Having sold out the first three nights of their December tour in under a week, The War On Drugs have announced two new shows due to overwhelming demand! A second Melbourne show will take place at 170 Russell on the 8th of December, and December 15th at the Metro Theatre in Sydney. Tickets are on sale now from www.handsometours.com.
It’s only taken a few years for Philadelphia-based outfit The War On Drugs to morph from “that band with the vaguely ironic name that Kurt Vile used to play in” to one of the hottest indie rock propositions on the planet in their own right. This astonishing transformation due in no small part to their acclaimed third album, Lost In The Dream (released March, 2014). The lush, nuanced collection builds on the indubitable promise of the band’s first two long-players – Wagonwheel Blues (2008) and Slave Ambient (2011) – but takes listeners to another plane entirely, showcasing a tangible development in both songcraft and musicianship that teasingly reminds listeners of classic hits and hit-makers of yesteryear whilst retaining a unique and distinctive flavor of its own design.
The War On Drugs’ heady and uplifting guitar music works equally well in the wide outdoor spaces associated with music festivals or in a sweaty club environment, as they’ve resoundingly proved on past visits to Australia, including two sold out Melbourne shows. Each trip Down Under has been anchored around a key festival (Harvest Festival in 2012, Falls Festival and Southbound in 2013/14) and augmented with a run of sideshows, and this journey will be no different: The War On Drugs will absolutely own the amphitheater during the 2014 instalment of the much-loved Meredith Music Festival, as well as hitting the east coast capitals for a string of intimate club shows to get up-close-and-personal with their fervent fanbase.
The War On Drugs is, and always has been, the brainchild of enigmatic frontman and songwriter Adam Granduciel, but years of solid touring all over the globe in the wake of Slave Ambient’s release has upgraded the four-piece into a bona fide rock band, and this newfound solidarity shines brightly throughout Lost In The Dream. For the first time ever Granduciel allowed his bandmates to partake in the recording process, the four musicians spending eight months moving between studios all over the States before Granduciel – long regarded as a consummate professional – embellished the album’s ten songs to bring his idiosyncratic vision to life, and the result has been widely touted as a modern-day rock’n’roll masterpiece.
Some skeptics say that The War On Drugs can never be won – we say get amongst it and fight for your right to be hauled skywards by the eternally uplifting power of rock’n’roll!
“It’s a record for dusk, for dawn, and for all of the dark corners in which you might find yourself in between.” Q Magazine
“The album is loaded with songs whose greatness is revealed slowly, where the simplest, most understated chord change can blow a track wide open and elevate it from simply pretty to absolutely devastating.” Pitchfork
“Only a few artists are gifted enough to write hair-raising, fists-in-the-air, pedal-to-the-floor rock ‘n’ roll anthems: U2, Bruce Springsteen and Arcade Fire are proven pros, but maybe The War on Drugs’ Adam Granduciel should be added to that class, too.” NPR
The War On Drugs – December 2014 tour
Monday December 8 – Melbourne – 170 Russell – NEW SHOW!
Wednesday December 10 – Brisbane – The Zoo – SOLD OUT!
Thursday December 11 – Melbourne – The Hi-Fi – SOLD OUT!
Saturday December 13 – Sydney – Metro Theatre – SOLD OUT!
Monday December 15 – Sydney – Metro Theatre – NEW SHOW!
Tickets on sale now from www.handsometours.com
Presented by Handsome Tours, fbi, Triple R, Noisey, The Music and Spotify
The War On Drugs will also appear at Meredith Music Festival – www.mmf.com.au