Hundreds of fans lined up outside of the 9:30 Club to see indie-pop outfit Walk the Moon's second D.C. show on April 17, following their first show on April 16. The band is touring in support of their latest release "Talking is Hard," which was released in December 2014 and features the popular single "Shut Up and Dance."
The house lights went down and the crowd cheered as the show opened with supporting act The Griswolds. To the tune of Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise,” the Australian-based group took the stage, putting on an energetic set for concertgoers. Breaking up the set, frontman Christopher Whitehall conducted the crowd in a round of “Happy Birthday” for drummer Chris Riley before proceeding into “Live This Nightmare.” The band rounded out the set with the popular song “Beware the Dog” and left the crowd suitably amped up for the headliner.
After a brief intermission, the lights dimmed once again as “The Circle of Life” blasted throughout the venue. With the crowd singing along to the Disney classic, Walk the Moon bounced on stage. A flurry of multi-colored lights dazzled the venue as the band opened with “Different Colors,” the first track off the new album. The setlist featured a mix of both old and new songs, pleasing both longtime and new fans alike. Songs like “Shiver Shiver,” with its drivingly catchy chorus; “Up 2 U,” with its Muse-esque guitar riff in the chorus; and “Portugal,” with its tasteful use of synth, got fans moving and grooving through the night.
After several songs, vocalist Nick Petricca took a moment to quote Forrest Gump, telling the crowd, “I’m glad we were here together in our nation’s capital,” and riling concertgoers up with talk of how wonderful D.C. was before diving into the rest of the set. Throughout the night, Petricca, with the support of the band, never failed to engage the audience and keep them dancing.
Before playing “I Can Lift a Car,” Petricca encouraged the audience to thrust their hands in the air during the chorus, release their worries and not take themselves too seriously.
Rounding out the main set, the Cincinnati natives finished off with their hit “Shut Up and Dance,” with the crowd singing along with and moving to every line.
Seconds after leaving the stage, chants of “Anna Sun” came from hit-single-deprived concertgoers. After a few minutes of teasing the crowd, the band took back the stage with bassist Kevin Ray wailing into the mic. Before the fan favorite, however, the group paid an ode to The Killers, presenting their rendition of “All These Things That I’ve Done.”
To close out the night, Walk the Moon ended with the song that first put them on the map, “Anna Sun.” As the crowd danced and sang along to every word, Petricca threw himself into the audience and crowd surfed to round out the performance. The Griswolds put on a solid, fun show for fans, but Walk the Moon truly dominated as headliner, making for an unforgettable night of music.
