Photos by Mitch Kline
The Scene: Back in April, at a Drive-By Truckers show, a friend pointed out “that new War on Drugs song” playing on the PA between bands. The War on Drugs’ third album, Lost in the Dream, had just been released in March, but admittedly, I knew nothing about The War on Drugs, Adam Granduciel (or Kurt Vile, dang!) at the time. That song was “Under the Pressure.” I liked everything about it and promptly purchased Lost in the Dream. I was hooked, and Lost in the Dream went straight to the top of my Albums of the Year list (it’s still in my top three). I couldn’t believe I hadn’t listened to this band sooner, and imagined the live potential of all of the new songs, along with songs from their previous albums, especially Slave Ambient, all of which I’ve since listened to many times over.
Everything about Granduciel’s influences – from Dylan, Petty, and Young to My Morning Jacket and My Bloody Valentine connects with me on so many levels. When my kids are grown and telling stories to their friends about the music their parents played when they were young, The War on Drugs will be one of the bands I hope they remember alongside all of those influences I just mentioned. Their music seemed like a recipe for what I’d consider the perfect concert experience as far as I could tell, and I couldn’t wait for this Ogden show.
Opener: The Barr Brothers. Jamband enthusiasts will remember brothers Brad and Andrew Barr as two thirds of the trio The Slip. With The Barr Brothers, they’ve changed musical directions since their days with The Slip, but their improvisational chops are still as strong as ever, and they’ve carved out a nice place for themselves in the Indie Folk scene. Their opening set was met with a warm welcome from the quickly filling room.
The War On Drugs: Adam Granduciel and his band worked their way through nearly every song on Lost in the Dream, not only recreating the layers and atmospheric sounds from their albums, but pushing those songs to the limit with extended jams and Granduciel’s guitar solos.
No doubt, the highlight of the night for me was “Eyes to the Wind” which featured Granduciel pushing it over the top by adding harmonica to the extended outro. This song stops me in my tracks every time, and I’ll remember hearing it live as one of my favorite music experiences of the year.
A spirited “Red Eyes” closed out the set, but I felt like the it ended rather abruptly. They erased any thought of that with a three song encore including “Lost in the Dream” and a jammed out version of “Come to the City” that took what seemed liked ten minutes to build through a haze of spaced out saxophone and ended with Granduciel hoisting his amp in front of his guitar, creating a wall of feedback before he dropped everything and walked off the stage. Loneliness has never sounded so good!
Energy: A+
Musicianship: A+
Sound: A
Stage Presence: A
Lights: B
Overall: A
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