A Camp Le Poission Rouge November 17, 2009 Written by Matt Boyd Photographed by Mark Dershowitz Opposite Photo: Nina Persson

On November 17, A Camp made a rare appearance, performing in support of their new album, Colonia. They performed in the space formerly occupied by the historic Village Gate at Bleecker and Thompson in Greenwich Village; the Gate is now having its second life as the “multimedia art cabaret,” Le Poisson Rouge.

The best way to tell the uninitiated about the band is to say something like: “I’m on my way to see ageless nymphet Nina Persson and her new band perform her at- times-timorously-hopeful-but-mostly-bitter-and-always-prescient songs. Do you remember the Cardigans? Yeah, that's the singer.”

If you had, as I did, made your way to the club, you would have seen a line stretching around the block filled with fans who knew exactly who they were coming to see. The club was "standing-room" only, filled with avid fans who could not wait to see vocalist Nina, Nathan Larsen on bass and Nicklas Frisk on guitar.

A Camp played Pink Floyd’s “Us and Them” and the Grace Jones tune “I’ve Done it Again,” along with many stirring renditions of their own songs from their album, Colonia. All of these songs were opportunities to showcase Persson's superb voice. The sons were actually better live - Frisk’s vocals in his duet with Persson on the song “Golden Teeth and Silver Medals” was more natural and better on stage than on the CD.

I have repeated ad nauseam that Persson is possessed of heavenly pipes, and she is, but lending a new level to her vocals were the occasional plaintive breaking of her voice. She drove home the secret hiding in her words. She sweetly introduced her “Song for the Leftovers” from A Camp’s 2001 self-titled debut by telling the audience that it was one of her favorite songs, and as such she would like to have it played at her funeral. It was one of the little shocks that sends a person home thinking and makes a show like this one unforgettable.

Niklas Frisk

Nina Persson	Nina Persson
Nathan Larson	Niklas Frisk