Since the breakup of Black Midi, one of the most prolific and chaotic progressive rock bands of the 21st century, Geordie Greep–the former front man–has barely skipped a beat. He released his debut solo album only a month later, The New Sound, which is exactly as described. It’s a unique take on progressive and jazz rock with hints of salsa and Greep’s theatrical personality everywhere, receiving stellar reviews from critics and fans everywhere. As AROUSE’s self-proclaimed Geordie Greep expert (I also wrote the official review of his debut album) it seemed fitting that I would write about his fantastic live performance as well.
Greep really hasn’t had a moment of rest since his album was released. He almost immediately hit the road, with dozens of shows across multiple countries. In fact, it took his second US tour to finally hit Columbus. I still remember how quickly I reacted when I opened Instagram and saw he was finally visiting Columbus. Never have I bought concert tickets so fast. The anticipation of his performance carried me all throughout the summer, into September, and to the day of his performance.
Almost immediately as I got to the venue–The Bluestone–I could feel the energy brimming from the audience. And when the band finally hit the stage, shivers went down my spine. I think I could have felt Geordie’s aura from miles away. The performance started pretty quickly, with a very fun introduction of the band members that featured Greep rapping a little quip about each of his five bandmates. This led us straight into the first song: “Walk Up”. A very powerful song with a driving bassline and some almost delicate vocals from Greep. However, any sense of softness immediately went away, as the band powered through almost 5 extra minutes of heavy, headbanging instrumentals.
Going into the concert, I did have one concern. Given that Greep only has one album, how was the band going to stretch 11 songs into a 2-hour runtime? But I shouldn’t have underestimated him. Greep and his band did a great job of expanding the songs into a jam-band-like concert, with a bulk of the show being the band going off on their instruments. “Terra” followed “Walk Up”, and was a great example of the band being able to go off and meddle for multiple extra minutes after the song’s runtime. It felt like they were recreating the album right in front of me. “Terra” felt like a religious experience. As my favorite song off the album, it was the one I was looking forward to most. And boy did it deliver. Geordie was hitting those vocals. He doesn’t look like the kind of guy that could belt out a song like that, but he sounded fantastic, and I think this song was still the high point of the night for me. After hitting some stellar vocals, he went off on an over 3-minute long guitar solo. This was the first time we saw him pick up an instrument during the concert and he absolutely killed it.
After “Terra”, the band went off and jammed amazing extended renditions of the songs from A New Sound. Greep’s vocals were top notch, and the chemistry between the band was undeniable. They also performed two classic covers of songs by Willie Colon, a legendary salsa artist. Both featured percussionist Santiago Moyano taking up lead vocals. He effortlessly took over the lead and delivered on two energetic and sometimes humorous covers of “Oh, Que Sera” and “Cua Cua Ra, Cua Cua”. The latter was interrupted with a short, but funny, skit about a crazy ex-lover trying to get him back, before dropping back into the main chorus. This all led us a little bit later into “Holy, Holy”. Everyone reading this article right now is probably familiar with this song and it was definitely the energetic peak of the concert. Everyone went crazy when the opening chords came through, and the entirety of the song had the crowd bouncing.
The rest of the show went on, leading us to the final two songs. Here is where I have my quips with the show. Did Bongo Season really have to be over 25 minutes long? I like it as a 2-minute interlude but there were parts where I almost started to get bored and just wanted them to move on from it. I didn’t hate the jam band aspects of the concert, but I do think they went a little overboard on Bongo Season, to the point where it started to lose my interest a bit. However, they completely made up for it with a stunning rendition of “The Magician”. This 12-minute epic serves as the penultimate moment of the album, with a crashing, explosive climax. The band played the first half of the song together, before leaving keyboardist Cameron Campbell on stage by himself, playing a peaceful, intimate solo for a few minutes before Geordie and the rest of the band crept back onto the stage to deliver their booming finish. After this, the show ended, leaving all of us in the audience stunned.
I have not been to many concerts; however I can confidently say that was the most memorable and exciting show I have ever been to. Everyone in the band knew their role phenomenally, and the chemistry between everyone was electric. It was undoubtedly my favorite concert I have ever attended. Despite a limited solo discography, Greep breathed new life into every song and expanded them to new heights, while even sprinkling in some tasteful, fun cover songs as well. Thank you Geordie Greep & Co for bringing your truly exciting and unique “New Sound” to Columbus.
Brilliant show.
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