Concert Review: The Greeting Committee Welcome Mercury Lounge
“Is This It?” might be the question that defines a generation. Is this it? Is this most we get? Is this the most we give? Starting the show yelling this question into the crowd, lead singer Addie Sartino built a kind of Shakespearean dynamic. This question would define every song from there on out, and show how they all speak to the deep dissatisfaction that comes with wanting to feel ALIVE and being lively enough to live, but being surrounded by people/ situations that don’t want you to.
Sartino is a rocket-ship of energy. She bleeds fuel, and her constant jumping, punching, kicking, and rolling around the floor made you think she was a cast-member of Women’s Wrestling.This dynamic was perfect because she made herself both somebody you wanted to hang out with and be. Everyone wishes they could get in the ring with life and absolutely KICK ITS ASS! Yet, she had a reason. Tracks like, “Someone Else,” “Don’t Go,” “17,” and “Pull It Together” spoke to the emotional weight we carry in our life because living is, naturally, unstable. Our human refusal to believe and prepare for life’s temporariness leads to songs such as, “Elise,” “She’s A Gun,” More,” and my fave song “Maps (by The Yeah Yeah Yeahs) where Addie’s whirl-pooling vocality engulfs how we all want to be be free from being “stuck.”
The Greeting Committee – Is This It? (Official Video)
I really believe if every person could, literally, carry their emotional baggage, we would all be fit. (lol!) Yet, in that sense Addie’s physicalized performance is exceptional because you feel like she is lifting her emotional baggage over her head and encouraging you to do the same. Each band member is an excellent musician, which made me believe the School of Rock is real. They are so young and talented, of which, once again. I was left analyzing my life choices and my refusal to take piano lessons over volleyball classes. (Note: I suck at volleyball) Yet, I digress, but, in a way, The Greeting Committee play to my point. Life is a big old bag of good and bad choices, of which our journey through it is as much self-forgiveness as it is self-love.
The Greeting Committee – Hands Down
I can truly say The Greeting Committee gave one of the best performances I have ever seen, in part, because it is not easy to make being yourself feel fun and accessible. The reason most people are talking about anxiety is because they struggle to be themselves and, though Addie sings to this, you feel she is 100% herself. For More Information On the Greeting Committee Click Here.
