The reaction of many people to news that War on Drugs would be headlining the Eden Sessions was “Who?”.
But those people are missing out on one of the best live ‘rock’ bands around at the moment, and judging by the number of people at the group’s Eden gig on Sunday night a lot of people are in on the secret.
The band employ a lot of rock’s favourite tropes to create something original and spectacular that feels widescreen and cinematic.
If you like the classicism of The Who, the motoric drumming of ‘Krautrock’, the widescreen pallet of Bruce Springsteen and the guitar wig-outs of Neil Young then War on Drugs is for you.
With no less than four synth a keyboard players on stage, Adam Granducial is consummate American rock frontman in the grand tradition with a band to match.
Even though he does say that they seem to have been on tour forever, the first since the pandemic, he seems genuinely delighted to be here and is full of praise for audience and the Eden Project.
The two hour set flew by starting with the yearning Pain throwing out its distinctive riff into the Eden night sky.
The band manage to give it the full stadium rock treatment without actually sounding or being like a stadium rock band by creating something much more intimate and personal.
There’s a lot of yearning in Adam’s songs but in such an uplifting way you can’t help but be drawn in to his tales of love and loss.
There are lots of references to the sea, the rain, wind, the oceans with more of a debt to the British band The Waterboys, which is revealed in their short and sweet cover of the group’s song Strange Boat.
Harmonia’s dream from their last album is given an elongated synth intro for this performance which has more of than a bit of a nod to the Who’s classic Baba O’Reilly The biggest reaction of the night is reserved for Pressure one of the band’s greatest songs with Adam promising the extended version drawing out the middle section for maximum effect. Needless to say “the crowd go wild”.
Special mention must go the band, especially the drummer Charlie Hall whose eccentric demeanour is reminiscent of the actor Danny McBride in the hit film Pineapple Express (look it up and you’ll see what I mean). His driving motoric rhythms along with David Harley’s face melting bass anchor the whole band.
Saxophonist Jon Natchez brings the house down with his extended sax solo at the end of Pressure with Adam urging him on.
Put the simply the band were on top form tonight with their epic soundscapes perfect for the Eden Project setting.
An Instagram post from War on Drugs the next day seems to confirm what we all thought “A truly incredible place …. Thank you for coming and being an amazing crowd 10/10.”
Our pleasure 10/10
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