On the heels of a successful European tour in support of their widely-praised sixth LP, Lisbon, The Walkmen capped off a banner year with a pair of homecoming concerts, one in New York City and one last Friday night at the 9:30 Club in D.C., from which all five band members originally hail. With family and friends watching alongside a rapt capacity crowd, the St. Albans and Maret alums delivered a sterling ninety-minute performance during which they easily lived up to their reputation as one of indie-rock’s preeminent live acts.

Husband-and-wife team Tennis gamely warmed up the crowd with their atavistic, 1960s-flavored retro-pop, and although a long changeover between sets disrupted the evening’s momentum a bit, The Walkmen slowly but surely began to build it back up with their plaintive opening number, “While I Shovel The Snow,” before Paul Maroon’s chiming hollow-body guitar chords launched “In the New Year,” arguably the best, most exhilarating song in their repertoire. During the breathtaking chorus, frontman Hamilton Leithauser unleashed his unmistakable pyrotechnic wail over Peter Bauer’s soaring organ lines, anchored by Walter Martin’s pulsing bass line and Matt Barrick’s powerfully dexterous drum playing (which was spectacular throughout the show).