Story By: Sol Tucker
Photos By: Sol Tucker
Washington, D.C–
We must admit, it has been busy year for the new Anthem Music Hall at the Wharf in D.C, many big names have hit the stage since its opening in late 2017, but tonight, we had a chance to see why rock music sounds great mo matter where you put it, with an amazing show by Walking Papers and Alice and Chains.
For most in attendance, they clearly had come to see the iconic band Alice and Chains, sans Layne Staley, but it was the opening act Walking Papers out of Seattle that caught our attention.
There have been plenty of bands that have come out of the music scene in Seattle, we don’t really need to name them, as most of our readers will figure that one out very quickly, but this “bluesy” rock band are on their way to making a name that you remember from Seattle led by lead singer Jeff Angell, who we had a chance to talk with before the show.
I had a chance to listen to a few of their tracks and can see why if you like music like Buck Cherry and the Black Crowes you will be quickly hooked on some of their tracks.
So what makes Walking Papers a great opener for Alice and Chains? Well its not just Duff McKagan, who you may know from that band Guns and Roses, but the addition of a sax player, who in recent years many people have been afraid to try as part of a rock show. I don’t really know if it was the new sound system at Anthem that made this sound so good, but who really cares, they killed it and Angell is totally into his fans. He would have spent more time in the front row of the crowd if he could have.
Angell just seems super pumped about rock music and loves to play that’s for sure. Here are a few pieces from our phone interview about the band and their current tour.
PM: Jeff you guys are from Seattle, what does it mean to be out on tour with a legendary band like Alice and Chains and also putting yourself on the map as another top band our of Seattle?
JA: You know its pretty amazing!! We love rock and performing live and to have influences like Pearl Jam growing up was pretty amazing. I spend a lot of my time hitting some of these hole in the wall music spots in the Pacific Northwest growing up so I had an idea of what I wanted to put together in a band when we were ready to start making music.
PM: Tell us a little about what cities you are excited to get to on this tour?
JA: Well, D.C of course… laughing!! Yea its great to get to some of the places we have never been before with these guys and playing some of the iconic places like the Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC, these are places that we usually get pretty stoked about.
PM: Tell us a little about the plans after the tour, any new music or plans to get back in the studio?
JA: Right now, we are just doing these dates and we will see what happens at the end. Most of this latest release is fairly new so we will be doing quite a few of these tracks and getting people familiar with our music on each and everyone of these cities we visit.
PM: Do you think its important to continue different versions of rock and keep the scene fresh? Because your style is not the typical standard rock.
JA: I think our style is a mix of all of our tastes in music over the years. The bluesy hint in our music may be a little different than what you would get from the Alice and Chains guys, but it is still something we think people find interesting.
