The 2019 Bay Area Noise Pop Festival Welcomes Crumb

As the 2019 Bay Area Noise Pop Festival came to a close, Crumb, comprised of members Lila Ramani (guitar/vocals), Jesse Brotter (bass), Brian Aronow (synth/keys, percussion, reeds), and Jonathan Gilad (drums), performed on the Starline Social Club stage this past weekend. Only two days after their latest single was released, the band was performing in Oakland for their first time.

After the conclusion of Video Age’s set, Brooklyn-based Crumb opened with their song “Plants”— an homage to half-baked relationships, and to the band’s name. The psychedelic rock that would continue through the night included a mix of old and new songs, including “So Tired” from their album Locket (2017). Songs like “So Tired,” which are slower than the rest of the band’s catalogue, allowed for a mellow break between their more popular songs until the band began playing more upbeat works.

The intimacy of the venue paralleled the vibe of their songs and allowed for a truly personal performance. The set was a rather standard concert stage with colored lights, but the most unique aspect of their display was the projections shown throughout the venue that mimicked the style of art found on their albums. While the band performed a majority of their songs with the same instrumentation as the studio versions, they occasionally tossed in saxophone, synth and drum solos. From the beginning of the set to their encore performance, the humble energy of the band filled the room and the audience obviously enjoyed the performance as much as the band members themselves.

Overall the concert represented the stories and personalities of the band members very authentically. It was really interesting to see the members play instruments that are not part of their normal lineup. The synth player Brian would occasionally spice up certain tracks with some synthesized saxophone solos, as mentioned above. The crowd definitely welcomed the band to the Bay Area as they grooved to to the tunes of Crumb until eleven o’clock and chanted for more songs. Hopefully this was the first of many shows for Crumb in the bay. The show was an amazing portrayal of their music and left the crowd even more excited for their long-awaited new music release.