Now on album six, Austin’s White Denim could comfortably be described as being middle-aged as a band.
In fact, on entering the Concorde, security staff warned fans the show would be a massive two hours long – daunting given their increasing tendency to jam on a riff incessantly and pop jarringly in and out of time signatures as their songs have taken on traits of bloated 1970s’ rock in recent years.
But there was no need to worry. The sell-out crowd lapped up the virtuoso performance, and with no bias towards new material kept the performance invigorating throughout.
With no obvious hits, their mastery was found deep in the finer details and obscure influences, way behind the lazy genre-tags the band are often lumped in with – terms like 'garage' or 'prog' - although there were thrilling elements of both of these.
However, it was James Petralli’s voice that was their underrated secret weapon, veering from a Stevie Wonder swagger and self-assuredness, before bursting explosively into Robert Plant or even Roger Daltrey.
While it’s true there are never any short and sweet songs from White Denim, to have remained this vital for this long, keeps the fans – particularly in Brighton – coming back.
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