ARTICLE BY CHERYL CHENG
PHOTO BY ARNO FRUGIER
SEPT. 12 | HOLLYWOOD—Touring in support of stellar album Heaven, The Walkmen's show tonight was the first chance Los Angelenos could hear the new tracks live. The band has been on tour since May and will continue to travel until the end of the year, which singer Hamilton Leithauser reflected on during the show. "We've come a long way," he said, later explaining from which destination each band member had traveled. But the statement could have been interpreted in another way. After all, the band recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, all the while consistently releasing solidly impressive albums—a feat not easily matched by others.
Held at the historic John Anson Ford Theatre, tonight's show highlighted Heaven, beginning with the solo entry of guitarist Paul Maroon, who strummed the intro to "Line by Line." Nearly half the set featured the new songs, which sounded absolutely brilliant live. Although the venue is seated, by the time the band started to perform the raucous "Heartbreaker," almost everyone in the audience was standing and dancing along. Throughout the set, Leithauser gave each song his all vocally, and it was particularly amazing during "In the New Year," in which he belts out the lyrics with so much emotion and force, you can physically feel the impact.
Despite many fans shouting for "The Rat," the band focused mostly on Heaven and more recent albums Lisbon and You & Me. One fan simply shouted, "Play everything!" But with such a vast, impressive catalog from which to choose, it would be difficult for anyone to whittle it down to just an hour and a half. The classic "We've Been Had," however, was reserved for the encore.
In self-deprecating fashion, Leithauser joked, "I expect half the audience to leave, but Dave Matthews Band is playing across the street, so if you made a left instead of a right…" The fans laughed, but everyone knew that tonight was for The Walkmen.
If you missed seeing The Walkmen in Hollywood, you can see them this Saturday at the Observatory in Santa Ana.
BUY TICKETS: September 15th: The Walkmen at the Observatory (Santa Ana, CA)
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