If this is where rock is going, it’s in very good hands.
With a very chaotic album, The New Sound, and a history of bending mayhem in his previous band, Black Midi, Geordie Greep’s live shows are only crazier. Greep controls and channels this disorder into a 3.5-hour-long set of improvised and extended jams.
Greep was welcomed by the crowd as the militaristically shouted “Greep! Greep! Greep!”… “Music to my ears,” he said as he walked on stage. Greep performs less like a traditional frontman and more like a conductor. Frequently turning his back to the audience, he guided the band with a total commitment to the music rather than the spectacle.
Guitarist Eden Marsh was mesmerizing, flipping back and forth from symphonic textures to jazz phrasing to noise-rock aggression all within seconds. In one moment, Marsh makes it feel like we are at the symphony and in another moment like we are stumbling down a dark alley.
The set material drew heavily from Greep’s debut solo album, The New Sound. Half the tracks were recorded in Brazil with local musicians who had never heard Greep’s work before, tracking songs in one or two takes. Greep’s touring band interprets the work of over thirty session musicians in their own ways, creating long improvisational live jams that make live shows more unique and enthralling than the already overstimulating record. The lineup was Eden Marsh on guitar, Dave Strawn on bass, Cameron Campbell on keyboards, and King David Ike-Elechi on drums. Greep leans into the fact that each show should be different and the material can constantly evolve.
Stylistically, the music walks a tightrope between the absurd and the brilliant with remarkable ease. It is theatrical, but not overzealous, and experimental but still accessible.
Lyrically, Greep tells satirical, absurd narratives of desperate characters, people convincing themselves they’re in control when they’re not. I have respect for the lyricists who say the things most of us cannot say, and Greep does this for me.
During Holy, Holy, the crowd was simultaneously moshing, salsa dancing, and Grateful Dead-style spinning. Although it looked very contrasting, the music made this feel unified and was a collective experience rather than a passive observation. Hard, loud, and chaotic enough to shake you, and melodic and poetic to feel like you’re floating.
Following the passing of Matt Kwasniewski-Kelvin in January, the performance of black midi’s Dangerous Liaisons felt more emotional for the crowd as we were reminded our favourite band is really never getting back together, but grateful the other members of black midi will continue to carry this music forward.
Campbell continued to play the piano alone as the rest of the band went off stage before returning for the encore of Motorbike and The Magician. This was the only time the crowd became still.
There are rare moments when you can feel like a cultural shift is unfolding in front of you. Seeing Geordie Greep live is one of those moments.
Review – Maggie Aulman
Photos – Simon Wellwood
