Home Live Review Live Review: Geordie Greep @ Union Craft Brewing — 1/18/24

Live Review: Geordie Greep @ Union Craft Brewing — 1/18/24

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Live Review: Geordie Greep @ Union Craft Brewing — 1/18/24
Geordie Greep performs at Union Craft Brewing on Jan. 18, 2025. (Photo by Casey Vock)

Geordie Greep recently went solo, breaking out on his own and declaring his to be The New Sound — literally. That’s the name of the album he released on Rough Trade Records in early October, just weeks after it was confirmed that black midi, the previous outfit he fronted, was disbanding.

The many listeners who’d latched onto the London-based project voiced their disappointment on social media, as did former members of the group. But perhaps all in Greep’s plan, that conversation was drowned out, replaced by buzz for his premier record and the gigs he began booking before it even dropped.

On Jan. 18, Greep made an anticipated return to the Charm City and specifically to a sold-out Union Craft Brewing, where a little more than three years ago he and his black midi mates packed the beer hall with fans of derivatives like math rock and noise punk and blew the animated mob away.

This time around, backed by an entirely different crew of players, Greep performed mostly his own music — all but a couple of the songs from The New Sound — in what might be described as an exercise in genre command.

Listen to Geordie Greep’s first solo album, The New Sound, released on Rough Trade Records, via Spotify:

Riveting and daunting, these tracks are each all over the map, and they unloaded a barrage of musical styles on a head-bobbing mass that was more physically reserved but just as tuned in as a black midi crowd.

At times wielding a similar energy and cadence as black midi, Greep’s new band showed itself to be more dynamic — even if moments in the first single “Holy, Holy,” “Blues,” and others remind of the former band.

But on tracks like “Through A War,” Greep’s strikingly peculiar croon came through clearer and crisper and more aroused than ever before. Even if satirical, he amplified to stirring effect, blathering and barking out over top of these ambitious compositions.

As he and his crew segued into jazz, Brazilian dance, Caribbean salsa, theater music and much more, revealed was Greep’s daring vision and his ambition to grip and maybe even startle a room full of listeners.

Geordie Greep Setlist

Walk Up
Terra
The New Sound
Through a War
As If Waltz
Holy, Holy
Cua cua ra, cua cua (Willie Colón cover)
Blues
Bongo Season
The Magician

Below is a mix of home-rolled, developed and scanned 35mm black-and-white photos and digital color shots of Geordie Greep along with the night’s opening act, NNAMDÏ, performing at Union Craft Brewing in Baltimore, Md., on Jan. 18, 2025. All images copyright and courtesy of Casey Ryan Vock.

Geordie Greep

Geordie Greep @ Union Craft Brewing Baltimore MD - 01.18.25 Photo by Casey Ryan Vock Geordie Greep Geordie Greep Geordie Greep Geordie Greep Geordie Greep Geordie Greep Geordie Greep Geordie Greep Geordie Greep Geordie Greep Geordie Greep Geordie Greep Geordie Greep Geordie Greep Geordie Greep Geordie Greep Geordie Greep Geordie Greep @ Union Craft Brewing Baltimore MD - 01.18.25 Photo by Casey Ryan Vock

NNAMDÏ

NNAMDÏ NNAMDÏ NNAMDÏ NNAMDÏ NNAMDÏ NNAMDÏ NNAMDÏ @ Union Craft Brewing Baltimore MD - 01.18.25 Photo by Casey Ryan Vock

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