November 20, 2025
Brian Blueskye/The Desert Sun-USA TODAY NETWORK
The War on Drugs will perform three shows at Johnny Brenda's in Fishtown from Dec. 18-20 with proceeds benefitting the Fund for the School District of Philadelphia. The band's 'Drugcember to Remember' series will return to the venue for the first time since 2022. Above, frontman and guitarist Adam Granduciel performs at a show in California in 2021.
The War on Drugs, the Grammy-winning rock band formed in Philadelphia 20 years ago, is coming home in December for a trio of shows at Johnny Brenda's to benefit public schools in the city.
The band's "Drugcember to Remember" series, once an annual treat for fans between 2018 and 2022, will be back at the intimate Fishtown venue Dec. 18-20. International tours and band members living in different parts of the country prevented the tradition from remaining a yearly thing, but the band has spent months planning this year's shows to break the hiatus.
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"Last year, we wanted to do it but it's just tough to get everybody — plus our extended band, which is part of our core crew," said frontman Adam Granduciel, who now lives in Los Angeles. "This year, it worked out."
The War on Drugs garnered critical acclaim in the 2010s for their expansive meld of psychedelic and heartland sounds on 2011's "Slave Ambient," 2014's "Lost in the Dream" and 2017's "A Deeper Understanding," which won a Grammy Award the following year for Best Rock Album. The band's live performances are hailed for Granduciel's atmospheric guitar solos and the rich palette of electronic elements that showcase the ranging dynamics of a seven-piece group in full stride.
"I've been working on a new record for a few years, so I was like, well, maybe we can play a bunch of new songs," Granduciel said, teasing plans to test out new material at Johnny Brenda's.
Tickets to the three shows, which go on sale Friday at 10 a.m., cost $175 apiece with proceeds going to the Fund for the School District of Philadelphia. The nonprofit steers charitable donations to a variety of causes that support public school students. Granduciel chose the cause for the first "Drugcember" at the recommendation of a friend who works there.
"It's a lot easier (for them) to direct donations, you know?" he said. "You donate a bunch of money and they'll be like, 'Oh, your money was used to do X, Y and Z'. And you're like, 'Oh, that's amazing,"
Granduciel, 46, grew up in Boston and moved to Fishtown in 2003. He lived around the corner from Johnny Brenda's, the decades-old bar at the corner of Frankford and Girard avenues, when it reopened that year under new owners. Granduciel shared an apartment with Joe Beddia, owner of the neighborhood's acclaimed Pizzeria Beddia, who at the time was an employee of Yards Brewing Co.
Beddia introduced Granduciel to Kurt Vile, his musician colleague at the brewery, sparking a collaboration that gave birth to two of Philadelphia's biggest indie rock success stories. Granduciel and Vile each played in each other's bands, and Vile was part of the original lineup of the War on Drugs before fully embarking on his solo career.
"We all kind of basically came up in that neighborhood together, just looking to not splurge on rent and to be creative," Granduciel said, remembering a Fishtown on the cusp of becoming the bustling and now pricier cultural hub it is today. "Obviously, the neighborhood's changed, but I mean, has it, really? It's the same to me."
The War on Drugs performed for Johnny Brenda's first show in 2006, the year the bar debuted its 250-capacity music venue on the second floor. The band, still in its early days, had been gaining local buzz for sets at the former North Star Bar and other venues. Other acts at Johnny Brenda's that night included the late guitarist Jack Rose, Bardo Pond and Meg Baird of the band Espers.
"A local artist had broken his foot, and they put together a benefit for him," Granduciel recalled. "It was a pretty incredible Philly bill."
The War on Drugs went on to play numerous shows at Johnny Brenda's over the years, sometimes performing on the floor because the headliner's gear took up the whole stage. The band held its release party for 2008's "Wagonwheel Blues" at the venue, and Granduciel still thinks of the place as a tribute to the band's humble origins.
"The essence of it is that, sure, now it's become Johnny Brenda's, this sort of amazing small venue with great food and vibes in Fishtown — capital 'F,''" Granduciel said. "To us, it was just like our little corner venue that had just opened in our little neighborhood where we could just try stuff out."
The War on Drugs most recently released last year's live album, "Live Drugs Again." Their last studio album, "I Don't Live Here Anymore," came out in 2021. Granduciel said he's unsure when the band's upcoming album will be released, but he's excited to start sharing the new music in a live setting.
"There's all sorts of new explorations," he said.
