The War On Drugs, the critically acclaimed and award winning indie- rock band from Philadelphia- are on tour promoting their third album “Lost in the Dream” with two sold out nights at the Albert Hall, Manchester. The album was voted the best of 2014 by BBC 6Music, and this live rendition of many of the tracks showed us why it won.
Through the first two songs (“Burning”, and “Arms like “Boulders”), the crowd seemed pretty subdued or maybe they were just mesmerised by the bands talented performance. The bands frontman Adam Granduciel becomes completely absorbed in the music, it’s heavy stuff!
It was between “Under the Pressure” and “Suffering” when the band really started to kick things up. Granduciel brings the five-piece group to life with his mesmerising ebb and flow. The epic opening track of their new album “Under The Pressure” gave the their fans eight long well-spent minutes.
The Albert Hall was beautifully lit with floral patterned lighting. Granduciel’s taking in his surroundings, shouts up to the crowd who are seated just behind him “Ah hey there, I’ve never seen this before” and then “Is that a bar? I have got a few in the old back pack”. The band played Manchester’s Ritz back in March 2014. Granduciel’s seems pleased to see us Mancunians again. “Not the first time in Manchester, I recognise a lot of faces”.
The crowd created a massive stomp, that shook the upper tier of the Hall, for “Red Eyes” and “Eyes to the Wind” closed out the gig, before the band re-emerged for an encore of title track “Your Love is Calling My Name” and then Hitting up with a lengthy intro to the to the final track “Disappearing”.
The band performed a master class in the attention to detail whilst performing their music, It was a masterful display. The band are on the line-up for this year’s BBC 6 Music Festival before returning home to Philly in March and I am sure BBC 6Music will be as impressed of their live performance as we were in Manchester.
