Walk the Moon brought a rocking, power pop set to the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago for 101WKQX’s Christmas show, The Nights We Stole Christmas. While it might have been tempting to be distracted by the bands fashion statements and charm, it was their larger than life presence and stage sense that really stole the show.
With the volume almost concerningly loud, Walk the Moon laid it all out on the line. Bathed in all sorts of retro-esque neon stage lights and a holiday dinner’s worth of smoke. To listen to the band on recording, which is slick and polished, is one thing, but they definitely seemed much more raucous live. Maybe they wanted to live up to the Aragon “brawlroom” moniker and bring the heavy goods, including some shred guitar to wrap up the 3rd tune, ” Up 2 U.”
You know they’d bring “Shut Up & Dance” and “Anna Sun” at some point. “Anna Sun” is an excellent pop song, with hooks and retro 80s nods galore, so it was a great song to bring down the house. But, I love how they dug all the way to the bottom of the chronological stack to pull out 2012s “I Can Lift A Car,” which had folks all the way up in the balcony, throwing up a fist and joining in unison for the chorus. Overall, the feel was that of an old college party, which was probably right on point for some in the crowd, and a nice trip down nostalgia lane and feels for others. With Walk the Moon, you expect anthems and fun. That’s exactly what they delivered.
Get your sap and glitter on with this slinky synth rocker from their latest record, 2017’s What If Nothing:
