By Nora Onanian, Staff Writer
Artist: The Greeting Committee
Venue: Sinclair
When: Wednesday, July 17th
Riding the high of a delectable arts, culture and cuisine–filled day in Harvard Square — having just seen one of the world premiere showings of Gatsby at A.R.T., the musical produced by an all-star Tony, Grammy and Pulitzer-winning team, and afterwards lining my stomach with soul-warming ramen at Waku Waku — I turned the corner onto Church St. to join the line of concertgoers that was just starting to move outside of the Sinclair.
It was time to cap off the day with one more delicacy: a band that has a warming and calming side, but also something with a bit more spice and energy, like a good cup of chai. It was none other than the Greeting Committee slated to take over the Sinclair, “hands down the best thing” for some midweek summer fun.
TOLEDO BRAVELY STANDS SOLO
Jordan Dunn-Pilz (stage name Toledo) opened the show not with utter confidence, but certainly with charm. “This is a special show,” he started, and explained that he typically doesn’t stand on stage alone. Over the course of his undoubtedly talented, acoustic set, Jordan unpacked more about his predicament. Jordan called the first third of his set, songs from his “sad cowboy” era, and self-proclaimed his music to be mood sinking in the landscape of the night: (“It’s gonna get more cheery once the Greeting Committee come on. But for now, we’re gonna sit in it”). But Jordan went a step deeper than typical surface level sadness, getting candid about mental health struggles through lyrics that feel authentic and familiar. He gave context ahead of his song “Samurai”: “This one is about not being able to give a partner what they deserve because you need to focus on getting out of bed.” But he makes a promise to someone he loves: “I will be there in time (he’ll be more of a samurai).”
Later in the set, Jordan let some anger shine through. Ahead of “Flake” from Toledo’s debut LP How It Ends, Jordan dedicated it to his former bandmate “In the negative sense.” He explained how Toledo ended up on tour through a friendship with the Greeting Committee’s lead singer Addie Sartino. Partway through (just ahead of the tour date prior to Boston) his bandmate had left, he continued. In the song, Jordan sings part of the chorus — “I F****ing hate your guts right now” — then added a parenthetical “Not you Addie!”
Luckily, Jordan was able to move past the anger and share plenty of lighter, funnier moments with the crowd— from begging for the soundboard guy to turn his mic and his guitar volume up at the start of his set (“I’ll scream the whole set if i have to”), to announcing and counting down his acoustic guitar solo in “Crane Song.” I whispered to my friend at one point during the set “he seems like some guy from Allston.” I was only half right— he did foster his live talent in the scenes local to Massachusetts; but Toledo isn’t just “some guy.”
GREETING COMMITTEE USHER IN CHANGE AND HONESTY
Addie Sartino, Pierce Turcotte, Brandon Yangmi and Micah Ritchie of the Greeting Committee walked on stage to Skeeter Davis’ “The End of the World” and it certainly was a way to shift gears into their unique indie sound, certainly a notch or two higher in energy.
Bouncy sonics open up their first song, “Tell Me I’m Wrong,” off of their new album Everyone’s Gone Know I’m the Cause. The lyrics, “You don’t have to say it, I know what you’re thinking,” set the tone for the band’s latest direction towards spilling their truest guts to date, musically. Even the older songs (The two next songs were “Is This It?” and “Seventeen”), felt more authentic than the studio recording. More familiar to the audience, these also meant more crowd interaction which the band seemed to feed off of. During “Seventeen,” Addie asked for the audience’s hands in the air, and then on stage, jumping, stomping and guitar shredding ensued. The Greeting Committee were meant to be on stage, trading instruments. And — apparently —, their faces meant to be screen printed onto Addie’s skirt?
Versatility was another strength of the Greeting Committee crew. On “Little Bit More,” Addie had a jazzier falsetto while Pierce Turcotte – before this, only on bass – switched to saxophone. Seemingly every band I’ve seen recently, from the Smile to Black Country New Road, have a band-member who is a multi-instrumentalist (with extra emphasis on multi). Turcotte is definitely that person for the band. He traded instruments with rhythm guitarist Brandon Yangmi about halfway through the set on the more tender “Sort of Stranger.” On the very playful (tongue-in-cheek), hyper-pop new single “popmoneyhits,” both Turcotte and Yangmi pounded a single drumstick, joining in on the percussive fun that Micah Ritchie was having.
MORE KEY MOMENTS
A high-energy track towards the middle of the set saw Addie climbing into the crowd, and the crowd jumping with the band members, singing the backing vocals, “I do, I do, I dooo.”
The next song was a cover of Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather.” The song has a sweet simplicity to it, a bit of a contrast to similarly soft songs by the Greeting Committee like “Elise,” but it was fun to hear them tackle something at once new and old.
Likely the most playful song in their discography, “Make Out,” saw the highest energy of the whole night. “Do you want me?” asks the lead vocals again and again. If dancing could count for an answer, let’s just say that the crowd would be well on their way to the “make out” referenced.
“Hands down” — with its shifts in speed, tonality and energy — sealed what was hands down one of the best shows many in the crowd had ever attended.
