Wand previewed new album ‘Vertigo’ at Bowery Ballroom (review, video)
Wand are having a busy summer. Vertigo, their first album in five years, is out next week and the band are touring across North America, mostly playing club shows but also massive stadiums opening for Red Hot Chili Peppers, which must induce at least a little psychic whiplash. Thursday night, Wand hit NYC’s Bowery Ballroom for a night of soaring tunes, guitar heroics and a preview of the new record.
Vertigo is Wand’s most expansive, subtle and varied record yet and a bit of a swerve from 2019’s flashy knockout Laughing Matter. They played a big chunk of it on Thursday night and all the songs got a little more muscle in their live incarnations, with more guitars (and no string sections). The crowd seemed to know the singles well and folks around me were singing along and playing a little air guitar as well. Cory Hanson, looking very Miami Vice in a tank top underneath his grey suit, thanked the crowd for indulging all the new material, mentioning they already had the new album for sale at the merch table.
In between the new stuff, Wand dazzled with some of their most immediate songs, including “Bee Pollen,” “Plum” and “Flying Gollum.” For the last two songs of the main set, the volume seemed to triple to the point where you could feel the bass vibrating your bone marrow as they ripped out a majestic version of Laughing Matter‘s “Rio Grande.” The two song encore ended with the Eno-esque twin-lead attack of “Melted Rope” and I personally felt a little melted myself by the end. Great show.
Wand play Philly tonight and DC on Saturday, with North American shows through August. They then head to the UK and Europe in the fall. All dates are listed below.
WAND – 2024 TOUR DATES
7/19/24 Underground Arts Philadelphia PA
7/20/24 Songbyrd Washington DC
7/22/24 The Earl Atlanta GA
7/23/24 Saturn Birmingham AL
7/25/24 Rubber Gloves Denton TX
7/26/24 Parish Austin TX
7/29/24 Club Congress Tucson AZ
7/30/24 The Casbah San Diego CA
8/1/24 Amoeba Hollywood Los Angeles CA (free in store performance)
8/2/24 Pappy & Harriet’s Pioneertown CA
8/3/24 Troubadour Los Angeles CA
9/14/24 Sketchfest – The Chapel San Francisco CA
9/15/24 The Dip Redding CA
9/18/24 Madame Lou’s Seattle WA
9/19/24 The Pearl Vancouver British Columbia Canada
9/20/24 Aladdin Theater Portland OR
9/21/24 The Miniplex Arcata CA
9/23/24 The Starlet Room Sacramento CA
10/29/24 MOTH Club London England United Kingdom
10/30/24 Yes (The Pink Room) Manchester England United Kingdom
10/31/24 The Workman’s Club (The Cellar) Dublin Ireland
11/1/24 Ulster Sports Club Belfast Northern Ireland United Kingdom
11/2/24 Nice N Sleazy Glasgow Scotland United Kingdom
11/3/24 Brudenell Social Club Leeds England United Kingdom
11/4/24 Strange Brew Bristol England United Kingdom
11/6/24 Cold Crash Rezé, Nantes France
11/7/24 Point Ephémère Paris France
11/8/24 IBOAT Bordeaux France
11/9/24 L’Aéronef Lille France
11/11/24 Le Botanique @ Witloof Bar Brussels Belgium
11/12/24 Bogen F Zurich Switzerland
11/13/24 Transit Filmfest @ Ostentor Kino Regensburg Germany
11/14/24 Café V lese Prague Czech Republic
11/15/24 TransCentury Update @ UT Connewitz Leipzig Germany
11/16/24 Molotow (Skybar) Hamburg Germany
11/18/24 Hus 7 Johanneshov, Stockholm Sweden
11/19/24 Plan B (Garage) Malmo Sweden
11/20/24 Neue Zukunft Berlin Germany
11/21/24 Die Trompete Bochum Germany
11/22/24 Rotown Rotterdam Netherlands
11/23/24 Ekko Utrecht Netherlands
