The War on Drugs at White Oak Music Hall

Adam Granduciel of The War on Drugs Adam Granduciel of The War on Drugs Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, Staff Photographer Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, Staff Photographer Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close The War on Drugs at White Oak Music Hall 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Nobody likes to see the music that matters to them fade away, so in addition to the grumbling about the rise of electronic dance music has been a prevalence of folks with their tighties in a twist about the death of the electric guitar. The subject prompted a pretty great piece, though complaining about the fading of an instrument that has had decades of sway over popular music is a little like complaining about the tides.

Enter the War on Drugs, a band that produces a thick fog of ethereal sound with frontman Adam Granduciel's guitar playing cutting through it like headlights. The dynamic isn't entirely novel. Familiar fingerprints abound, from Talk Talk to Neu to Can to Springsteen to the Waterboys and, apparently Warren Zevon based on a cover. But WoD has found its own space splitting the diff between ambient and rootsy in the same way Granduciel plays guitar: with distinctive tone.

Having created a sound, they have over four albums played variations on that sound, which likely explains the band's rise over a decade from Fitzgerald's dweller to the White Oak Music Hall, which was stretched to its capacity for a sold out show Friday night. More on this in a moment.

One of WoD's greatest strengths is what makes it a viable 21st century guitar band. After decades of bands soloing over linear blues-based structures, WoD instead creates an almost ambient environment with a couple of keyboards and the occasional trombone. The rhythm section locks into a perfect Krautrock pulse. Amid this mix of shapelessness and precision Granduciel is free to go down any rabbit hole he chooses. His guitar solos Friday night didn't surge, but rather cascaded and receded, befitting a guy who wrote a song called "An Ocean Between the Waves."

"The Strangest Thing" is an obvious point of reference as it's a standout song on the new "A Deeper Understanding." But it captures the band's ability to construct interesting songs. Granduciel states an ear work early in the song, then later revisits it -- only louder and with a touch of dissonance. Moments later he hits the real solo, and it's a maelstrom of piercing notes and feedback.

The sound isn't just window dressing. And you don't just title an album "A Deeper Understanding" for no good reason. Granduciel's restlessness on his instrument reflects a ponderous melancholy in the lyrics. He sounds like the kind of guy who goes on nighttime drives just to feel worse.

"Late at night I wanna see you/Well my eyes, they begin to fade/Am I just living in the space between/The beauty and the pain?/And the real thing."

When Graduciel twists the high screeching notes from his instrument on "The Strangest Thing" he's a guy struggling to answer his own lyrical questions. Worth noting, also, he made most of his commotion on guitars with creature-y names: a White Falcon, a Firebird and a Bobkat.

"Lost on my sea again," he sings on "Red Eyes," which with "Strangest Thing" provided the middle peak for the show. Granduciel is 38 and well past any youthfully romantic ideals about personal struggle. And identifying the problem doesn't mean it all just goes away: "I can see it, the darkness covering my mind." Sadness with some accountability? That's a contemplative approach not often found in the guitar-rock sphere.

As WoD's songbook expands, the shows grow richer. The set leaned heavily on "A Deeper Understanding" (eight songs) and "Lost in the Dream" (six) from 2014, with a pair of offerings from 2008 debut "Wagonwheel Blues." But I was impressed how most everything played registered as a crowd favorite, even while the show sidestepped "Slave Ambient," the 2011 album that found War getting some traction. Radio's disinterest in guitar-centric rock has freed up players from having to produce anything resembling hits. The show functioned almost as a two-hour composition with requisite peaks and valleys, the latter lending greater power to the former.

As for the venue, Granduciel commented, "This place is sweet," and indeed the still fairly new White Oak is quite the gorgeous space with great sight lines and good sound. Throughout the show, the elements that weren't guitar squall -- the keys, the horns, the second guitar -- were distinctly audible. But the show was scheduled for White Oak's lawn, which is supposed to accommodate 3,000, but has been a point of contention between the venue's ownership and the neighbors who aren't interested in the noise. So WoD was moved indoors, which holds about 1,200. If the show didn't exceed its capacity, it certainly tiptoed to the precipice, and the scrunch inside was unpleasant.

According to White Oak's site, seven lawn shows are scheduled between now and the year's end including Young the Giant tonight and Father John Misty Sunday, which could be a real problem.