How good were The Walkmen at the Henry Fonda on Saturday? In the parlance of our contemporaries, so effing good. I thought my days of giddy fanboy behavior were behind me. My stiff neck and scratchy throat would suggest otherwise.
Highlights had to be "My Old Man," "New Year's Eve," and, of course, "The Rat," which is shaping up to be their flagship song. It's the single of the year so far, in my little corner of the world.
Anyone who knows me knows I love this band. I love them in that possessive high-school kind of way. I'm on board. My identification is complete. I feel like it's music made by people my age, people at the same place in their lives. Listening to it, I feel validated. It's expansive, atmospheric, beautiful, bizarre, sometimes fierce, sometimes plaintive, often moving. A little pretentious, sometimes indulgent, but never cynical. Maybe not for everyone. Definitely for me.
