White Denim was in New York City on Thursday for an intimate and loud performance at Le Poisson Rouge in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of lower Manhattan. The two-hour headlining set from the quartet based out of Austin, TX made for a whirlwind experience of high-powered rock fury as the packed venue was treated to 30 songs from the White Denim catalog.
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The band barely took a moment to pause throughout their practically non-stop set as they smoothly transitioned from one song to the next without skipping a beat or losing any power from the high-level decibels that filled the underground venue. From the groovy opening notes of “Backseat Driver” to start the show, guitarist/singer James Petralli was the nonstop source of energy fueling the rock machine through renditions of “Drug”, “Say What You Want”, and “Thank You”. Beside him was bassist Steve Terebecki, who, along with Petralli, appeared to have as much fun as possible while still maintaining the focus required to play at the levels of which the two are capable.
Drummer Greg Clifford and keyboardist Michael Hunter were also on their A-games throughout the set as both musicians had no trouble keeping up with the rock and roll train, which was running at full speed and hitting a wide range of styles from garage rock to modern prog by the time the show reached the halfway point at 10 p.m.
The show continued with a soulful rendition of “Take It Easy” before the adrenaline shared throughout the room picked up again with “Double Death”, “Magazin”, “Thank You”, “River To Consider”, “Had To Know”, “All Consolation”, “I Start To Run”, and “Ha Ha Ha Ha (Yeah)”.
Thursday’s show was a masterful display of communal showmanship and a loud lesson for how to make rock and roll work very well in 2019. White Denim’s two-hour clinic was proof that a diversified rock sound played by very talented musicians still very much deserves a spot in the debate of today’s best contemporary music.
Scroll down for a full gallery of photos from Thursday’s show, courtesy of photographer Tom Coyote.
