Venue:
Southampton Guildhall
Date: 21/02/2015
Wasn’t sure about this going in. I couldn’t quite join the crowd of lovers of the album – enjoyed it in patches but found the strange weedy beatbox rhythms and occasional parping sax a bit alienating.
However – much much better live. Far more guitar focused and well-mixed to put his fluid soloing really front & centre. Old tracks sounded good, such that I am spinning Wagonwheel Blues as I write. Good, if anonymous blokes, band and nice lighting (bit like a paint colour chart).
The audience:
White middle-class gig goers.
One question, a guy in front of me was say 6ft 2 and had a hat on – it was a quireky porkpie hat type, and he didn’t remove it. It was almost The War On Hats. Is it OK to wear a hat at a gig? Surely not?
It made me think..
They sound better live. And we left the house at 8:30 and were comfortably in position, 5 minutes before they came on – nice, that’s middle aged gig going.
Nice.
Saw them late last year – Dylan meets Springsteen meets Neil Young meets The Waterboys..
What’s not to like especially when the brass kicks in.
Actually the brass live was OK – thought it was a bit like a rocky Jackson Browne with a better Dave Gilmour on lead
The War On Drugs? They seem to be the latest Marmite band around here. Well I do not like Marmite but I love The War On Drugs, been a fan since `Wagonwheel Blues`, they are excellent live. Junior your description hits the nail on the head but of course it`s OK to dislike them….
Marmite? No, everyone loves TWOD
http://pitchfork.com/news/57253-mark-kozelek-adam-granofsky-blues/
Yeah, I reckon that we`ve all heard the Mark Kozelek comments about TWOD and he`s entitled to his comments. He isn`t jealous is he?
Maybe, but he is quite funny
i was there too. love the album, but it was even better live.
3/4 hour encore was more like a second set.
Saw the Nottingham gig, at an absolutely heaving packed Rock City.
Tremendous stuff, but got a little samey after nearly 2 hours of shimmering soundscapes that build to a wall-of-sound crescendo of wig-out guitar, and the Robert Downey Jr-esque drummer standing up at the last beat of every song.
Top stuff, but at my age, I was glad to get some fresh air at the end.