THE WALKMEN at the Phoenix, Friday, March 2. Rating: NNN
The Walkmen never quite lived up to all the “new Strokes” hype thrown at them since the early-‘00s New York garage revival, but the now-veteran indie rockers have carved out a large and dedicated enough fanbase willing to spend “An Evening With” the band (as it was billed) at the Phoenix on the occasion of their tenth anniversary.
It takes a certain level of self-indulgence for a band to celebrate its own history with a two and a half hour, two-set show with no opening act, but unabashed grandiosity has always been a major part of the Walkmen’s aesthetic.
The evening’s set list, culled from the band’s six-album tenure (plus a few new ones off their upcoming seventh), displayed some undeniable range, alternating between elegant rockers, shuffly mariachi-tinged jaunts (complete with upright piano and full horn section) and a couple of solo acoustic ballads. Despite the varied dynamics, though, the Walkmen’s songs all have a few elements in common – namely the reverbed-to-all-hell guitars and Hamilton Leithauser’s forever-yearning vocal rasp.
To have a distinct, unmistakable aesthetic is a positive thing for a band, especially one with so many stylistically similar peers, but after twenty-plus songs it starts to blend into a stylish but monotonous blur. That marathon quality was just reinforced by the wet heat of the crowded Phoenix (extra-credit to Leithauser for maintaining the band’s modish visual aesthetic by never removing his suit jacket).
But the Walkmen never claimed this one-off performance would be anything but fan service, especially with no album to promote, and they even went so far as to end the night taking requests.
They may never have risen to the arenas of their most frequently cited scene-mates the Strokes, but the Walkmen have survived the hype to put together a consistent, reliable decade-long career. And that’s something worth celebrating.
