All photos by Swathi Srinivasan
Our music correspondent Swathi Srinivasan returns to review her latest concert.
On a late summer evening in the Trinity College café, I found myself distracted from writing term papers by my favourite form of social media: Spotify. With Sam Fender’s ‘Seventeen Going Under’ at #1 on my ‘if ur stalking my spotify, here are my top 17 rn’ playlist for an embarrassing number of weeks, I figured it was time to find some new music.
Naturally, I went on to distract my friends at the table, asking what songs were stuck in their heads. One responded without hesitation. ‘Up Granville’, she said, referencing a song off of From 2 to 3, a 2022 album release by Canadian indie band, Peach Pit. After mistaking Peach Pit for “those guys who sing ‘Take A Walk’” (that would be Passion Pit, not Peach Pit), I found myself on a deep dive through their music, starting with Sweet FA, their debut EP. It was not long before I had turned convert to their interpretation of feel-good indie pop/rock — a genre that I’ve come to love these past few years.
Little did I know, I’d have the opportunity to see the band in action at the House of Blues in my very own hometown, Cleveland, a city known to the world as the ‘‘birthplace of rock ‘n’ roll” (if you want to fight me on this, you’ll need to join the queue). From braces-filled bar mitzvah afterparties to seeing Kevin Abstract (yes, that Kevin Abstract) open for The Neighbourhood, I have fond memories of the House of Blues Cleveland. As of earlier this week, the Peach Pit concert is no doubt among the best of them.
The evening opened with The Districts, a Philadelphia-based rock band that matched the excitement of the audience. With a sound that resembled the lovechild of Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner and alt-J’s Joe Newman, lead singer Rob Grote jumped around the stage as the band’s drummer, Braden Lawrence, maintained intense focus. Guitarist Pat Cassidy added flare to the band’s high-energy performance, further hyping the crowd for the headliner to come.
The crowd itself, dressed in tie-dye and graphic tees, ripped jeans, and, of course, flannel, is excited and eager. Filled with “a lot of young twenties” to quote Peach Pit’s merch manager, the House of Blues is buzzing with laughter and conversation. I can’t help but smile at the friends and couples waiting in earnest for the headliner.
Met with a roaring (and, on occasion, squealing) audience and a dim (perhaps absent?) light, the band entered the stage. Peach Pit lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Neil Smith smiled at the Cleveland crowd, as guitarist Christopher “Chris” Vanderkooy opened with a classic rock riff that few recognized (ah, the twenty-somethings). The audience continued to scream as Smith whipped his hair back and forth for ‘Being So Normal’, ‘Alrighty Aphrodite’, and ‘Chagu’s Sideturn’, three of the band’s most famous hits from their 2018 album of the same name, Being So Normal.
Some of the newer fans are outed during these opening songs, as many found themselves struggling to sing non-chorus lyrics, perhaps more well-versed in the band’s most recent release instead. When asked by Smith if any members of the audience attended their last concert in Cleveland — almost five years prior — only a few cheered in agreement. Smith dedicated ‘Chagu’s Sideturn’ to one such fan as he admired the size of the audience, no doubt a testament to the band’s fanbase that had grown dramatically in the past six years.
As I leave the press pit to enter the GA section, screams fill the air for ‘Vickie’, one of the band’s recent releases on From 2 to 3. The audience is pumped, yelling along to the lyrics of the whole song. Heads bob across the venue for ‘Brian’s Movie’, as the vibe shifts between high-energy jumping to more subtle nodding. As ‘Up Granville’ played next, I sing along, finding myself among the few who knew all the lyrics, but among many who were swaying and smiling in the audience.
Up next came ‘Look Out!’, a song Smith called “our only campfire song of the night”. With phone torches on as far as the edges of the balcony, the band delivered a song that brought me to happy summer nights, sitting around a fire pit with the smell of s’mores in the air as my talented friends sang along with a lone acoustic guitar. Between the mouth organ, the acoustic guitar, and the general tempo of the song, the audience was calm and appreciative of the band’s smooth sounds. ‘Private Presley’ and ‘Thursday’ continue this soft ambience, as couples around me kiss and embrace to the warm melodies.
That was my cue. In between songs, I took the opportunity to revisit the merch line and check out an unsurprisingly expensive, yet beautiful, yellow band tee that had caught my eye when I first entered the venue. “How’s it going out there?” the merch manager asked as I tapped my credit card. I mentioned how impressed I was with the band, particularly Vanderkooy, who brought an energy and talent that elevated the band’s recorded music in their live performance. Vanderkooy’s eclectic classic rock intro had me from the start, and he only further gained my favour as he took improvisational spins on solos I knew from the albums.
After purchasing my tee, I returned halfway through the band’s next song to find the audience enjoying ‘Your Teeth’ and ‘Second Life with Emily’, songs off of the band’s 2020 album release, You and Your Friends. Soon after, the vibe shifts yet again as the band plays ‘Drop the Guillotine’ and ‘Pepsi on the House’. The audience is back at its high-energy shenanigans, clapping slightly off-beat to fast drum beats, as stronger base lines fill the air.
Back at its more surf-happy songs, the band plays their titular song ‘Peach Pit’. The crowd gets conspicuously louder during the chorus for both this one and ‘Black Licorice’, the latter of which sees the return of lowkey dancing and highkey PDA. ‘2015’ and ‘From 2 to 3’ are no different, as the Smith’s sincerity is palpable. ‘‘I love you Mikey”, the crowd screams for drummer Mikey Pascuzzi, whose beats have helped set the various tones of the evening.
‘Give Up Baby Go’ and ‘Tommy’s Party’ give the audience an exciting finish to the main concert. The former includes a beautiful guitar interlude, as well as subtly incorporating a hint of Joe Walsh’s iconic solo at the end of The Eagles’ ‘Hotel California’ into a Peach Pit song. The phones came out for ‘Tommy’s Party’, as the audience gets conspicuously louder when singing the lyrics “she seemed f**ked up too” and “I was pretty high”. The song ends on yet another beautiful guitar solo from Vanderkooy on a dark red Fender guitar, standing atop the drum platform.
As the crowd awaits the encore, chants for Peach Pit turn into howls. The band returns and the applause grows until they begin a three-song encore. ‘Psychics in L.A.’ has the crowd finger-drumming and jumping, as smooth guitar accompanies the song. ‘Shampoo Bottles’ sees the entire audience singing along to one of the band’s most popular releases, revelling in the feel-good energy that has hallmarked so much of the band’s sound. Aside from those who became collateral damage (read: squished) as a result of the sometimes over-excited crowd, there is much joy in the audience — a common theme of the evening.
Peach Pit ended their performance with a cover of Dr. Hook’s 1979 song, ‘Sharing the Night Together’, a song Smith says “you might know, but your parents probably know”. The song ends on the note shared by so many of the night’s songs – smooth, happy, romantic. There’s comradery on the stage between members of the band as they smile and sing back-to-back. There is laughter on the stage and in the audience — couples dancing funnily and blissfully — ignorant of the world outside.
That’s what the music is — it is comfortable and warm and joyous. There is something happily nostalgic about the music that I did not know I needed, especially in having come back to my childhood venue no longer as a child. The state of mind in which I find myself after the Peach Pit concert is one I wish to hold on to dearly. Thankfully, ‘Up Granville’ is now on its eighth week on my playlist…and it’s not going anywhere anytime soon.
Concert Rating: 4.5/5
