Walk the Moon at the Forum

Striding out to a rapturous crowd at Kentish Town’s Forum, Walk the Moon’s vocalists and guitarists Nicholas Petricca, Kevin Ray and Eli Maiman assembled across the front of the stage, whilst drummer Sean Waugaman stealthily took his seat at the back. Petricca – sporting a blonde mohawk like the 80s rock stars who influenced the band’s music – wore a simple black button-up, whilst Ray had a shiny reflective coat on. By the evening’s close, the two were baring their torsos.

There are two possible reasons why the musicians might have removed their clothes: either it was because the venue was sweltering with the energy levels – especially about mid-way through, during the unbeatable back-to-back renditions of Shiver Shiver and Avalanche – or they were both playing a strip game between themselves that was decided by the volume of the fans – which was at a record high during a humdinger of an encore serving up two favourites, Up 2 U and Anna Sun.

A dizzying array of lights paralleled the intensity with which the synth-pop/indie rock hybrid illuminated the room. No member was slacking in their performance and the bubbly audience were receptive to them, responding with eternal dancing. But where the concert had room for improvement was in the visuals, which could have put their live show a cut above those of their contemporaries. The Forum’s potential to enhance gigs with an accompanying cinematic spectacle – enabled by a large screen at the back of the stage and two smaller ones at each side – was entirely unrealised, with only the group’s name adorning the peripheral displays (and not even in an eye-catching colour or font).

Shut Up and Dance catapulted the four-piece into the mainstream and this evening it hoisted a cornucopia of mobiles into the air during an otherwise, for the most part, pleasantly phone-free show. Still, Walk the Moon can stroll away happy, knowing they had the closest experience to that of the rockers that influenced them – such as The Police and Talking Heads – who played to crowds that grooved in the moment, before the constant framing of an experience through a lens became the norm.

Musanna Ahmed
Photos: Guifre de Peray

For further information and future events visit Walk the Moon’s website here.

Watch the video for One Foot here: