The War on Drugs - "Black Water Falls"

The War on Drugs is the greatest band I've ever blindly stumbled upon. They are the greatest road trip music I've ever heard without ever having listened to them during a road trip. Well, no far out road trips anyway:

Sharon Van Etten with the War on Drugs Live at the Biltmore Cabaret

All photos by Ashley Tanasiychuk

March 24, 2012
The Biltmore Cabaret
Vancouver, British Columbia

Of course, as soon as I say, "I've learned to always go to shows as soon as doors open," the doors for the next show I go to open half-an-hour late. At least the show itself wasn't delayed at all.

The likely reason for the delay was because the War on Drugs, the night's opening band - the band I went to see - had finished a free half-hour set at Zulu Records a mere two hours before the doors were supposed to have opened at the Biltmore. I guess soundcheck took the band longer than they'd expected, despite their sound guy's confident (cocky, even) declaration, "It's our job," when he overheard my friend question how they'd ever make it to the Biltmore on time.

And thank God the show started on time, because after the WoD's brief thirty-minute set at Zulu, sweetened especially by the store's great sound system, I couldn't wait for the full show. For the longest time, it seemed as if the WoD were just going to play Slave Ambient in its entirety (though not in order), but then, they busted out a song from their Future Weather EP. Sometime following that came my favourite WoD songs including "Buenos Aires Beach," "Taking the Farm" and "Arms like Boulders," all from their first album Wagonwheel Blues. Unfortunately for me, though, the live versions of those three songs were more languid and melodic than jumpy and anthemic. They were still good in their own ways, but I just wanted to hear them in their original forms, the forms I knew how to sing along to; I was glad the band at the very least retained its militaristic drumming for those songs.

After a short recess (A.K.A. nap-time because I hadn't had a chance to sleep since two mornings earlier), Sharon Van Etten took the stage and delivered what was, up until that point, the third most surprisingly good show I'd ever seen. Before seeing her, I'd really only liked her song "Serpents," though I loved it. "Serpents" was so good live - so powerful - that it didn't matter that her vocals on that song were almost completely drowned out by the rest of the music. And speaking of her voice, it was way higher than I'd expected, considering that her voice is pretty low on record.

Also unexpected was the Sonic Youth-style, feedback-drenched breakdown during one of Sharon's songs. The WoD's single noisy freakout wasn't surprising (especially since they were the band that managed to pack blistering guitar solos into almost every one of their songs even if the song didn't originally have a solo), but only having heard Sharon's albums and a solo acoustic set (also free at Zulu last year), I never saw it coming.

To draw a final parallel between the WoD and Sharon Van Etten, both were surprisingly social, especially Sharon. The WoD always struck me as a rustic, "git 'er done" kind of band, but frontperson Adam Granduciel joked with the crowd a lot. And I'd always expected Sharon to be pretty introverted, given her dark subject matters and introspective music/lyrics, but again, she was a lot of smiles that night, despite her brief song introductions such as, "This song is about quitting smoking," and "This song is about moving to New York." That was the Sharon I'd expected.

Finally, even the crowd surprised me. I expected a lot of drugged out dirtbags, plaid and denim at the War on Drugs and mostly young girls at Sharon Van Etten. However, the bands brought out one of the most weirdly mixed crowds I'd seen in a while: severely aged, smelly and wasted rockers who "danced" with absolutely zero shame; skinny boys in suspenders, slacks and bow-ties with pompous hair (think Janelle Monae as a boy who just turned old enough to go to the bar); towering nerds; and mustache-obsessed intellectuals.

One thing I learned at Seapony/Memoryhouse that did pay off was to grab set lists A.S.A.P. Situated a couple of feet in front of me on the barrierless, nearly floor-level stage, Sharon's set list was probably the most accessible list I'd ever seen, and I sure as HELL wasn't the only person who knew it; I could hear several people around me chatter about the 4x11, plain-type prize, planning their attack like a pack of hungry lions planning its dinner. But alas, I was the swifter, beating them all to the pounce.

The exact set list I grabbed

For more photos of the War on Drugs and Sharon Van Etten live at the Biltmore Cabaret, click here and here, respectively.

The War on Drugs Live at Zulu Records

So the A/V quality isn't as good as that of their KEXP session (which you can watch in full by clicking here), but here are the War on Drugs performing "Best Night" at Zulu Records, a free in-store show just three hours before they opened for Sharon Van Etten at the Biltmore this past Friday. Again, a recap of that show to come.

Hope For the Future Or I. Am. So. Fucking. EXCITED!!!

The War on Drugs, one of my absolute favourite bands and creators of my favourite driving album of all time Wagonwheel Blues (Secretly Canadian, 2008), made their television debut Tuesday night on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. ?uestlove of the Roots (who moonlight as Jimmy Fallon's house band) even gives the War on Drugs an extra pair of hands on drums.

Although "Baby Missiles," as much as I like it, isn't a particular favourite War on Drugs song of mine (the same goes for everything else on their second album, last year's Slave Ambient), their performance on Fallon has honestly gotten me more excited to see them when they open for Sharon Van Etten at the end of March than anything else has. Maybe it's because in all of the live War on Drugs videos I've seen, they, to be blunt, haven't sounded very good, the details of their open road psychedelia diluted through sub-par sound systems or sub-par recording equipment, resulting in murky performances at best.

On Fallon, however, the War on Drugs is a rock-solid unit - a chugging bionic machine; you couldn't pry apart the sum. Front person Adam Granduciel's guitar skills, which don't quite translate in other live videos or really even on their albums, also really shine here. And has anyone else still yet to believe how similar Adam's and former War on Drugs member Kurt Vile's voices sound? Just uncanny.

The War on Drugs' amazing performance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon makes it even more difficult for me to believe how much of a bargain their show with Sharon Van Etten will be.