Live music galleries: The War on Drugs [2023]

(I got the idea for this series while sifting through the ‘piles’ of digital photos on my laptop. It occurred to me to share some of these great pics from some of my favourite concert sets from time to time. Until I get around to the next one, I invite you to peruse my ever-growing list of concerts page.)

Artist: The War on Drugs
When: July 13th, 2023
Where: RBC stage, Ottawa Bluesfest, Lebreton Flats Park, Ottawa
Context: Immediately after the end of Bluesfest back in July, I posted pics from the Fleet Foxes set, calling it my favourite of the fest. But I caught a lot of great performances at this year’s festival, another big favourite being a mid-evening Thursday night spot by The War on Drugs. I had already seen the big-sounding rock band led by Adam Granduciel nine years before, but I had remembered how great they were live and couldn’t pass up seeing them again. Of the ten songs they performed, half were from their latest record, “I don’t live here anymore”, and though this wasn’t my favourite of the band’s works, those five songs infused with the WoD live energy became a different animal altogether. They were onstage for just over an hour and fifteen minutes and barely spoke to the crowd and in fact, they barely paused between songs. They just kept up the rock and the crowd ate it up. This blogger included.
Point of reference song: “I don’t live here anymore”