When Geordie Greep suddenly announced the end of Black Midi last year, the math rock outfit he had founded in his teens and co-fronted, it was met with shock. After all, the band was on the up and up as they released albums that increasingly appealed to broader audiences. Greep’s next move made it clear that he had a vision as he soon released his solo debut The New Sound, an aptly titled collection that presented this eclectic virtuoso as a genre-crossing experimentalist. This ‘New Sound’ has clearly connected Greep to a whole new and perhaps larger audience that might not have been Black Midi fans. This was evidenced by the album landing on numerous best-of-2024 lists (including Glide’s) and his current tour, which is almost entirely sold out. On Friday, May 9th, Greep and his uber-talented bandmates brought that tour to Portland, Oregon for a show at the Aladdin Theater.
From the moment the band hit the stage and opened with the title track off The New Sound, they gave the audience a complete sensory overload, often played at breakneck speed in a manner that could befuddle even lovers of the most technical prog-rock. As he would do for much of the night whenever donning his guitar, Greep often chose to play his solos with his back to the crowd in a manner akin to some sort of mad maestro who also happens to be shredding. In contrast, Greep shed his guitar on several songs, including “Walk Up,” to switch into crooner mode as he serenaded the audience and jived with his band. Throughout the performance, Greep – sipping coffee and dressed in a baggy suit like some mid-century beatnik – seemed to revel in being the frontman and star. Following a massive cheer from the audience at the opening notes of “Terra,” Greep played the part of a lounge singer as his band laid down a swinging soundtrack of under-the-sea, Moog-soaked jazz-prog that featured a fine tit-for-tat between drums and percussion. At this point, it became apparent that refining his vocal skills has been as much a priority for Greep as excelling in guitar prowess while he continues to carve out his wonderfully twisted Mahavishnu Orchestra-meets-Steely Dan musical vision. He even layered in bursts of demented scat singing and monkey noises at times.
One of the more fascinating aspects of the sprawling performance was how the band pivoted from moments of light-hearted fare to extreme tension and mind-bending instrumentals. Songs like their Latin jazz rendition of Willie Colón’s “Oh Qué Será?,” sang by percussionist Santiago Moyano as Greep delivered Santana-like bursts of Bossa Nova guitar solos, and the theatrical soft piano number “As If Waltz,” offered a striking juxtaposition to the roller coaster time changes and driving funk jam during “Holy, Holy” complete with one of Greep’s most ripping solos of the night, or the machine gunning precision of “Blues” that balanced intricate playing with bizarre lyrical wizardry. The latter sent the crowd into a frenzy of bopping up and down as the band stirred up a cacophony of sounds and huge drum fills. These diehard fans – mostly in their teens and twenties – were enraptured for the entirety of Greep’s roughly two and a half hour performance, rejoicing at every switch-up and spaced out Moog solo to bask in the delightful weirdness of this music. For the uninitiated, the band’s performance may have proven challenging and perhaps a bit meandering in some spots, but this only solidifies that Greep is onto something original. By the time they hit the home stretch with “Bongo Season” and its psychedelic guitar floating over a light and rollicking groove, and the curtain-closing opus “The Magician,” Greep had succeeded in taking the audience on a journey through his ‘New Sound.’
Portland’s performance reassured anyone wondering if Greep’s post-Black Midi evolution would satiate fans. Greep is only twenty-five with quite a few artistic accomplishments under his belt, and his latest project proves he is a creative wellspring with grandiose artistic ambitions. While Friday’s expansive show may not have featured as many peaks and valleys and unpredictable moments of acts like King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, who’ve built cult followings on epic performances and prolific musical output, it was clear that Greep is already growing his sound, fanbase, and reputation as a wild live act. If anything, this tour feels like a proving ground for that sound, and the band’s show in Portland accomplished the feat of getting the fans excited for where Greep will take it next.
