Photos of The War On Drugs at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, NY on September 13th, 2024
Photos of The War On Drugs at 2024 Newport Folk Festival in Newport, RI
Photos of The War On Drugs at 2022 Austin City Limits Festival in Austin, TX
Photos of The War On Drugs at ArtPark in Buffalo, NY on June 11th, 2022
Photos of The War On Drugs at 2018 Shaky Knees Fest in Atlanta, GA
Photos of The War On Drugs at 2015 Treasure Island Music Festival in San Francisco, CA
Photos of The War On Drugs at 2015 Landmark Music Festival in Washington, D.C.
QRO’s review of The War On Drugs at Rock City in Nottingham, U.K. on March 1st, 2015
Photos of The War On Drugs at 2014 TBD Fest in Sacramento, CA
Photos of The War On Drugs at 2014 Boston Calling in Boston, MA
Photos of The War On Drugs at 2014 Pickathon in Happy Valley, OR
The War On Drugs have pulled off the increasingly rare feat of becoming a popular current rock band that didn’t start decades ago, winning Best Rock Album Grammy in 2017 for A Deeper Understanding. Still, they are something of a throwback, I Don’t Live Here Anymore channeling the smooth evening rock of the eighties that your dad loved.
Photos of The War On Drugs at Lee’s Palace in Toronto, ON, Canada on April 15th, 2014
Photos of The War On Drugs at SXSW 2012 in Austin, TX
QRO’s review of The War On Drugs at Electric Ballroom in London, U.K. on February 28th, 2012
Photos of The War On Drugs at Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, NY on May 16th, 2008
Anymore is not aggressive hard rock or sludgy stoner rock of the seventies (despite the band’s name), but the very polished rock that dominated the airwaves when Reagan was president. This style is done in better and worse ways on the record, with standouts such as the title track (featuring Lucius) and the My Morning Jacket-like uplift of “Wasted”. But it is polished & smooth to the point of slick & shiny at other times, hindering the connection to the emotion beneath.
While the hipster crowd might feel that I Don’t Live Here Anymore is too mainstream (though hipsters seem to be grabbing for more & more popular appeal stuff these days…), that’s not the direction here. The War On Drugs are reviving popular rock for the twenty-first century.
