Written by: Alex Green
The Walkmen have announced they will play two shows at Bimbo’s in San Francisco.
The beloved indie rock outfit from New York first formed in 2000 and though they went on hiatus in 2013, their 2023 reunion tour was a widespread success.
Dubbed The Revenge Tour, the band played nearly forty sold-out dates across North America and Europe, and made an appearance on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.”
Although many thought the Walkmen were taking a valedictory bow, the band happily appear to be pressing on, albeit selectively. Along with the two shows in San Francisco, which go on sale May 10, the band will be playing the Day In Day Out Fest in Seattle, the XPoNential Music Festival in Camden and they’ll be playing with Idles at Forest Hills Stadium in late September.
As for the Bimbo’s shows, guitarist Paul Maroon explained the choice to play at the legendary Bay Area club has a bit of familial context.
On social media he posted a shot of a live audience along with this explanation:
My dad took this photo at Bimbo’s in the late 50s, and we used it for the interior of our album You and Me. It’s also been our stage backdrop for years. Bimbo’s in those days was a notorious mob club. It’s easy to imagine Ray Liotta crowding in to watch these dancers. My dad drove the entirety of the United States in the 50s, before he really became a professional photographer a decade later. In our basement are thousands of photos of the old South, Ansel Adams type stuff out West…The cover for You and Me was taken on this trip at the New Orleans Fairgrounds. Mostly my dad is known for architectural photography, fashions, and photos of personalities and politicians. So it can be a little unusual to find pictures of daily life, night clubs, and things of that sort. But he did do them in this period. He didn’t live to see the Walkmen, but he did try his hand at photographing Jonathan Fire Eater both in the studio at our house and also live. The studio shot is somewhere and I love it…So we jumped at the chance to do a couple shows at Bimbo’s after all these years in prep for our Seattle Festival appearance in July. They look to be our only club shows of 2024, but don’t hold us to that. I always imagined the woman in the middle of the photo was giving the middle finger to the crowd. So come on down and flip us off, we’ll flip you right back,cause we love you. xx –Paul and the Walkmen
