The Walkmen, Exit/In, Nashville, TN - 1/15/2011

I think that there is nary a better band playing in the country right now than the Walkmen.  They have put out a remarkable string of albums going back to their debut and are making music for the ages.  To put it another way:  I was psyched for this show.

We finally tried NY Pie in West Nashville before the rocking ensued, and it was pretty great.  According to the Exit/In website, there was no opener with the Walkmen going on at 9, so we ended up getting there way too early, but it was fine as lots of friends came out.

The openers ended up being Lower Dens, who sounded great.  They very much had the early 80's new wave thing down, but the singer had some pipes.  I kind of wish they had ended their set a little earlier, as they went on a bit too long, but they were good.  As I was grabbing a beer during their set, I got a chance to shake hands with Hamilton, the Walkmen's frontman, and thank him for coming back to Nashville.  He was gracious.

So the Walkmen come out with no fanfare at all.  The crowd was nice and full but not crazy.  We were pretty front and center, much more so than normal.  And what can I say?  They absolutely killed.  One of the better shows of the nascent year, but I don't see much that could top it.  The Nashville Scene did a nice write-up with lots of pics, too.  I can hardly express how good these guys are, how amazing their songs are, how many classic tunes they could play but didn't ... just about perfect ...

Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone (couldn't think of that one before ...)
Angela Surf City
In The New Year
138th Street (!!!)
Blue as Your Blood
Woe Is Me
Little House of Savages (!!!!)
All My Great Designs
Victory
While I Shovel The Snow (best song of the night - transcendent)
On The Water
Canadian Girl (!!!!!)
All Hands on the Cook
Juveniles

New Country (just Paul and Ham)
The Rat
We've Been Had (!!!!!!!!!!!)