I shed a tear as Adam Granduciel shreds the guitar. The trills send shivers down the spine of thousands. A symbol of The War on Drugs at large, the guitar solo on “Pain” moves in a way not understood through words. After hinting at a solo in the middle of the song, Granduciel goes all out at the end, displaying his command of his task. The song apexes at the ending point, after the words have all been said. The “deeper understanding” comes only through this reconciliation between lyrics and instrumentation. For Granduciel, the latter must play the role of the agent to rid himself of his pain.
“Pain” is a masterpiece. It is one of those songs that is incredible to listen to with headphones, but even better live. The second song I heard of the night, it set the stage for the entire show, and stuck with me the whole night. Maybe there was some irony in “Pain” coming early on, or maybe the message of the song, and the freeing from pain was crucial for Granduciel to execute the rest of the set.
The second of three bands at the United Center, The War on Drugs played a shortened set of ten songs. They played the songs they play the most, did not experiment much, did not prolong their solos. The band was handcuffed by the time restrictions. A part of the “Zen Diagram Tour” with Lucius and The National, what seems like a great idea on the surface, its flaws left me wanting more. The show was not The War on Drugs’ best, as they were not free to do what they wanted and express themselves how they usually do. I cannot imagine they will do this type of tour again. It was still a great joy to see my favorite band live.
Part of the difficulty with the show was the inequity between the three bands. Each show, Lucius played first, The War on Drugs second, and The National third. Each band’s set was twice as long as the previous. This certainly correlates with the popularity of each band, but created a manufactured, almost avaricious experience, antithetical to the mission of each of the three bands. The show drew attention to the unfortunately greedy side of the music industry, that even bands who are focused on artistry over profit cannot avoid.
Focusing on the set itself, the band played only ten songs, starting with “Baby Missiles.” That was the only song they played off their second album Slave Ambient. A highlight was “Harmonia’s Dream,” which shines in live performance. Sprawling out to ten minutes long or so, the song relies heavily on Robbie Bennett’s keyboard. The back-and-forth synth feels like a flashing of lights in your ears. The penultimate song, “Under the Pressure” similarly stands out live, again thanks to Bennett, but even more so Charlie Hall’s drums. These songs epitomize The War on Drugs’ ability to recognize their instrumental strength through extension. Especially live, “Harmonia’s Dream,” and “Under the Pressure” all crescendo instrumentally as they progress, with volume and tempo, leading to a wonderful sonic catharsis.
After commenting frustratedly that they had time for half a song, they finished off with “I Don’t Live Here Anymore,” joined on stage with Lucius. The way they rushed off stage represented the experience of the performance as a whole. I thought back to when I saw the band in Columbus in early 2022, and how they kept extending the encore, and comparing it to tonight. For a band that is so great live, it is difficult to grapple with a performance that is compromised. No doubt, they suffered due to the situation, but perhaps the band did not perform to their standard either. Either way, I’ll be there when they come back to Chicago.