Making connections

The War on Drugs brings its indie rock psychedelia to Jacobs Pavilion

It was a full-circle moment recently for The War on Drugs’ Adam Granduciel, who last month caught a Pearl Jam show in Los Angeles. ¶ “I was supposed to go see them in 1994 in Boston where I grew up,” said Granduciel, calling from Burbank. “My friend like had tickets and then he didn’t have tickets so I never saw them. The other day was my first time. It was so much fun.”

On the surface, one wouldn’t necessarily see a musical connection between the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame grunge act and the modern indie band that seamlessly melds indie rock and psychedelia with a small hint of jam band sensibility.

However, taking a step back you can see a comparison more in the spirit of the music and respect of their respective audiences.

“You probably don’t hear it but (Pearl Jam) taught me how to play guitar,” Granduciel said.

“When they’d play on ‘Saturday Night Live’ or (David) Letterman, I’d record them on VHS and watch it over and over studying where their hands were and what amps they were playing.

“The only thing they really influenced was we did Jimmy Fallon during lockdown. We decided to do a song nobody’s ever heard before. That was inspired by when (Pearl Jam) was promoting ‘Vs.’ on ‘Saturday Night Live’ and the first song they played was ‘Not for You’

(from the then-unreleased album “Vitalogy”), which no one had heard. I was like, ‘That’s the balls-iest thing I’ve ever seen. Then they did ‘Rearviewmirror’ and ‘Daughter.’ It was lifechanging.”

While not necessarily characterized as life-changing, The War on Drugs took a different approach based out of necessity when it came time to record its latest effort, “I Don’t Live Here Anymore.”

Created during the pandemic when everyone was isolated in their own homes, Granduciel for the first time took a hands-off approach allowing the band members to take his initial demos and tinker, adding guitar or keyboard ideas.

“It’s hard when everyone flies

to Los Angeles and we have 10 days in the studio,” Granduciel said.

“Letting people kind of work at their own pace at home was really kind of amazing because we got so many cool things out of their experiences that maybe you wouldn’t get when you’re on the spot in the studio or you feel rushed.”

Not only would the tracks end up going in a different direction but the end result was a more mature and confident The War on Drugs. Granduciel said the group’s signature headspace and

textural sound remain.

“I wanted the album to be more to the point, more economical with the songwriting,” Granduciel said. “For as much sonic exploration as there might have been, there were songs you could play on the piano or acoustically.

“A song like ‘I Don’t Wanna Wait’ I just kept hammering until I felt like I had a better song. I was like, oh, this is a song that really has a lot of different moments to it. I was just proud of it as a songwriter because there’s a lot happening in that song that

I hadn’t done before. It took me a long time to kind of get to the heart of it.”

With fond memories of playing everywhere in Cleveland from the Grog Shop to the House of Blues and Agora Theatre, Granduciel is looking forward to the band’s Northeast Ohio return with a June 9 show booked at Jacobs Pavilion.

“We always have a blast,” Granduciel said.

“There’s something in the air there, like it’s going to be a rock ’n’ roll show. I can’t wait for Cleveland.”