BrightestYoungThings: LiveDC: The Walkmen / Here We Go Magic @ 930 Club

all (fine) words: Aaron Baird
all (great) photos: Brandon Hirsch

It's always exciting to see a band you've never listened to. It eliminates the usual anticipation formed by familiarity and expectation, and, if you're lucky, replaces it with an inflated sense of wonder inspired by pleasant surprise. What I'm getting to, is that, no, I've never listened to them, but I found myself warming to the folks of Here We Go Magic almost immediately. The band gave one of those performances where you sit and think, "Now this is a band I will go home and download!" (p.s. we have featured Here we go magic before extensively, and they actually just came off opening for another one of Aaron's favorite band's-Grizzly Bear-ED)

They did it with a 6-pack of members, each seemingly thrilled to be there, on stage, for what was growing to be a packed house. Throughout their dreamy haze of afro-electro-pop inspired ruminations, the sheer energy of their performance was tangible. Not an energy that made you want to dance, or even mosh, but one that made you glad you were there, watching humans genuinely celebrate exactly what they'd found to be their impetus. Shit was tight.

On the other hand, seeing a band you're quite familiar with, is complicated. It's a game of expectations and managed anticipation. Along with the other thousand or so concert-goers Wednesday night at 9:30, I have long been a fan of The Walkmen. They reeled me in early with the song "Summer Stage" off one of their first EPs, and have continued to place a holder on it with the latest, You & Me.

What struck me about this particular performance (hardly a novel observation) is the maturity of the band. They've grown from their zealously jagged, raw, 3-shows-a-night-in-a-dive-bar brilliance into a fully-fledged classic pop quartet. Their years of referencing folks like Randy Newman, The Pogues, and Roy Orbison have finally come into a realized fruition. Aside from the early "Little House of Savages," this was not a performance of sloshed but beautiful punk ballads. Hell, they have a horn section. Enough said.

Sure, when the boys let loose and careen into their penchant for the bombastic, they do so with the same virility they always had, and that was just plain obvious on songs like "In the New Year." The songs have long predicated themselves on the subtle execution of restrained mood and nostalgia inspired melody, but their craft has evolved such that those deliberately drawn-out tensions now provide nearly as much satisfaction as their release.

And what can I say about Hamilton's vocal lead other than: holy shit?! Dude has developed a range that now matches his ambitious phrasing and elongated lingering. His vocals unquestionably pilot the visceral sentiment in these fine songs.

Noticeably absent were any songs from their first (and some might still think foremost) album, as the set was comprised largely of tunes from their latest effort, with a few new songs tossed in between. This seems to be an indicator of their intent musical ambition, and as much as I'm nostalgic for their days of playing house parties at college shows, I love that.