“Arms Like Boulders” Has Importance to The War on Drugs
Recently, The War on Drugs stopped by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The beloved Indie band performed their song “Arms like Boulders” on the CBS program. Each member of the group video chatted into the show in order to take the stage remotely. The live performance had a strong acoustic feeling to it, playing up to the band’s folk music strengths.
The group surprised fans and viewers with “Arms like Boulders.” This track is the opening song from their debut album, Wagonwheel Blues. Wagonwheel Blues was released almost 13 years ago, in 2008, to critical acclaim. That album alone took eight years to come to fruition and over a decade later it’s songs are still making headlines.
For over 15 years, The War on Drugs have been a six piece indie rock band. Some of their career has touched more into indie folk music than others. Their debut album, Wagonwheel Blues, had strong ties to the Americana genre. Therefore, “Arms like Boulders” played out well in a guitar driven, stripped-down version for Colbert.
Many artists are using late night performance to promote music and showcase different talents. Just a few weeks ago Machine Gun Kelly reimagined three different songs at once for his time on Jimmy Kimmel.
The Album’s Effect
The nostalgic “Arms like Boulders” is part of the band’s promotion for their recently live album. Last November, The War on Drugs dropped LIVE DRUGS. This live music effort was a long time coming for the musically and lyrically talented band.
When celebrating the release, the band made sure to thank every corner of the music industry. It’s been a hard year for live music, and The War on Drugs took note of that upon a live music drop.
“Too many people to thank because it takes hundreds of folks to put on one show. Let’s find time to support organizations trying to help crew members, venues/stages,” the band wrote on Instagram. “And every day hospitality workers that are struggling and are truly the ones that make shows and this record possible.”
Alongside the new album was an accompanying podcast. The audio driven limited series went behind the scenes in the band’s planning of the live album. Fans were also given insight on how they chose songs and curated the full-length record mid-pandemic. The podcast is available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.
