Riding high off of the popularity of their most recent album, The War on Drugs came into Day one of Landmark Music Festival as one of the most anticipated acts. The Philadelphia-based band played in front of a sizeable audience just before Drake’s concert, and the hundreds if not thousands who decided to walk across the festival to see both acts made the right decision. Without a doubt, The War on Drugs was one of the best acts of the day.
In many ways the band’s style of music is perfect for live performance. Most of their songs are long, even their shorter ones run over four minutes. Normally this would work against the short attention spans of listeners, but at a concert where there’s no skip button, the audience can appreciate the fantastic compositions that the band’s lengthy tracks offer.
The main focus of the performance alternated between Adam Granduciel’s guitar and Robbie Bennett’s keys with an ethereal indie rock sound underpinning them both. Granduciel’s crooning voice at times soothed the audience and at others shocked them with passion. The animated drumming of Charlie Hall (who seemed to be dancing in his seat) provided enough fun and energy to keep even the non-rock fans entertained.
If there was one negative to the show it was the weather. Predictions of rain came true shortly into the set and literally dampened the event. The wet and cold didn’t make the music any worse, but possibly limited the enjoyment of many in the audience and certainly served as a reminder to bring rain gear to the festival on Sunday. Still, The War on Drugs persevered and made their show a great one, probably gaining a number of new fans in the process.
