Last Wednesday, one of the best jambands you’ve never heard of rolled through San Francisco and played a raging, non-stop set to a half-empty room of people left with their jaws dropped and nothing more. That band was White Denim, and they just finished up a large tour in support of their release of Fits late last year. Me and my crew were there and I just found a few videos from the show, so it’s time I round it up a bit. All photos by Dan Leech.
White Denim @ The Independent, San Francisco [YouTube]
Fun fact: I requested the song “I Can Tell” after they took their first break in the set, and the lead singer fully acknowledged the request by saying “soon…” And by our calculations, the band had played at least 5 songs and jammed for 25 minutes straight before anyone in the band took a sip of their beer. Then the trio took a break, then launched into another 30 minute segment of perfectly segued thrash blues like they had never stopped.
Second fun fact: the band did not play from a setlist on the floor, but rather just a series of tunes and beats-per-minute that just seemed to flow each song into the next song like the band had it completely rehearsed. It was incredible.
This band remains a sonic inspiration for me and my half-assed music-making abilities these days, and their live shows are something to be absolutely cherished. I hope they keep touring as hard as they have been the past few years, because the energy this band puts out can seriously put you on your ass. For realz.