The first time I had the chance to experience Walk The Moon live was back in 2013 at Lee’s Palace. It was their very first show in Toronto and I vividly remember thinking the venue was way too small for the crowd they pulled as the show sold out almost instantly. Their stage presence was very vibrant and uplifting; they had a way of making you feel as if you were family.
Fast forward a few years, a massive commercial hit, and two more full-length albums, Walk The Moon has managed to keep the intimate feelings of their show but now up it by 100. Generally when bands have mastered their stage presence in smaller venues they aren’t always able to have it translate well in bigger settings. This wasn’t the case for WTM as they managed to make their show at The Danforth Music Hall feel just as intimate as the one at Lee’s Palace. When he wasn’t in the middle of the stage playing keyboards, vocalist Nicholas Petricca could be found dancing around the stage, even taking the time to jump down to the barricade to get a little closer to the fans. His charismatic stage presence really helps build the intimate atmosphere of their shows. Guitarist, Eli Maiman, and bassist Kevin Ray were also seen constantly moving around the stage singing along with the fans as drummer, Sean Waugaman, held the fort down with his intense drum beats.
WTM opened up their show with ‘Press Restart’, the opening track off their new album What If Nothing, and then followed up with ‘Portugal’ and ‘Lisa Baby’. I was thoroughly impressed with the diversity of their set list as it felt like they played an even amount of songs from each of their albums, managing to please virtually all of their fans. It was nice to see songs such as ‘Shiver Shiver’ and ‘Tightrope’ still making the cut. One thing I’ve always admired about seeing WTM live is that they tend to change up how they perform the songs live as opposed to how you hear them on the album. Every aspect of their songs tends to sound a lot richer live, as if they’ve found a way to reinvent it.
Towards the end of the night, WTM thanked all of their fans for coming out to the show. Ray even pointed out a girl on the balcony mentioning how they could see her dancing through out the whole night from the stage. I felt like that comment alone just shows you how much WTM cares about making sure all of their fans are enjoying themselves at their shows and pays attention to every single detail involved.
The crowd went absolutely ballistic at the end of the night when the band closed out their set with ‘Anna Sun’, leaving the fans on a high note as they exited the stage.
