Warpaint, an indie-rock/dream-pop girl band from Los Angeles, is on tour for the new album Heads Up.
They put on an incredible live performance at the Imperial on September 20, engaging the audience with laid-back hip swings and perfectly timed hair tosses. I would even argue that the band’s live sound is even better than its recorded sound; you could just feel the waves of musical passion infect the crowd.
This was my first time at the Imperial, and I was shocked at how gorgeous the venue was, especially because it’s in a bit of a shady area near Chinatown. The doors to the venue opened at 8 p.m., and the set list went as follows: 9 p.m. Goldensuns, 9:45 p.m. Facial, and 11 p.m. Warpaint. When the set list was released the day of the concert, I was a little disappointed that Warpaint was starting at 11 p.m. and we had such short notice about it.
The show opened with Goldensuns, an indie-rock band from Los Angeles. They played well — nothing extraordinary — but I found them to be talented and a good opener for Warpaint.
By the time Facial came on stage, I was nodding off a little bit, and was sharply awakened by the band’s music. It started off strong with a song that had good lyrics and tight vocals, and then they proceeded to slide to the seventh circle of hell. Its genre is what I would put under punk rock, and each screaming song felt like someone was smashing a beer bottle into my brain. Something about the performance gave me the vibe that it was the kind of band that jacks off to its own music — you know?
Finally, finally! Warpaint came on and was glorious from the moment they swung the guitar strap over their groovy outfits. They played a lot of new music from the album and it was a very refreshing, dream-pop sound.
Although I hadn’t heard much of their music before the concert, it was an enjoyable experience and they turned me into a fan. All the members of Warpaint are talented and confident on stage, but Stella Mozgawa impressed me a great deal: what a fantastic drummer! I was a little bummed she didn’t comply to the audience screaming “Stella’s drum solo!”
The crowd applauded and stomped their feet for a solid five minutes before Warpaint graced the stage once more for two encore songs. By this point in the night, it seemed probable that not a single person in the tightly packed room wasn’t dancing and having a great night.
