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Since last seeing The Walkmen and White Rabbits, as they opened for Spoon just a year and a half ago at the Vic, the two bands have changed a surprising amount in a short period of time. White Rabbits, who were just gaining attention with their relatively prominent single “The Plot”, are now getting radio play with their lead single “Percussion Gun” off of the Britt Daniel (Spoon) produced album, and have supremely polished their act. While the obvious influence of The Walkmen is still in tact, the band has also found a way, perhaps under the tutelage of Britt Daniel, to strip down their sound, while still maintaining the rhythmically-inclined musical structures that became the bands signature. This translated beautifully to their live performance at the intimate Lincoln Hall, as every subtlety to their sound was represented superbly. While they abbreviated their most popular songs such as “Kid on My Shoulders” and “The Plot”, they did deliver, once again, on sounding even better than the studio counterparts when playing the songs from It’s Frightening.
The Walkmen, who at the Vic came off as surprisingly tame at the Vic show, were really on point at this Lincoln Hall showing– with Hamilton Leithauser displaying incredible confidence in performing the quieter tunes from their critically acclaimed album You & Me. The local horn section was a welcome addition, and the band did an admirable job of mixing in their older songs with the new. The ebb and flow of slow-fast-slow paced songs caused a palpable sense of anticipation before the band finally went into playing “The Rat,” but even with that, it was hard not to appreciate their performance.
If you haven’t had the opportunity to go to Chicago’s latest venue Lincoln Hall, do yourself a favor and go the first chance you can. A wonderfully executed venue from the folks behind Schuba’s, White Rabbits and The Walkmen did a great service to the venue’s outstanding acoustics.
