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The Walkmen, White Rabbits take over Turner Hall
Great show at a great venue
By Audrey Posl
They were happy to be there and so was the audience.
Milwaukee hipsters were out en force Friday, Jan. 18; Turner Hall Ballroom downtown providing refuge from the frigid January wind. NYC indie rockers, The Walkmen, headlined an energetic show (by hipster standards, there were people dancing in the front row!) with openers White Denim and White Rabbits, respectively. Because it just opened in October, this was my first time at Turner Hall, which I learned is a great music venue with vast floor space and an airy atmosphere, something a lot of venues in Milwaukee cannot boast.
I walked in when White Denim was halfway done with their 30-minute powerhouse set. Hailing from Austin, Texas, the trio rocked out with sailing guitar riffs, conjuring influences as wide as Jimi Hendrix to the more neo-punk group The Hives. The drums were cymbal-heavy and forceful – very classic rock. They sounded like a modern, less capable Led Zeppelin, until the drummer attached a cowbell to his kit and then they began to live up to their Texas roots.
It was as much of a show for the White Rabbits as it was for the The Walkmen, a lot of people were incredibly enthused when they took the stage. They are gaining popularity fast and it is justified.
White Rabbits are a curious band. There are six members, all attractive males, and they traded instruments and pulled out tambourines and shakers from behind their ears, just as casually as the people heading to the bar to get another PBR.
They have two drummers and two full kits onstage. In addition to this, the keyboardist bangs on a flipped-over bass drum, and when one of the guitarists has hands free, an instrument seems to be picked at random and played. They are from NYC, like the Walkmen, and contribute to a similar rhythmic sound. Both bands even used maracas as drum sticks for a couple songs.
Though their lineup is chaotic, they are delightfully well put together. Their songwriting and sense of melody and beat movement is profoundly satisfying both live and on their debut record, Fort Nightly.
There was little on-stage banter, but it was easy to read the sincere expressions on their faces during their entire 45-minute set; making music is what they love. They were happy to be there and so was the audience.
By the time The Walkmen stepped onstage, most of the people were gathered in a pack near the front of the stage, cheering enjoyably. The band played half a dozen tracks off their third full-length album, “100 Miles Off,” which was released last year, and a healthy amount of crowd favorites from their past work. This included “The Rat,” which gained them some fame after being featured on an episode of “The OC.”
Lead singer Hamilton Leithauser is a natural born crooner. When he sings he evokes a more tune-friendly Bob Dylan. For most of his time onstage he had his tattered guitar hung over his shoulder, only playing it for brief snippets. Mainly he stood, clutching the microphone with two hands, wailing and giving it his all. This made for a very photogenic performance.
The rest of his band stood back and provided a steady but lively show. During slower songs I convinced myself they could be labeled as shoe-gazers, but I was consistently proven wrong because at heart they are a playful, content indie-rock romp that isn’t afraid to use the keyboard’s organ setting.
Their records are pieces of musical precision, with meticulously winding guitar effects and subtle keyboards. However, halfway through the set, the sixth string broke on Leithauser’s guitar and he continued to play with it dangling for the remainder of the show. This bothered a few excited fans who chanted for him to restring it, but he just replied with a laugh and a quiet “whatever, man.”
It’s not that The Walkmen don’t care, they are just more laid back onstage, which makes for a natural, worth-while performance.
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