There’s a lot of stuff for music-lovers to try to catch this time of year and it’s nigh on impossible to do it all. That a band like The War On Drugs fall at the bottom of a Harvest Festival lineup list in small font says a lot about the quality of international and local acts on tap, but the fast sellout for this Tuesday night gig showed that a dedicated mass were not going to let this Philadelphia band’s sideshow pass them by.
There are pros and cons to the War On Drugs experience. Actually, it’s all pros to me, though Adam Granduciel’s vocal wanderings as a live performer can lack the emotive kick of his recordings. It’s great to get a different perspective on things in the live setting, though. Otherwise, shouldn’t we just all stay home and listen to the albums?
The big thrill of the band’s contrasting live show is the muscular boost applied to the music, twisting songs that are hypnotic and heady into something raw and electrifying. Their opening song, Brothers is a good example of this transformation; given a looser, Dylan-esque vocal interpretation and a more jagged guitar delivery. It’s simultaneously familiar and like meeting a new friend. Their softer side came through a little more toward the end of the night’s set, via songs like Black Water Falls and Buenos Aires Beach.
It’s something of a challenge typing up this review on a Sunday morning, in the haze of an epic, impeccable Radiohead concert. Yet it’s a welcome reminder of how affecting the smaller, more intimate gigs from lesser-known international acts can be. Local support was on form too, with Terrible Truths wearing their influences on their T-shirts (Love of Diagrams, Gang Of Fours), but using their spiky dual vocals to meld their music into a beast all of its own.
BY CHRIS GIRDLER
LOVED: Best Night and Arms Like Boulders were the standouts from a strong set.
HATED: The annoying, though slightly endearing ‘biggest War on Drugs fans ever’ talking through the more ambient parts.
DRANK: My benevolent editor bought me a pint.
