The War on Drugs at Rumsey Playfield

Adam Granduciel

In 2003, Adam Granduciel moved from Oakland, California to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he met Kurt Vile, who had also recently moved back to Philadelphia after living for two years in Boston, Massachusetts. Granduciel previously had toured and recorded with The Capitol Years, and Vile had recorded solo demo tapes. Granduciel and Vile subsequently began writing, recording and performing music together, first in Vile's band, which would come to be known as Kurt Vile & the Violators, and then in Granduciel's band, which would come to be known as The War on Drugs in 2005. Vile left the War on Drugs after a year, and since then several musicians have played both in the War on Drugs and the Violators. The War on Drugs released its fourth album, A Deeper Understanding, on August 25, 2017, and presently consists of vocalist/guitarist Granduciel, guitarist Anthony LaMarca, keyboardist Robbie Bennett, saxophonist/keyboardist Jon Natchez, bassist David Hartley, and drummer Charlie Hall.

The War On Drugs' 2017 tour launched in its hometown of Philadelphia, but quickly made its way to New York City for shows at Terminal 5 and at CityPark's SummerStage at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park. The shows were nearly identical, in that they concentrated on introducing the new album; nine of the album's 10 songs were performed, as compared with five from the previous album and one from the debut album. The set also included a cover of Warren Zevon's "Accidentally Like a Martyr." Granduciel's vocals were a bit coarse, not the type you would near on a hit single, but since many of the lyrics were rather confessional, the vocals sounded revelatory and even cathartic. It seemed each song included extended guitar noodling, more shoegazey than flashy, for a hypnotic effect. The band maintained a light and breezy sound that was heightened with synthesizer and saxophone. Performances like this prove that the War on Drugs is the current "it" band in indie rock.

Visit the War on Drugs at www.thewarondrugs.net.

Setlist

1. In Chains
2. Pain
3. An Ocean in Between the Waves
4. Strangest Thing
5. Holding On
6. Red Eyes
7. Knocked Down
8. Nothing to Find
9. Accidentally Like a Martyr (Warren Zevon cover)
10. Up All Night
11. Eyes to the Wind
12. You Don't Have to Go
13. Arms Like Boulders

Encore

1. Under the Pressure
2. Clean Living
3. In Reverse