While this past Tuesday was a night that would seemingly inspire nothing but curling up in bed early avoiding the cold and rainy hell that early New England spring always promises us, nothing could stop a hoard of people from cramming into Great Scott for yet another stacked bill of excellence. Once settled into your spot, you’d be able to peek through your friends and fellow concert goers and jam out in your personal space and grin to the person next to you and mutter “that was great” after every single song.

Boston mainstays and disposable American flag-flyers, halfsour opened the night with a impressively fast paced and brief jams that sent everybody into the right headspace. Wrapping up promptly and moving on quickly, Jay Som took hearts by the dozen with a surprisingly laid back and mellow performance. Truly inspiring, Jay Som manages to find a slim balance between accessible openness and reservation. Participating with the audience, getting involved, having a personal attachment to their performance, but not fetishizing its allure and draw. We all sang, we all shouted, we all begged for more.

Once significantly mellowed out, the crowd welcomed The Courtneys, featuring only one Courtney and two band members fighting a cold. Upbeat and pop driven, they helped us all rock out a decent amount to shake off the cold and wet that everybody would have to soon sludge through after a nice warm night of nothing but “good feels”. While The Courtney’s found out Great Scott doesn’t offer herbal tea no matter how sick you’re feeling half way through a month long tour, a few members of Jay Som, particularly the one sporting a “festive” hat, did find out that Great Scott offers a strong whiskey ginger to warm you up and get you home cheerful. Drink up and don’t sleep on gigs like this one.

The Courtneys

Jay Som

halfsour