London – For the final gig of the U.K. leg of its spring tour, The War on Drugs returned to Brixton in South London for a second sold-out show at the 5,000 capacity O2 Academy. It’s a curious venue with an imposing art deco frontage belying the shabbier nature of much of its interior. Opened in 1929 as The Astoria hosting a cinema and theatre, its current use as a music venue dates from 1983. Tonight three-quarters of the audience are tightly packed into the cavernous standing area downstairs. There is much craning of necks; remembering the venue’s original use, the floor has a fairly steep slope to it, which aids visibility a bit but does little for calf muscles.
Despite the grandeur of its art deco flourishes and proscenium arch framing the stage, it appears a fine old building that’s had its heart ripped out; so in a way it suits main man Adam Granduciel’s shtick. The latest album Lost In The Dream (winner of Best New Bands’ Newbie Award for 2014’s Best New Album), which provides the nucleus of tonight’s set alongside selected cuts from Slave Ambient, chronicles the residue from the burn-out of a long-term relationship and the toll of constant touring. Channelling anxiety, “Under The Pressure” was a fitting opener, its tapping drum launch giving way to a pulsing, melodic flow interleaved with duelling guitars. Lavishly extended on record, it gets a similar treatment live and so never seems overblown.
Granduciel and his collective of five band mates go on to deliver a measured set with keyboards and sax embellishing the traditional guitar rock material’s core. Dynamics come into play, although the overall sound might have done with greater definition, especially as some of Granduciel’s chat is lost to fuzziness. That said the man is of few words, letting his music do the talking; and to belie that cliché, boy, does it talk. The blistering soloing in “Burning” and mellow, lyrical guitar a la Peter Green during “I Hear You Calling” were first half highlights. Earlier, Granduciel revealed a connection with Brixton when introducing “Arms Like Boulders,” the one song in the set from the band’s 2008 debut, Wagonwheel Blues, reflecting back on when the outfit played three nights at the much smaller Windmill pub venue locally.
At times the lighting came close to measuring up to Granduciel’s stratospheric guitar playing. The criss-cross of spotlights during “Disappearing” was quite mesmerising while the spasmodic use of searchlights added a lustrous veneer to the show. After an emotive “Red Eyes” and cathartic epic “In Reverse” roused the crowd further, the set came to a false close with the 2011 breakthrough song “Come To The City,” triggering four encores and the feeling that the band would happily have played all night. It was not necessarily an evening to drink in the lyrical content of Adam Granduciel’s songs; the audience seemed more employed in a display of mass head nodding. Two women even decided to revive the lost art of idiot dancing in the gangway near me, while people negotiated their way past carrying over-full plastic glasses of beer. Spillage is an occupational hazard in this venue; what might have once been carpet or some kind of floor covering has taken on the texture of tarmac.
The audience seemed divided into the committed and the curious. I was surprised at how many started to leave before the end yet there was no let-up in affection and kudos for the band from the main body. You were left with a sense that successful as this show had been in many ways, the band isn’t quite arena material just yet. That’s not to say it can’t or won’t be, just that right now the war might be waged to even greater effect in a more intimate setting.
Set List:
Under The Pressure
Baby Missiles
Arms Like Boulders
Burning
I Hear You Calling
An Ocean In Between The Waves
Disappearing
Eyes To The Wind
Red Eyes
In Reverse
Come To The City
Encore:
Lost In The Dream
Your Love Is Calling My Name
It’s Your Destiny
Black Water Falls
Tony Hardy
Tony’s great passion in life is music and nothing gives him more pleasure than unearthing good, original new music and championing independent musicians. His association with Best New Bands brings great opportunities for this. He also writes for Consequence of Sound and is a judge for Glastonbury Festival’s Emerging Talent Competition.
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