NOTE: All photos are copyright of Howard Shiau Photography 2025
Nation of Language is one of those bands that seems to have come from nowhere and exploded onto the music scene. That being said, they did form back in 2016 with Ian Richard Devaney on guitars and lead vocals, Aidan Noell on synthesizers, and Michael Sue-Poi on bass. Supposedly Devaney took inspiration from OMD’s “Electricity” and formed the band based on the new wave sound. The synthesizer and bass centric group harkens to those 80s bands OMD, New Order, etc. One reason Nation of Language seemed to come out of nowhere is because their debut record “Introduction, Presence” was released in May 2020 so touring was out of the question. With a new record “A Way Forward” release in November 2021, the band was set for a global tour!!
Opening for Nation of Language was hometown band Ducks Ltd. Their Toronto fanbase was evident in the crowd with many obviously familiar faces. Their set was frenetic with one song sometimes starting immediately after the last with barely a beat break. If you love indie rock with a tinge of 80s, definitely check out this band.
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As we waited for Nation of Language, the venue got more and more crowded. It was literally wall to wall people. After playing Webster Hall in NYC, I had expected them to be playing a larger venue. The composition of the crowd leaned a bit older, which surprised me since the band was so young. Their music does bring back memories of 80s new wave so I suppose a lot of older new wave fans quickly discovered Nation of Language. Joining Devaney and Noell on this tour was bassist Alex MacKay, who’s parents happened to have met at this very venue!! Besides one brief respite, the set was one long dance party with Devaney bouncing around on stage delivering top notch vocals and Noell supplying cool background vocals. Devaney’s dancing was incredibly high energy, bounding around the stage with wild abandon with some movements reminding me of Andy McCluskey of OMD and others of Jonathan Pierce from the Drums. After a very satisfying set, the band returned for three more songs to close out the show. Watch out for Nations of Language because the sky’s the limit!
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