Since breaking out with 2014’s Lost in the Dream, The War on Drugs and its leader Adam Granduciel have become synonymous with a meticulous and hazy version of synth-driven heartland rock. But with a second live album release this month, Live Drugs Again, the band is highlighting its high-energy shows. Often using takes from multiple shows spliced together, the songs stretch further than even the most spacious moments on the studio recordings, and the anthemic tunes sound even more epic in echoing amphitheaters. Now, the band is back on the road with The National, in the middle of a 19-leg tour through the U.S. and Canada.
Ahead of the show at Cuyahoga Falls’ Blossom Music Center on Sept. 21, we had a quick phone chat with Granduciel to talk about the live experience, both from the crowd and from the stage.
Cleveland Magazine: It’s pouring rain right now in Cleveland, which might be familiar to you as a Philly guy. How are things in California? How has the transition from the East Coast been? Do you think being in sunny California has affected the music at all?
Adam Granduciel: It takes time to get used to, like anything else. But I don't really think about it anymore. I don't think [it’s affected the music]. Sunny California — I mean, it's not 1968. You make music all over the place. You write it all over the place and record in the winter. The last couple records, we recorded a lot of it in the winter in upstate New York. It doesn’t really make a difference. It just happens to be where I'm living, raising my kids.
CM: You are very meticulous in the studio. But you guys are on tour now. You just released a live album. I’m sure you’ve been in the mindset of the live performance … what it means and how it’s done. What’s it like going from the studio atmosphere to playing live or compiling a live record?
AG: We've been on the road for three years on this record. We've played hundreds of shows from the time that I turned in this record. Basically October, late 2020. So we've been on for a long time, and I haven't really been in the studio mindset for us for a long time. It’s like anything, you just don't really think about it. We play hundreds of shows, so to compile that record of our favorite moments is to give back to our fans. It shows a different side of things, a filter that these songs get put through and then become their own thing.
CM: Do memories come back when you hear some of these songs? Can you remember where you were or how you felt?
AG: Yeah, I think so. A lot of the things represented on the record are nights we specifically remember. It’s not like we're going through all these hard drives looking for a great version of something. It's like, Oh, let's start with this show. Because I remember this show was the sixth show of six in a row, and we were all fried. But I remember coming off stage feeling it was next level. You kind of start with the circumstances around the show or the tour. You don't really remember performances as much as just like, Oh, that night in that town, like you had that awesome backstage, and everyone was so nice. That’s what you remember. The crowd was crazy, something like that.
Sometimes these songs just get put through the filter of, like, where you are in your life, on the road. I'm not gonna say it's always fun on the road. It’s exciting, but it's not always enjoyable in the way that you think it would be because you're gone for weeks at a time, and then you're just trying to keep it going. You get really excited to go home. You're playing for two hours every night, and every minute of every day is basically used to, like, secure enough energy to get through the show and take care of your body so you can make it to the next show. Those moments on the stage are the only ones that matter, you know. So I just try to make those two hours the best two hours you could imagine because it’s a tough, tough way of life.
CM: Do you remember any specific moments? Which songs bring up those memories?
AG: Picking up the record right now, “Old Skin” is cool. There's some guitar things that I really love. “Slow Ghost” was from one of our shows in Florida, and the crowd was kind of just insane, even though it's a mellow jam. It was just like this really kind of great Friday night, like humid summer night in Tampa where you're like, Oh man, this vibe is sweet. That was maybe June in Tampa. A beautiful day, f—ing humid. Everyone has been outside all day, like they were kind of half crazy. The venue was not by any means a professional venue, and it was really just memorable for us and our crew, like Oh, that venue sucked because we had to… you know. But it's like, sometimes the more ramshackle, the better for me. You want to roll into a town and, like, become a part of how they do things, you know? Sometimes you don't really leave these venues. You can’t tell the inside of one from the inside of the other. And this was just a special night.
CM: There’s the Jerry Garcia thing, when they’re playing these big stadiums, where he says “success has ruined the Dead” because they got so far away from the crowd and everything was so polished.
AG: Oh, give me a break.
CM: I know, I know, it’s probably facetious. But you guys are kind of in that position now with this, this tour I mean. This is by far the biggest venue in Cleveland that you've played so far. How is that different, and what is the experience of seeing you with The National?
AG: It's great to play these venues, like we're playing them with The National, so not on our own tour. We'll get there one day, but I mean, to put it in your words, like with Jerry, it’s just a traveling festival. We're kind of taking this traveling show to all these great little stages every night. Once we're in it for a week, it's just going to be this traveling sort of circus vibe, brotherhood, friendship, whatever it is, yeah? Take on a life of its own.
Cleveland’s a beautiful place. We have a lot of friends in Cleveland. I haven't been to this venue. The last place was Jacob’s Pavilion, but, I mean, late summer. Outdoor show. Three great bands. Come and have a drink on the lawn. Come sweat it out in the pit, whatever you want. It’s all there for you. We’re incredibly fortunate that we’re playing some of these places we play. Playing shows in America is the greatest gift you could get, being from here and touring around in America. When you go to other parts of the world, you're in a strange place. This is where we live. We know how to get around. I can rent a car and go to the store. But venues are venues. It's like, set up the gear and just let me rip with my band.
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