Japandroids Grow Older Gracefully (and Loudly) at Revolution Hall

While questionable on record, the middling pace and sonic ambition of the band's latest, this year’s "Near to the Wild Heart of Life," make a bit more sense live.

Japandroids performing at Revolution Hall. IMAGE: Thomas Teal.
By Pete Cottell

Around the 15th song in Japandroids' set, an audience member yelled at singer-guitarist Brian King to play one more song. This would be a reasonable request with most bands, but Japandroids are not most bands.

"Just one more?" King shouted back from behind a mop of sweaty hair. "We were gonna play more than just one more, if it's OK with this guy!"

Predictably, Friday's sold-out crowd at Revolution Hall lost their shit before they even knew what was about to him them. The blurry chords of "Young Hearts Spark Fire" followed soon after, and within seconds the torrent of dudes in their late 20s and early 30s resumed the circle pit they'd been casually committed to during the duo's older cuts.

Japandroids' formula of blown-out guitars and a bevy of well-timed whoa-oh's is not be a complicated one, but the task of maintaining the energy they've captured on their beloved records—specifically 2012's world-beating masterpiece Celebration Rock—is a tall order when your task is to keep it up nightly.

While questionable on record, the middling pace and sonic ambition of the band's latest, this year's Near to the Wild Heart of Life, make a bit more sense live. Between favorites like "The House That Heaven Built" and "Wet Hair," new tracks like "In a Body Like a Grave" and the seven-minute road epic "Arc of Bar" served as much-needed stops in the action. Getting sweaty and screaming your lungs out for 90 minutes is tough work without beer, making the slower tracks essential in a strange way.  

Related: "After Narrowly Avoiding Self-Destruction, Japandroids Is Finally Preparing for the Long Haul."

Besides the exclusion of the famously frantic set closer "For the Love Of Ivy," it's doubtful anyone left the show wanting more. If anything, the choice to bring out opener Craig Finn for vocal duties and close the show with a cover of AC/DC's "If You Want Blood (You Got It)" was the perfect bookend to a deep and exhilarating set with only a few well-timed slowdowns. Japandroids may be at a crossroads in its career, but the pair's live show is still a clear indicator that they're not yet ready to leave the diehards in the dust while they vanish off into the sunset of maturity.

All photos by Thomas Teal.

(Thomas Teal)
(Thomas Teal)
(Thomas Teal)
(Thomas Teal)
(Thomas Teal)
(Thomas Teal)
(Thomas Teal)
(Thomas Teal)
(Thomas Teal)

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