Boston-based Rock band Crumb came to Seattle on September 29th. This concert was part of their 2019 Fall Tour with 2 other bands Divino Nino and Shormey. Crumb has gotten a fair bit of hype in the underground off of their 2017 EP, and just this year they released their debut album “Jinx”. The concert was held at Neumos, a mid-sized venue located in the heart of Capitol Hill. Neumos was a fairly intimate setting that was dimly lit, with the stage sticking out like a sore thumb and these huge stage lights shining down on it. The venue also had a bar upstairs with a few tables and chairs accompanied by small TVs. The acoustics of the place felt like I was part of a huge boombox. Since writing is of course a job, it was necessary to at least get a few photos and some video of this whole experience. While this has become a regular thing at concerts, it did feel pretty rude.
On the far-left corner of the main stage there was a young woman selling band merch. She rocked short hair, a TLC shirt tucked into her high wasted jeans. It was a cool look, and turns out she was the lead singer for her band and opening act for the night, Shormey. Shormey is a band based out of Chesapeake, Virginia. The band’s sound has some shades of Neo-Soul, Indie pop and Disco with the lead singer’s raspy voice reminiscent of Macy Gray. She liked getting the crowd involved and after every song thanked the audience. Shormey selling her band’s own stuff in a way was kinda endearing in it’s own way. It somewhat added to the intimate vibe of Neumos and shows what makes indie artists so appealing.
The next act that came up was Divino Nino, a Latinx rock quartet based out of Chicago by way of Colombia. Their sound felt like a cross section between dream pop and surfer rock. Fairly chill and just sounds like something you’d play in the summer with the top down.
The closing act was, of course, Crumb, the main reason why it was worth going outside on a Sunday Night. “Jinx” is one of my favorite albums of the year and the energy as soon as they stepped into the room was palpable. As soon as they walked into the room, the crowd erupted. And without missing a beat the band opened up with “Cracking”, which starts with ominous keys leading up to a wailing guitar. Crumb’s appeal is their ability to blend aspects of jazz and pop with psychedelic rock, making their sound fairly distinct enough to stand on their own, but also palatable enough for your typical Travis Scott fan who just got into Tame Impala. The lead singer of this band, Rami, has a fairly Sardonic personality. Best comparison would be Aubrey Plaza. Very monotone voice and left-of-center, slowly wandering around stage as she strums with her guitar, and staring through the audience with her steely black eyes. The visuals on the background projector matched the trippy and disorienting aesthetic of the music. They played a new song during the last few minutes of the show and it was on par with everything they’ve put out. Overall it was a very good concert. Crumb was as good as advertised. The opening acts brought their A-game and each of them should be artists that people should be looking out for in the near future.