The Walkmen
Fillmore Auditorium - Jan 21, 2009
review by lexicon

Swathed in sound. That's how I like to be at a show. That's why I go to shows. And that's how I felt seeing the Walkmen last night. (I was also swathed in human bodies, which was less than ideal, but at least they were in good spirits.)

When the Walkmen last came through town in 2006, they played the Great American Music Hall and I was there on an awkward date with someone who was much, much more into them than I. (The more discordant Hamilton Leithauser's vocals become, the more I grimace.) Still, I left that night vowing that I would never miss them again.

Their show was one of the most moving I have ever seen, churning the crowd into a frenzied mass with their full-steam ahead approach. Each member of the band left his all on that stage, as did several members of the audience who were invited to play horns for their encore rendition of Louisiana.

So you see, I had high hopes for this show. High, high hopes. Hopes made yet higher by the fact that The Walkmen's latest, the lush and melodic You & Me, when ingested through headphones, approaches the emotional impact of that first Great American show.

And so I yearned for this show to trump my glorious late night headphone sessions with the addition of massive speaker towers, an adoring crowd, and the vision of these four young gentlemen, clad in collared shirts, again pouring everything into their performance.

Through the appropriately melancholic sky, the stars aligned.

From start to finish, the Walkmen filled the Fillmore with their twangy, echoing, seductive songs about travel and love gone awry, Leithauser leaning precariously backward as he belted lyrics to the ceiling high above, Matt Barrick literally bouncing endlessly on his stool as he drummed.

There was also the addition of a horn section of not just solid players, but clearly adoring fans. The band had found the four (one from New Orleans, two from L.A., one from New York) by posting ads on Craigslist as they toured around the country. Leithauser gave them an extremely warm introduction, the mutual appreciation on stage palpable and spreading readily through the audience and back.

Playing a generous set of the majority, if not all, of You & Me, plus several of their most popular songs from previous albums (Louisiana, All Hands and the Cook, the Rat, to name a few), and a 4-song encore, it was a show that left me fully satisfied and has solidified my commitment to all future Walkmen shows.

One last note: Apparently short people love the Walkmen. Who knew? I have always thought of myself as roughly average in stature (I'm a 5'6" woman), but, potentially for the first time since I was in China, I felt like a giraffe! It certainly made my view much better than is typically the case, and for that I'd like to say thank you to all the shorties.

posted Jan 22, 2009
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