Geordie Greep

Former Black Midi vocalist and guitarist Geordie Greep headed to Brighton for a second time (and the first time since the release of debut solo album The New Sound). The evening began with a surprisingly long queue outside Chalk. A complete quarter of the venue’s capacity (yes, I counted!) were in line at least ten minutes before doors opened, and entry was frustratingly slow and inefficient. The makeup of the crowd was as we’ve come to expect at any show by the experimental rock-jazz artist, who has gained so much recent momentum. Even so, the sea of button-up shirts and “aura-farming” teens trying to nonchalantly one-up each other was perhaps unprecedented!

Jazz groups Knats and Oreglo performed excellent support sets to warm up the crowd. Knats started as doors opened, meaning that frustratingly many of the crowd missed a good part of their set whilst still trying to enter the venue. What I ended up seeing was a beautiful composition of jazz instrumentals complete with voiceovers in heavy Geordie (Newcastle, not Greep!) accents, which I’d like to see more of in the future as sadly the portion of the set rendered to me was far too short. Oreglo’s fusion of jazz and rock was perhaps the most enjoyable part of the evening. The trio featured an electric guitar and a tuba which acted as bass. There were murmurs that Black Midi were discontent with their fanbase and, unfortunately, those behaviours seem to have followed their former front-man. Even during the support sets, there were multiple instances of young men barging in front of other punters to take part in the latest retro craze of filming gigs on a Nintendo DS.

Geordie Greep himself proved to be a fantastic live musician. His 8-piece band (with some members borrowed from the opening groups) somehow managed to stretch an hour-long album into a two hour-long performance, by essentially turning each and every song into a 15-minute long jam. Greep’s stage presence has not faded one bit since his days fronting Black Midi. The music itself was of an incredible standard, showcasing Geordie’s recognisable and unique style in the best way possible. There were attempts at comedic elements scattered throughout the set, though these felt very odd and confused the audience who did not seem to entirely get Greep’s niche references and humour. Unfortunately, I have to return to crowd behaviour once more, as this often overshadowed the musicianship on stage. I’d understand a mosh to tracks such as ‘Holy, Holy’ (which there was, of course), but a rowdy, punchy mosh to more jazzy tracks like ‘Terra’ and other instrumental jams was a bit much. By mosh pit standards, too, these were frankly awful. A few select people took it upon themselves to deliberately ram into the unsuspecting crowd around them, leading to conflict and anger amongst those actually trying to enjoy the music. These “pits” lacked the fun, safe and happy vibes you’d see at metal shows. Instead, a chaotic mess ensued. 

Stepping towards the back of the venue allowed the music itself to be enjoyed, away from the most insufferable fans. Renditions of ‘Motorbike’, ‘Bongo Season’ and ‘The Magician’ finished the set, which was performed outstandingly by Greep’s troupe of musicians. Musically, I would be hard pressed to rate this concert poorly. Sadly though, the overall gig experience was so incredibly bad that it completely detracted from any musical elements for the vast majority of the performance. I’d like to see Geordie Greep again someday, though I’m not sure if I would be able to cope with his fanbase again!