While the Obamas were busy party hopping in D.C., the Walkmen were toasting the new age in American politics with a show at Los Angeles’s Henry Fonda Theater. Hamilton dedicated “The New Year” and its “I know that it’s true, it’s gonna be a good year” croons to our 44th president, which really only covers a quarter of Obama’s first term but that’s probably what they call cautious optimism. The band’s Inauguration night concert was the second of four with Baltimore dreamers Beach House (finishing up in Portland and Seattle this week), with support from Wolf Parader Dante DeCaro’s folkie side project, Johnny And The Moon. For those that spent Obama night elsewhere, enjoy this spread of pics by photographer Andrew Youssef. Also set your TiVOs: The Walkmen play Conan this Monday 1/26.
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this show was amazing. the best part was when i realized it was paul maroon that had told me they were out of walkmen shirts in my size…
Last night was a joke. Beach house was amazing and they played two great new songs but their set was so incredibly cut short. People can’t shut up at the Fonda and I’m going to try and avoid that place at all costs. To make it worst, the Walkmen weren’t even good. Beach House should have been headlining this thing.
People can’t shut up at the Belly Up either…The bands were amazing though.
do you know what the second to last song is called that Beach House played?! it was amazing. I believe it was a new one (not Used to Be), but I don’t know the name.
So, did no one at Stereogum have tickets to AC last night?
going tonight!
Nice. I’m looking forward to Thursday night in Chicago.
Walkmen were as good as always, and the crowd seemed to agree, even if there was no “Little House of Savages” in the encore. Beach House had its moments, but I can’t blame the crowd for being restless: the band needs to develop a stronger stage presence, slow songs or not. But they gathered steam as the set went on, and “Gila” was awesome. I only heard the tail end of Johnny and the Moon, but they sounded pretty solid, and the Wolf Parade connection is pretty evident. Overall, this was a great show.
It was a good show. Kinda long if you were there for the whole thing. Johnny and the Moon was a lot of fun. Much improved from the last time they were in town opening for Sunset Rubdown. I didn’t catch all of Beach House’s set. But I was impressed by what I did catch. They didn’t make me want to fall asleep as much as their records do. The Walkmen were great. It was an especially magical moment when, after they dedicated “The New Year” to the Obamas, he hit the, “We won by a landslide,” part. I was VERY disappointed not to hear neither “Four Provinces” nor “Blue Route”. Especially when the last song was atrocious, cruise-line bull shit. Oh, and speaking of “Blue Route”: to the dude that kept yelling out “Blue Rowwte”. I’m pretty sure the title was meant to employ the pronunciation of “route” that rhymes with the word “blue”. But who knows, I could be wrong.
Yeah, the Belly-Up tends to be full of people who came just to socialize rather than hear the actual music….your best bet is to get there earlier and snag those seats that are right next to the stage. I came to that show for Beach House and wasn’t disappointed, but I really wish they had been the headliners or played a longer set.
As far as their music putting you to sleep, their songs are actually quite a bit heavier played live. When they first started out they didn’t even have a drummer for their live shows, so it’s certainly picked up quite a bit from when I first saw them. The new material was great, wish they would have played “Used to Be”
I’m pretty sure Victoria made eye contact with me roughly a half dozen times during the set and each time it sent fucking chills down my spine. That woman is amazing…
Come to think of it, she was probably making eyes at the tall dude standing behind me. Fucking tall dudes…
That “cruise-line bullshit” song was a cover called “Come Dancing” originally by The Kinks.