For the War on Drugs, a Crossroads Is Just Another Way Forward

If pressed, you could put both the War on Drugs and the National on a Mt. Rushmore of the best indie-rock bands in the past fifteen years. But it’s more fitting to think of these bands — who will co-headline Fiddler’s Green on Saturday, September 28, for their Zen Diagram tour — as two actual mountains, 14ers even, distinct in their silhouettes but sharing the same rare, thin air above the rest of the range.

Rankings don’t matter above a certain point, because what gets these bands to such amazing heights in the first place is that they’re both supremely unique. Their music defies easy categorization or comparison. It’s pure and heartfelt. It’s big, sometimes austere, and really goddamn beautiful. Like a very large mountain — and unlike Mt. Rushmore — it’s even better in person.

For the uninitiated, the War on Drugs is known for a captivating mix of soaring guitar riffs and stadium-ready synths under frontman Adam Granduciel’s howling yet introspective vocals. His easygoing charm almost runs counter to the intensity of his music. But his palpable excitement about all things rock — from discussing the past and future of the band to his guitar idols and the upcoming Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan biopics — matches the earnest, if intense, tone of the tunes.

Despite his nonchalance, Granduciel doesn’t seem to do anything in half measures. Not when it comes to touring, producing, playing guitar, singing or being a dad to his son, Bruce (named for Springsteen, one of Granduciel’s musical idols, who is also known for relentless perfectionism in the creative process).

The National, meanwhile, is known for shimmering piano and concussive drums, paired with Matt Berninger’s gravelly, self-incriminating baritone, which sometimes reminds you of an old friend rambling in a bar until stumbling into poetry. Berninger is one of those rare songwriters who, through oblique turns of phrase and vocal ingenuity, can transform banal observations into rare musical truths. The War on Drugs and the National have only played live together a couple of times, and not since 2011. But the connection between these very different, very great bands runs deep.

“We've known each other for a long time, and they're really fantastic guys," says Granduciel. "Obviously, [the National is] a classic American band. So the tour is sort of about reminding people what it's like to see a couple great — or three great — bands in one night.”

That third band is Lucius, the tour's opening act that collaborated on the War on Drugs' 2021 album, I Don’t Live Here Anymore. “I’ll probably hop on a couple songs with Lucius and the National and vice versa," Granduciel adds. "Am I going to stage-dive like Matt? Maybe. Am I going to start dressing like him? Most likely. Maybe by the end of the tour, I’ll be able to tell Aaron and Bryce [Dessner, who are twins] apart. We're psyched.”

Granduciel has a precise recollection of the War on Drugs' past tours, and remembers Denver shows fondly, even before the band released its 2014 breakthrough album, Lost in the Dream, or won the Grammy for Best Rock Album for 2017's A Deeper Understanding.

“I have a distinct memory of playing the hi-dive on Halloween in 2009, I think, and it was packed," he recalls. "I was like, ‘Oh, man. This is a really great music town.' You might not think of Denver like you would L.A., New York or Philly, but once you're a band on the road, you're like, ‘Denver is just around the corner.’ It's just one of those great music cities in America. No doubt about it.”

If the War on Drugs has anything in common with the jam bands who enjoy considerable favor here in Colorado, it’s a reverence for the electric guitar solo. When asked about his influences, Granduciel is, not surprisingly, unable to narrow it down. There’s "obviously" Bob Dylan, he says, and Neil Young, “of course, both acoustic and electric." He loves Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, “especially A Ghost Is Born," he adds, and R.E.M’s Peter Buck, Richard Lloyd of Television, Bob Quine and more.
In step with the Zen Diagram Tour, the War on Drugs just released its second live album, Live Drugs Again, which showcases a few decidedly wilder renditions of its meticulously produced tracks. If you’ve never seen the band live, you might not be prepared for the way Granduciel lets it vocally rip. And the band goes there with him with bombastic verve, giving the feeling that something on stage is about to explode.

“I was really drawn to the [songs] where it just felt like it was a little unhinged, like things were falling apart and running off the rails,” Granduciel says of choosing the live tracks. “It’s always been my favorite version of this band. It's a little dangerous and a little wild. You only really get those moments when you're deep in a tour, sixteen months into your album cycle, you’re away from your family, and those two hours on stage are the only ones that really matter. You try to leave it all out there.”

"Unhinged" as they may be, nothing is lost in vocal or sound quality on Live Drugs Again. There’s a mastery on the album that gives the sense that the band has hit its stride both on stage and in the studio. For eager fans, this raises a question: Where is the War on Drugs going next?

“I'm just at a crossroads right now, creatively,” Granduciel muses. “The life of touring is just so insane that even though every night you're playing and reacting and you're reaching peak musicality, that doesn't always translate to wanting to find studio time. Then you come home and you try to work on music in the studio, and you're missing that heightened sense of musicality.

“I'm always writing and recording stuff," he adds. "It’s just a different landscape right now. Also, we don't really have a record label because I fulfilled my two with Atlantic [Records]. So it's kind of this reflection moment. Whatever the next thing I do, I want it to feel like a real record, like a real statement about something. So I’m taking some time to just enjoy the live experience and all the work that goes into that, and then come home and start seeing what the shape of a new record sounds or looks like.”

If Granduciel and the band are feeling any pressure after three very successful albums in a row, it doesn’t show. But fans of the band should know that despite the frontman's level head, he will still find a way to make music that is bursting with emotion and kinetic energy. The writer of such redliners as “Under the Pressure,” “Holding On" and “Red Eyes” is always seeking new musical vantage points, whether the path to the summit is peaceful or perilous.

“You're just removing things to try and reveal something new,” he concludes. “You want to put the time in and scrape things away. You want to start somewhere and end up somewhere different.”

The War on Drugs and the National, 6:30 p.m. Saturday, September 28, Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre, 6350 Greenwood Plaza Blvd, Greenwood Village. Tickets are $51-$399.