the ever-growing Northern Quarter food and drink scene.

Fringe Bar in Manchester's Northern Quarter
Ancoats
Bar or Pub
Bar Fringe

No-frills bar on Manchester’s Swan Street. A wide selection of beers and ciders mixed with a great jukebox make this an ideal pre-Band on The Wall drinking spot.

Noi Quattro
Manchester
Restaurant
Noi Quattro

Noi Quattro is an independent pizzeria at the heart of Manchester’s Northern Quarter.

matt and phreds sign manchester music
Manchester
Music venue
Matt and Phred’s

New Orleans reaches Manchester with this dedicated jazz club in the Northern Quarter – a reliable choice for a good night out.

What's on: Music

A black woman sat down looking to the left.
Until
MusicLeeds
Sound Out Leeds 2024/25

Leeds International Concert Season is on a mission to push boundaries, expand horizons, and ask the question: ‘What haven’t we heard?’ as it presents its city-spanning Sound Out Leeds series.

from £10.00
Two dancers and orchestra on stage
Until
DanceManchester
Dance:Music at the RNCM

Through a treasure trove of concerts, the RNCM’s initiative Dance:Music explores the symbiotic relationship between music and dance.

from £0.00

Culture Guides

NEXT: A Primer on Urban Painting production still
Cinema in the North

Street art, LGBTQ+ History Month, and the first film festivals of the year are amongst our cinema highlights this month.

Theatre in Manchester and the North
Theatre in the North

Feminist farce, a magical circus show and Oldham Coliseum return with a brand-new off-site show. All in our latest theatre guide.

FKA TWIGS
Music in the North

Masters of minimalism, leftfield electronica and cutting edge pop. We bring you the lot in our latest live music round up.

The Super Duper Family Festival
Family things to do in the North

We might be past the holiday season, but Manchester and the North's arts and cultural calendar is still packed with brilliant events and activities for families

A painting of a young child being bathed in a sink of a 197s style kitchen. Around the sink are a rubber duck, a bottle of  washing up liquid, a jug, a kettle and a mug.
Exhibitions in the North

Galleries are racing to announce new exhibitions so check out our top picks, from art films and nostalgic paintings to Hockney's collages.