I’m a late bloomer to the magic that is The War On Drugs, but ever since I heard the group’s mesmerizing, free-form 2014 album Lost In The Dream, I’ve been hooked. It’s a mixture of old-school Bruce Springsteen-esque rock ballads — Adam Granduciel’s gruffy voice, his bashfully-exhilarating guitar solos and the way the whole album blends seamlessly together. It’s easily one of my favorite albums of 2014.
So I’m not sure why there was ever any hesitation in whether I would go to Wednesday’s show in Columbus at Newport Music Hall. The trip became a last minute fling, as I decided to go at 7:30 p.m., which meant I had to leave at 8:00 for the 9:00 show. Luckily, I made it in time to catch the last half of “Burning” and was able to maneuver my way through the sold-out crowd for a halfway-decent spot.
It was extraordinarily refreshing to see so many people out for this band. The War On Drugs is just one of those groups that can transport me to another planet with the lyrical content of their songs, and, more importantly, the feeling.
When the electronic crackle of “Under The Pressure” came on and the robotic-like drum beat kicks in, the crowd began to move to the ebbs and flows of the song. This was no singalong. People were feeling the music, listening intently, and hoping that magic we fell in love with through our headphones would manifest itself again live. And it did.
With music we’re deeply connected to, there’s a want to vocalize our love for it. But somehow that message always comes out muddled, struggling to vocalize the intense feelings the song evokes.
In that room we were able to communally express our love for The War On Drugs to its fullest. My friends don’t feel as strongly about the band as I do, so to be in a room of like-minded people was something of a release of pent-up emotion that had been looking for a way out.
It’s the magic of the live performance — specific people are all gathered in one place, at one time to see a performance that can’t be repeated the same exact way ever again. Music is so readily available through services such as Spotify, Pandora, YouTube or (my own personal preference) Google Music, that it’s hard to find a one-of-a-kind experience we can connect to as a community of music lovers.
Sharing music on Facebook through Spotify may be changing the way we interact socially with music, but that share button won’t convey the beauty of Granduciel’s guitar solo in “An Ocean Between The Waves” that I experienced last night. And it never can.
William Hoffman is a senior studying journalism and culture editor for The Post. Swap stories about other Ohio concerts or the 2014 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival at wh092010@ohio.edu or via Twitter @Wilbur_Hoffman.
