CONCERT RECAP: The Walkmen plus Milo Greene @ Tipitina’s Uptown – 9/22/12

Let me begin by saying that I had no idea general admission show-goers could go upstairs at Tipitina’s Uptown without a VIP pass. For the past decade, I always thought the man at the staircase was there to keep me and the rest of the peasants from going to some lofty, very important hideaway. But no, the man at the staircase simply doesn’t want you to take glass bottles upstairs. Moral of the story: Don’t be a noob like me, feel free to venture upstairs. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about the music.

Milo Greene @ Tipitina’s 9/22/12 – © Corey Thomas

The show kicked off with Los Angeles quintet Milo Greene, an energetic hodgepodge of young twenty somethings that apparently can’t figure out which instrument he or she wants to play, so they exchange them – often times mid song. That being said, they all played them with enviable ease. The seamless transition of instruments was complimented by an equal share of vocal duties with four members providing lead and backing vocals coupled with warm four-part harmonies. Milo immediately had the crowd dancing with their kinetic stage presence and up-tempo choruses before sending us all into a nostalgic frenzy with their airy rendition of Sufjan Stevens‘ “Chicago.” Notably, no one in the band is named Milo and no one musician held the role of “lead singer” or “front man” – instead, their performance was a gorgeously executed team effort that left me wondering how in the hell had I not heard of them before.

After Milo Greene gave their final bows and broke down their equipment, Tipitina’s slowly swelled to capacity with the Walkmen faithful – antsy for those home hitting lyrics and that Brooklyn-born, vintage bliss. If you’re familiar with the Walkmen, then you’re already aware that they’re most likely going to be the best dressed yahoos in the venue, and Saturday night at Tips was no exception. They blew their set open with “The Love You Love” and “Heartbreaker” – two songs from their newest effort, Heaven, an album seemingly much more comfortable in its own skin than perhaps Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me is Gone. It seems the boys have grown up and embraced the heady comforts of marriage and parenthood (the vinyl artwork for Heaven is comprised almost exclusively of family photos). Following “Heartbreaker,” there was an appropriate absence of banter as the stage fell dark and the tempest of snare drum signified the start of “The Rat,” arguably the group’s most well received song. The stage remained dark throughout the song’s intro, with the lights finally returning to abruptly cut through the smoky hall as Hamilton Leithauser strained the coveted line, “You’ve got a nerve to be asking a favor.” (It was at this moment that my fellow indie music-aficionados and I lost it, so to speak).

The show moved on with an intimate feel as Leithauser graciously thanked away our vicious applause (one fan went as far as to yell, “I WISH YOU WERE MY DAD!”) and reminded the rabid audience that we shared our beloved New Orleans with Walkmen guitarist, Paul Maroon. After a sixteen song set and a two song encore, the explosive and loving and heartfelt performance was over. As I closed out my tab and shuffled out the door into the warm September night, I couldn’t help but to reflect and agree with Leithauser as his lyrics “We can’t be beat” hummed on my lips.

set list:
the love you love
heartbreaker
the rat
in the new year
line by line
song for leigh
blue as your blood
angela surf city
love is luck
juveniles
hang on siobhan
[intro to we've been had]*?
on the water
all hands and the cook
we cant be beat
heaven
138th street
we’ve been had

HUGE thanks on behalf of LMB Nola to Corey Hargrove for his illustrious and wise concert review. Also, thanks to Corey Thomas for his far-out photography skills!

About the author

Can be your friend if you like words. Can probably be your friend even if you do not like words. Lives in New Orleans, looks for shade. Thanks Miner Johnson (@brahbrahbrah) for this prestigious career. You should thank him, too.

 

Tags: Hamilton Leithauser, Milo Greene, Paul Maroon, Sufjan Stevens, The Walkmen, Tipitina's Uptown, Tipitinas, Walkmen