The Walkmen w/ SOUNDteam & Coffinberry
Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland
August 7th
Fortunately, out of disaster often comes improvement. This is certainly true of the cancellation of the Lollapalooza tour that was slated for this summer. Bands such as Modest Mouse and The Walkmen quickly composed their own tour with The Walkmen both opening several dates as well as headlining their own shows around the country. This is why I, along with a little under 500 fellow Cleveland music fans found ourselves tucked into Cleveland’s Beachland ballroom. We were treated to the talent opening acts SOUNDteam and CoffinBerry. Both the opening acts were quite a treat as they were perfectly catered to the sound that fans of The Walkmen love, yet each band performed with their own sound. The Walkmen gracefully took their places to the cheers of a near packed house and without wasting any time dove right into the setlist. Opening with “What’s In It For Me,” the group proceeded to cover a large portion of both “Bows & Arrows” and “Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me Is Gone” with the same emotions that are conveyed on the record. A clear standout of the night was the performance of “Wake Up” and “We’ve Been Had.” Although the show was definitely a good one, lead singer Hamilton Leithauser’s attempts to infuse the same screams of “The Rat” into much of the rest of the band’s set made for a mediocre sound. Instead of the Troubadour-like vocals that Leithauser is well known for, he took a dramatic departure to add some loud flavor. While it was definitely an interesting attempt, overall it was something of a failure. While the outstanding aural-sounds of 2002’s “Everyone” earned a music role in a car commercial and many fans, 2004’s “Bows & Arrows” has found fans taking longer to absorb the material. However, success is definitely not far away for the band. Just recently, The Walkmen flew out to perform in an upcoming episode of “The O.C” (that will premier November 18th) in between concert dates. |
