It's been a big year for the band Wednesday. After breaking out with a killer solo career, guitarist MJ Lenderman announced that he would no longer be a touring member of the band, regulating himself just to album appearances. This news also coincided with the break-up between him and lead singer Karly Hartzman. If you think that would somehow make their music any less compelling or their shows any less thrilling, you'd be incorrect. Sticking mostly to their past two albums, the band tour through tracks with total fire, slowly getting the crowd more revved-up with each song. "I thought I was gonna have to tell you all that night 1 was pretty great, but y'all are really going for it" Karly exclaimed early on in the night and it felt like there wasn't a single moment when the crowd wasn't ready to pounce on the excitement. Bringing their gnarled shoegaze guitar tones to punishing volumes, the band was seething on stage and made these songs come alive with such vigor and an abundance of emotion. "Do y'all like country music? This song is about North Carolina!" Hartzman shared before the band dove into "Chosen to Deserve," the alt-country rocker at the heart of their last album, Rat Saw God, and it hit like a spark, igniting the crowd and livening up the audience ever more so and hitting a blast of energy that would last for the rest of the night. When the guitar roar kicked in for the opening of "Hot Rotten Grass Smell," things accelerated and the crowd's energy hit a new height, the pit really opened up for this one and started to swallow more and more of the audience. Really opening up to the crowd, Hartzman's banter was a fun addition to the night and at one point noted that while Spotify is indeed terrible, the band feels unsure if there's such a thing as a good music streaming service and encouraged everyone to either pirate their music or buy the records themselves. This was a well received remark and really loosened things up, revealing more of their personality on stage and their overall joyful attitude despite their music which can often be dark. "We've never played this one at a show for an audience before and it's a slower one" Hartzman acknowledged before "Carolina Murder Suicide." It was a special moment and one of the more calming performances of the night, the slow grind of the song a welcome bit of respite from an otherwise energetic show. As things wound down, the band leaned into some of their best work and that made for an enthralling finish to an already buzzing performance. "Elderberry Wine" has been the biggest hit from the new record and while I've always enjoyed the song, hearing it live really elevated it and made me really connect with it in a way I wasn't expecting, the soft and subtle twang filling in the groove and letting the band show off their powers with such ease before going straight into "Townies," another new gem that gained more life on stage than it does on the record. "We don't really do the encore thing," Hartzman noted as the show hit the finish. "We just stay up here and keep it going" she stated in addition to congratulating the city on electing our new Mayor. To close out the night, Wednesday busted out their heaviest tracks and let things rip. "Bull Believer" has been a show ender for quite some time and Hartzman comes close to blowing out her voice each time she lashes out with those visceral screams and now they've tacked on "Wasp" to really send things off. After such a country-fried show, watching it all come to a finish with such intensity can be a bit of a shock, but it was clear that the crowd was ready and fully committed to the band as the pit surged to its most volatile moments of the night. Wednesday are firing on all cylinders right now and to see them execute these tracks with such passion isn't something to be missed!
Set list:
02 "Got Shocked"
03 "Fate Is..."
04 "Twin Plagues"
05 "Chosen to Deserve"
06 "Wound Up Here (By Holdin On)"
07 "Hot Rotten Grass Smell"
08 "Bitter Everyday"
09 "Billboard"
10 "Phish Pepsi" (Bleeds version)
11 "Handsome Man"
12 "September Gurls" (Big Star cover)
13 "Pick Up That Knife"
14 "Carolina Murder Suicide" (Live debut)
15 "Candy Breath"
16 "Bath County"
17 "Elderberry Wine"
18 "Townies"
19 "Bull Believer"
20 "Wasp"
No comments:
Post a Comment