The Walkmen at ACL Fest 10/8/2023
While I didn’t fully know what to expect in seeing The Walkmen live after a ten year hiatus, I was excited to get the chance to see them regardless. The Walkmen are one of those bands that you can tell is likely very underrated. They have been in the indie zeitgeist for quite a while, having influenced other indie bands including fellow New York band Interpol. But there is no band quite like The Walkmen. No indie rock band with a lead singer whose vocals are influenced by Sinatra and other crooners (well, not until the Arctic Monkeys were), yet who sings and screams in his own unique and expressive way. The band looks like they are all extremely talented family men. They are one of the most grounded bands I have seen, clearly grateful and in tune with the crowd as much as they are with their own performance.
During their performance many of the members would make eye contact, smile, and acknowledge audience members who were in tune with the performance. It made you realize you were right there in the moment with them, and not just consuming another performance in a festival filled with them. It felt like such a real thing, something not as stiff and manufactured and more raw and natural. It felt real, not a rigid or manufactured performance. Something you would hope other indie bands held onto more closely. Their original spark, their true selves. While other indie bands are continually good and consistent, There is no question about whether The Walkmen still have it. After ten years they sound more passionate and revitalized than even new bands would dream of.
I never saw The Walkmen before their hiatus, to be honest I didn’t even know about them before. I would have been about seven years old the last time they were together as a band. I’m sure I heard their song “The Rat” at some point many years ago, which was the song some people came to hear live and then promptly left afterwards. To me, it’s not about one particular song. It’s about the band and how great they are. The Walkman are so great that you’re not just waiting on one song. Even though I didn’t recognize many of their songs, it didn’t matter to me whatsoever. I was enthralled the whole time. Their energy, musicianship, and creativity had me transcending the festival crowd I was in.
Their timing on the lineup in the festival made it seem like they weren’t very appreciated by the curators. Early to mid afternoon at a festival of that scale is nothing to scoff at, but The Walkmen definitely had their shit together much more than ACL fest did. They excelled within their given time frame, and seemed to walk off stage proud having had one of the biggest crowds for that time of day.
They began with “the first song they ever wrote together” which is “We’ve Been Had” beginning the sheer uniqueness and beauty of their set. As simple as their band might seem on the surface, they create a magic no other band can quite match in the same way. My personal favorite “hit” of theirs is “The New Year” (not the Death Cab song, though I love that one too) which was surprisingly just as layered and atmospheric live as it is on the record. That record, You and Me was also drawn from for performances of “Postcards from Tiny Islands” and “Canadian Girl”. Hamilton Leithauser helped out with the names of songs, often telling audience members at the festival what they were playing next. As they finished their set with “Heaven”, I felt like I was in it the whole time they were up there.
A way to describe this performance, in the forty five minutes they were given, is a perfect balance between skill and natural chemistry within a band. That chemistry was certainly not lost in the ten years they didn’t perform, and it might be refreshed because of their break. The Walkmen are something truly special, and aren’t just some b-list indie-rock band to swipe past, whether it be in record crates or streaming services.
If you talk about cool New York bands from the early 2000s, don’t leave out The Walkmen. It has been a long time since they were formed from the legacies of the bands Johnathan Fire* Eater and The Recoys. They aren’t simply a reincarnation, they are their own force and style in modern rock. In my opinion, they should not be overlooked or forgotten by being compared to similarly great bands. They are their own thing, and if it weren’t for them Interpol probably would have just worn leather jackets like The Strokes.