‘Walk the Moon’: leaves Portland wanting more

It’s Friday. The concert was last Thursday, and I won’t be surprised if I’m still sore by the time you read this.

What concert left me like this? Anthrax? Behemoth? Nope, Walk the Moon.

You might have heard their hit indie single over the radio back in 2011- “Anna Sun,” but what you probably wouldn’t guess about this guitar-pop quartet is that their live performance is ridiculous. It’s not like they’re doing anything over the top; there were probably less than 250 people at the Wonder Ballroom in North Portland.

They even followed the stereotypical set list: open with a hit, and then build up until a crescendo where they play the hit that got them noticed, then walk off of the stage even though the crowd knows it was planned, they chant anyway, they come back out, play a slow song and then a real dance number to close out the evening. Voila! Just grab your friends and that guy you know from that thing, and you too, could have a mediocre tour.

What really sets WTM apart though, is the communication with the crowd. A lot of bands will just chill on stage and play their music – which is fine, it’s what we paid to see – but what they don’t realize is, if you’re holding a microphone, and your music isn’t entirely awful, the people will do whatever you tell them too. It’s an affable ploy that the crowd can’t get enough of.

So that’s exactly what lead singer/keyboard player Nicholas Petricca did. He said “jump” we said “how high?” Multiple times during the show Petricca and company walked on the crowd.

Petricca’s intense vocals (He uses almost no after-effects, even for his shows he only uses one microphone) were aided by some impressive solos by guitarist Eli Maiman.

Coming off of touring with Panic! at the Disco over the summer, this is the bands first solo tour- and it suits them. When Panic! and WTM came to Edgefield in August WTM absolutely killed. They’re live performance is especially geared towards an outdoor venue, and they were just thrilling- the crowd almost refused to dance when Panic! took the stage in front of the screaming little brats.

But now that they have their own tour the party just never seems to end while they’re on stage. They even had time to cover a Beyoncé song. Beyond awesome!

The chemistry between the group is tangible too. A lot of times with small, singer-songwriter bands everyone ends up hating the lead singer (go figure?) But when they take the stage WTM is first and foremost, harmonized.