On Sunday afternoon we, along with a slew of other fans, braved the 90+ degree heat, and made our way to Summerstage for the final show of the summer. A free gig featuring Dinosaur Jr., The Walkmen, and Saviours, it was a completely solid dose of rock and roll, and just right for the killer heat wave the city's been experiencing for the past week.
Bay Area natives Saviours opened the show with an extremely solid dose of in-your-face metal. We have to admit, when it kicked off we were skeptical as to how the crowd might take to the bold genre leap, but there was definitely unbridled enthusiasm. Given J. Mascis' massive guitar sounds and killer riffs, it follows that his fans would be open to some metaltastic goodness.
Soon after, The Walkmen took the stage, and delivered a massive set that was far more rock oriented than their show Friday night at the Guggenheim. While they still played a fair dose of their more heady material, they also dug into their rock roots, and unrepentantly delivered fan favorite "The Rat".
It's also worth mentioning that the band, despite how awesome they sounded Friday, sounded even better on Sunday. It was as though Friday had been a dry run, and Sunday was the true delivery. The band seemed more conscious of their sound, and all the playing seemed more immediate and in your face. What's more, Leithauser's voice sounded even better than on Friday, which was truly remarkable.
All in all, the band managed to offer up a killer set that completely catered to the more rock-oriented vibe of the bill, and left us with an extremely lucid demonstration of just how versatile The Walkmen can be as a live unit.
The show wrapped up with a show from Dinosaur Jr., and it was everything one might expect: the band is ridiculously tight, loud, and ready to deliver. In the blistering Sunday heat, they dove into a lengthy set of classic material and never let up.
What's more, the band did pull in a fair amount of new material, and it was remarkable just how easily it blended into the set. The trio has really managed to seamlessly return to form, and it's almost as though they were never on hiatus, and just kept making great rock and roll.
And, at the end of the day, that's exactly what Sunday's show was all about: blistering, sweaty, awesome rock and roll in the hot August heat. Between all three bands, the gamut of rock was traversed, and it balanced perfectly to round out this year's Summerstage in fine form. Well played.
Many more pictures at the HAD Archive
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