The Dandy Warhols started their tour yesterday in Minneapolis to promote their new album, Earth to the Dandy Warhols, and they’re coming to the Barrymore Theater in Madison tonight with Darker My Love and The Upsidedown. Alongside Peter Holmstr?m is frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor with Zia McCabe on keyboards and Eric Hedford on drums. These indie rockers hail from Portland and form the four-piece group that is the Dandy Warhols.
The new album is a distinctly different step from their 2005 release, Odditorium or Warlords of Mars. Earth holds to a much tighter format, and Holmstr?m agreed, noting the looser style as a contrast from the more streamlined, solid songs on Earth. Songs like “Talk Radio” and “World Come On” truly highlight their efforts to put radio-friendly songs together without losing the core essence of Dandy Warhol.
“The way we approach records is that every one is a reaction to the last record in some way. The last record was so loose and free-formed. This record we tried to make more focused,” Holmstr?m said.
The first Dandy Warhols show in Madison took place the day after Thanksgiving in 2000. Though their second show on the isthmus was an opening for Tom Petty, the Portland rockers haven’t been given a true chance to blow the crowd away with their own steam.
On the merits of attending their live show, Holmstr?m announced the introduction of a new LED light show as part of the upcoming tours many sensory delights. Fans of the new album should also look forward to new songs comprising at least half the set. The twangy banjo stylings of Courtney Taylor-Taylor along with Holmstr?m’s crunching guitar will serve as a stunning accompaniment to what should be a spectacular light show Additionally, the band’s set is open to request, and the format of the show will show off to the fans all of what they love from the Dandy Warhols.
When asked of the songs he was looking forward to playing, Holmstr?m paused for a second in contemplation. Excitedly, he marked “Wasp in the Lotus” as a killer lick.
“It’s fucking heavy, and that’s awesome. It’s nice to rock out,” Holmstr?m said.
“And Then I Dreamt of Yes,” another track off Earth which he specified, sounds like it will appeal more to the wallflowers of the crowd with its chill tone.
“It’s dark and sad, which we don’t really have a lot of in our set,” Holmstr?m added.
Though helpful and willing throughout our conversation, the congenial chatter hit a sour note when I brought up a mysterious quote purportedly from the Dandy Warhols themselves. The quotation in question refers to the myth that the Dandies formed as a group of people needing “music to drink to,” to which Holmstr?m responded, “I guess it’s music to listen to. To be honest, I don’t drink, and I don’t really think of our music that way. I keep hearing that quote and I don’t know where it came from.”
Tonight’s show at the Barrymore will hopefully prove Madisonian Dandy Warhol fans can drink for themselves and the band.
