Warpaint, December 10 at the Troubadour

I had seen Warpaint just a few weeks before, opening for the XX, but I got obsessed with their album only after that and a smaller show seemed more appropriate anyway. The first show at the Troubadour sold out but they added another (on an even easier night) so Carla and I went. At the show before, they seemed so tight and professional, as they should be to make the best impression as an opener, but at the club show they were looser, more casual, and a little rougher, though their sound didn’t suffer a bit; more like a band that actually wasn’t expected to be the next big thing. Being in that enclosed space among a devoted, rapt audience (most of which were probably friends and family or have been following them around L.A. since the beginning), along with some beautiful and rich music, it was a hypnotic experience. Even if they didn’t explode in popularity right away, hopefully they’ll keep gigging until they make it big like they’re supposed to. It certainly doesn’t hurt to play every festival they got invited to (the ones for hip, good music, not always the alt-rock radio stations). Why don’t they team up with the Like and rock out with all the all-girl L.A. bands? (Also to make it easier to see these local bands that I inexplicably kept missing for years.)

Warpaint’s set-list:
"Bees"
"Stars"
"Warpaint"
"Composure"
"Undertow"
"Set Your Arms Down"
"Baby"
"Majesty"
"Burgundy"
"Elephants"

"Beetles"