The War on Drugs played Chicago (pics, setlist), talk Tom Petty in new interview
The War on Drugs‘ tour in support of their new album A Deeper Understanding hit Chicago on Thursday night (10/19) for a show at Aragon Ballroom. Setlist, which wasn’t too terribly different from their NYC shows, is below and pictures from the night, including ones of openers The Building, are in the gallery above.
One of the most frequent comparisons The War on Drugs get, especially around the time of 2013’s Lost in the Dream, is to Tom Petty. Frontman Adam Granduciel talked a bit about Tom, who we lost just a couple weeks ago, and his influence on his songwriting with Grammy.com:
[He’s] one of my favorites. … He had a catalog of hits before I was of age. Then, when I was in my teens, Wildflowers came out [in 1994] — maybe to some it was like a new kind of Tom Petty, but it hit me so intensely when that record came out. It was like a reintroduction to a lot of different kinds of music for me. His band was so important to him. The Heartbreakers were what you imagine being in a band would be like — best buddies and great players and guys who took it all really seriously.
As he grew older, his material was just as relevant and just as exciting and the band’s just as killer. … It seems surreal that there’s no more Tom Petty, in person. It’s true that the music lives on because [with] a guy like that, [there are] centuries of information there.
Read the whole interview here.
With their North American tour wrapping up this weekend, The War on Drugs will head to Europe in November and in early 2018 will play the multi-city Laneway Festival in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. All dates are listed below.
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SETLIST: The War on Drugs @ Aragon Ballroom 10/19/2017 (via)
In Chains
Holding On
Pain
An Ocean in Between the Waves
Strangest Thing
Nothing to Find
Knocked Down
Buenos Aires Beach
Eyes to the Wind
Burning
Red Eyes
You Don’t Have to Go
Up All Night
Under the Pressure
Clean Living
Encore:
Brothers
The War on Drugs – 2017/2017 Tour Dates
Oct 20 Express Live! Columbus, OH
Oct 21 Massey Hall Toronto, Canada
Oct 22 Massey Hall Toronto, Canada
Oct 23 The Anthem Washington, DC
Nov 01 afas live Amsterdam Zuidoost, Netherlands
Nov 02 afas live Amsterdam Zuidoost, Netherlands
Nov 03 E-Werk Cologne, Germany
Nov 04 Forest National Forest, Belgium
Nov 06 Bataclan Paris, France
Nov 07 L’Aeronef Lille, France
Nov 09 Barrowlands Glasgow, United Kingdom
Nov 10 Barrowlands Glasgow, United Kingdom
Nov 12 O2 Apollo Manchester Manchester, United Kingdom
Nov 13 O2 Apollo Manchester Manchester, United Kingdom
Nov 14 Alexandra Palace London, United Kingdom
Nov 15 Portsmouth Guildhall Portsmouth, United Kingdom
Nov 17 X-TRA Zurich, Switzerland
Nov 18 Fabrique Milan, Italy
Nov 20 Muffathalle Munich, Germany
Nov 21 Große Freiheit 36 Hamburg, Germany
Nov 22 Tempodrom Berlin, Germany
Nov 24 Spektrum Oslo, Norway
Nov 25 Tap 1 Copenhagen, Denmark
Nov 26 Tap 1 Copenhagen, Denmark
Nov 27 Annexet Stockholm, Sweden
Nov 29 Lotto Arena Antwerp, Belgium
Dec 09 91X Wrex the Halls San Diego, CA
Dec 11 Crystal Ballroom Portland, OR
Dec 16 Soul Kitchen Mobile, AL
Dec 17 Iron City Birmingham Birmingham, AL
Dec 20 Brown Theatre Louisville, KY
Dec 21 The Vogue Indianapolis, IN
Dec 22 The Castle Theater Bloomington, IL
Jan 27, 2018 Laneway Festival Singapore, Singapore
Jan 29, 2018 Laneway Festival Auckland, New Zealand
Feb 02, 2018 Laneway Festival Adelaide Sa, Australia
Feb 03, 2018 Laneway Festival Melbourne, Australia
Feb 04, 2018 Laneway Festival Sydney, Australia
Feb 10, 2018 Laneway Festival Brisbane, Australia
Feb 11, 2018 Laneway Festival Fremantle, Australia
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photos by James Richards IV