The Walkmen
Date: June 22, 2007 Burn Down the Room My second dose of the Capital Idea! Festival echoed the first, in that the headlining act, The Walkmen, unveiled a lot of material from its upcoming album. Given the fact that I wouldn't have expected the band to visit Ottawa, this was my most anticipated show of the festival. Despite a surprisingly sparse attendance, The Walkmen came through with a powerful set that lived up to my hopes. The plus side of that low attendance was that I was able to secure a front row seat before the first of two local openers, Acres. The numerous empty seats made the Bronson Centre's converted high school gym feel cavernous, setting an odd mood. However, Acres seemed undeterred, with guitarist/singer Matthew Corbiere remarking that at least the empty space kept the heat down. (Recalling past Bronson Centre shows from Feist and Sigur Rós, I had to agree that this was a blessing.) Although the vocals were muddy in the mix throughout the set, this flaw was not fatal, as Acres' sound is more instrumentally focus. The three-piece outfit seemed to be having fun and they kept a good pace, getting some heads bobbing with a driving set. I'm glad that I finally took the opportunity to see this band, who I've been hearing about since they formed last year. After hearing that The Walkmen had been delayed at the border, I thought that the Acres' start time being pushed back by thirty minutes was the start of a shift in the concert schedule to accommodate a late arrival. As it turned out, Relief Maps started playing only five minutes after Acres wrapped up, with the changeover being as simple as swapping cymbals on the drum hardware and plugging in their instruments. Unfortunately, the difficulties in the mix remained, making it difficult to hear singer Katie Duross. Otherwise, the band sounded good in a brief but spirited set. While the band's playing was energetic, its crowd interaction was lacking, with some long pauses between songs and a surprisingly abrupt ending to their set after only twenty minutes. I don't think that anyone around me realized that the band had finished until four-fifths of them were off the stage. As soon as The Walkmen began playing, people in the audience left their seats and spilled into the open space in front of the stage, making it feel much more like a cohesive crowd. Although I'm still surprised by the low turn-out, it certainly seemed like everyone who was there was very excited; and the band quickly returned that energy. Once again, I found the vocals a little low in the mix, although not as significantly as earlier in the evening. Hamilton Leithauser's powerful singing almost made up for the imperfections, though; and the band came across with its signature sound intact, a chaotic swirl of organs and guitars. The active crowd hit its peak early in the night, when the band dropped its biggest hit, "The Rat," three songs into the set. This was the most explosive moment of the show but the rest was far from a let-down, as the band played great throughout a sharply-paced set. Although a few other recognizable songs popped up, such as "All Hands and the Cook" and "What's in it For Me," a great portion of the set was new to me. It's difficult to pick up on the nuances of fresh material in such a setting, as the songs tend to blur together in the run of a concert, with their subtleties lost in the live mix. Everything seemed to fit perfectly, though, and the crowd reaction to those songs was very strong, which is always the most promising sign for an upcoming album. One unusual aspect of the headlining set was the way that two members of Relief Maps worked their way back into the action. Shortly after The Walkmen started, Katie and Luke Duross showed up again at the side of the stage; and they were soon playing along with tambourines. The Walkmen ended up inviting them to the forefront to assist with "Red River." The pair showed up a couple of times afterwards, again playing tambourines on the side of the stage. In total, I wouldn't be surprised if they were on stage longer than they were during their own set. While I'm sure that it was fun for the players, it seemed intrusive observing from the floor; and it was notably distracting when the siblings were tapping along seemingly at random, even over the main band's would-be dramatic pauses. Minor disturbances aside, though, this was a great concert from a great band. The turn-out did not match my expectations but in all other respects my most-anticipated night of the festival delivered in full.
The Walkmen setlist 
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