La Femme’s North American kicked off @ Terminal 5 w/ Sam Quealy (pics, setlist)

La Femme kicked off their fall North American tour on Thursday night with a packed show at Terminal 5. The crowd were hyped and ready to have fun, as were the band, who were clearly excited to be playing in front of such a big NYC crowd. It was certainly a bigger audience than the last time I saw them at Glasslands 10 years ago. La Femme didn’t disappoint, either, with their energetic blend of synthpop, komische, surf, and yé-yé.

Founding members Marlon Magnée and Sacha Got took turns on lead vocals and hyping up the crowd: Marlon frequently picked up his keyboard from its stand and played it like a keytar while Sacha, dressed in pink safari wear and a beret, switched between guitar and theremin. (Singer-multi-instrumentalists Fanny Luzignant and Michelle Blades took lead on a few songs, too.) The band’s energy never flagged and people were dancing everywhere, on-stage and off, and the 2nd floor side stage bar was full of people just dancing, having given up on trying to get a good view (it was three-deep at the balcony).

La Femme’s set included a good chunk of Rock Machine, their new album which is also their first entirely in English, and a number of those songs made their live debut. They also played lots of older favorites, including “Elle ne t’aime pas,” “Tatiana,” “Sur la planche,” “Nous Etions Deux,” “Sacatela,” “Où va le monde,” and more. There was also no shortage of singing along — an informal survey of accents heard by me put the crowd at mostly French — and they sounded terrific.

Sam Quealy, who is Marlon Magnée’s partner and opened the night with a fun, theatrical performance, came out for a few songs at the end of their set, mainly to dance.

Check out photos of the whole night by Dimitry Mak along with the setlist below.

La Femme and Sam Quealy play Washington, DC tonight (11/8) and make their way West, wrapping up the tour at Hollywood Palladium on November 26. All dates are listed below.

SETLIST: La Femme @ Terminal 5 11/7/2024
Intro
My Generation
Clover Paradise
Venus
Où va le monde
15a
Sacatela
Cool Colorado
Ciao Paris
Mycose
Elle ne t’aime pas
White Night
Love is Over
Sweet babe ba
Goodbye Tonight
Nous étions doux
Packshot
Télégraphe
Tatiana
Foutre
Paris 2012
Antitaxi
Sur la planche
I Believe in Rock And Roll

Encore:
Yeah Baby
Me Suive

La Femme – 2024 Tour Dates
November 8 – Washington, DC – Howard Theater
November 9 – Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club
November 11 – Montreal, QC – Mtelus
November 12 – Quebec City, QC – Theatre Capitole
November 13 – Toronto, ON – Opera House
November 15 – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall
November 16 – Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line
November 18 – Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater
November 19 – Salt Lake City, UT – Metro Music Hall
November 21 – Vancouver, BC – The Pearl
November 22 – Portland, OR – Revolution Hall
November 23 – Seattle, WA – Showbox
November 25 – San Francisco, CA – Regency Ballroom
November 26 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Palladium