Three’s Company: The National, The War on Drugs and Lucius share stage at Breese Stevens
The National, The War on Drugs and Lucius share stage at Breese Stevens
Madison, Wisconsin, was host to the triple bill of the late summer and early fall as Breese Stevens Field welcomed The Zen Diagram Tour featuring The National, The War on Drugs, and Lucius. The multipurpose stadium constructed in 1925 is home to the USL’s Forward Madison FC League One soccer team. It also regularly holds concerts, primarily those sponsored by Madison-based FPC Live.
The Zen Diagram Tour rolled through Thursday, Sept. 26, on a gorgeous blue-sky evening. Lucius hit the stage early. With a 5:30 p.m. set time, a large share of the audience had yet to arrive.
Still Holly Laessig and a very pregnant (32 weeks) Jess Wolfe put on the best show they could during their limited 30-minute set.
Laessig, Wolfe, guitarist Peter Lalish and drummer Dan Molad kicked the evening off with “Nothing Ordinary” from their 2013 debut album Wildewoman (which they recently re-recorded and released in May as Wildewoman (The New Recordings)).
Their six-song set was heavy on songs from that recording — they also included “Tempest,” “Two of Us on the Run” and “Genevieve.”
What must be a brand new, as-of-yet unreleased song “Lucy” also made the set, and they obviously took advantage of being on tour of The War on Drugs by bringing Adam Granduciel on stage to perform their latest collaboration “Old Tape.”
Granduciel, of course, would later return the favor by featuring the ladies to close The War on Drugs set with their 2021 collaboration: the title track from I Don’t Live Here Anymore.
The War on Drugs most recent release is their second collection of live tracks — Live Drugs Again — sourced from their 2022 and 2023 tours.
Madison’s 10-song set included five tracks included on Live Drugs Again — “Pain,” “I Don’t Want to Wait,” “Harmonia’s Dream,” “Under the Pressure” and “I Don’t Live Here Anymore.”
The current seven-member lineup of The War on Drugs brings the band’s mesmerizing sound to full fruition. I believe their instrumental sections are the best of any live touring rock band.
Unlike a lot of “jam bands,” the musical interludes Granduciel and company provide aren’t interminable or overly drawn-out. They’re tasteful and respectful of the audience who comes to hear the songs, not 13-minute adlib sessions.
More of that audience had filled in the stadium by the time The War on Drugs had completed their roughly 8–minute set. Still, there were plenty of empty seats in the VIP section when The National took the stage at 8:10 p.m. One has to consider that there were at least three other big-ticket events in the Wisconsin capital. Those who gathered on the turf and in the stands at Breese Stevens should have no regrets, however.
The National capped off a tremendous evening of music. Frontman Matt Berninger continually tested the limits of the stage and his own stability on it — stepping up on monitors and lighting cages, and frantically pacing back and forth. On several occasions, Berninger headed to the barrier to interact with fans; before finally jumping the barrier completely and mingling among the adoring faithful.
I’ve seen any number of artists leave the stage to perform amidst the crowd. I think Berninger is the only one I’ve seen do it with a corded mic, a challenging maneuver that left his mic tech looking like a fisher trying to land a big one.
The one-hour-and-45-minute set was a career-spanning performance. Like The War on Drugs, The National also have a live-album forthcoming. Rome, recorded June 3 at the Italian capital’s Cavea at Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone is slated for a Dec. 13 release.
And like The War on Drugs, The National performed exactly half of the tracks featured on the new live release, including favorites like “Eucalyptus,” “Tropic Morning News,” “Bloodbuzz Ohio,” “I Need My Girl,” “Graceless” and “Fake Empire.”
The National’s latest performance in Madison comes just more than a year since their last. I caught and reviewed that August 2023 show just across the street at The Sylvee. While Thursday’s was a great concert, I feel like the indoor production last year had a better energy — perhaps because the walls could contain it.
Much of that energy at Breese Stevens seemed to escape into the sky. To be fair, The Sylvee is a much more intimate setting. Folks at the opposite end of the soccer field from the stage can feel removed from the action. Having attended several concerts at Breese Stevens, splurging for the VIP section is certainly worth the extra cost.
The Zen Diagram Tour continues through Oct. 10 with upcoming dates in Seattle, Vancouver, Portland, Berkely, Los Angeles and Mexico City.
See full gallery of the night here!
If you captured any shots of the night, feel free to tag us on social media at Shutter 16 Magazine and throw in #Shutter16 and #TwitFromThePit for the world to see.
Catch this tour:
Tue Oct 01 — Seattle, WA — Climate Pledge Arena
Wed Oct 02 — Vancouver, BC — Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena
Thu Oct 03 — Portland, OR — Moda Center
Sun Oct 06 — Berkeley, CA — The Greek Theatre *
Mon Oct 07 — Los Angeles, CA — Hollywood Bowl
Thu Oct 10 — Mexico City, MX — Palacio De Los Deportes ^
* Non-Live Nation Date
^ Without Lucius
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