Noise Complaint: G Luné, Photo Negative, and Gatch
Photos by Will Ingman, Words by Izzy Desmarais
Thursday, Feb. 17, Noise Complaint Productions hosted their second ever show at Boston’s City Winery, featuring local acts Gatch, Photo Negative, and G Luné. Established this past fall semester, Noise Complaint Productions is a collaborative concert series founded by students from Boston University, Berklee College of Music, and Northeastern University. Focused on providing a platform for Boston based student musicians as well as fostering a better networking system between colleges in the area, Noise Complaint Productions offers an incredible opportunity for aspiring artists, journalists, photographers, and producers to practice their craft through real world experiences.
Inside the upscale City Winery’s restaurant is the Haymarket Lounge; a dimly lit venue with a cool ambience that helps the crowded room feel much more spacious. The show attracted a diverse audience, including family members of the performers, their close friends, and students from all over the Boston area showing up to support their peers.
Gatch
Opening the show was Northeastern student Gatch, backed up by a seven piece band, including a guitar, bass, keyboard, trombone, saxophone, drums, and some auxiliary percussion. Coming up on stage in a black velvet dress shirt paired with matching heeled boots and a brimmed hat, the best way I can describe Gatch is as a glamorous cowboy, but his musical style did not match this country-esque look. His sound combines the funk, disco, jazz, and rock genres, churning out infectious music that you couldn’t help but groove along to. Songs off his debut album, Life from Zhang’s released back in 2019, were definitely crowd favorites. “Shackles” in particular got a big reaction; a girl in front of the stage was FaceTiming her friend during this song, and she was just as excited through a screen, dancing along like she would have been if she were right there hearing it live. I thought their jazzy rendition of Maroon 5’s “She Will Be Loved” was a super fun cover choice, featuring some perfect harmonies between Gatch and their keyboardist. With an incredible stage presence and fostering a great chemistry with his audience, Gatch provided an energetic start to the evening.
Photo Negative
Photo Negative, a five piece indie-rock band hailing from Boston College, brought along with them an enthusiastic group of fellow BC students ready to reinvigorate the rest of the crowd. Complete with the typical two guitarists, a bassist, and a drummer, the addition of a saxophonist is what helps Photo Negative stand out from other indie bands in the Boston scene. It was especially fun to watch this set as a sort of fly on the wall and see the band interact with such a strong and committed following from their school. They knew all their original songs by heart, shouting the lyrics right back at them. “Ant Song” specifically called for audience participation in the chorus, prompting them to count off “1…2…3…4…5…6!” in between the improvised verses. Thrown into the mix of originals were covers of Jet’s “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” and Violent Femme’s “Blister in the Sun,” the latter being my personal favorite of the two. Seeing the energy of the BC crowd during this set kept first time listeners intrigued throughout, and the lingering excitement carried them into the final act of the night.
G. Lune
I first saw G Luné back in December and she put on an incredible show, so I was anticipating this set the most out of the three. G Luné did not disappoint. I made my way to the front and as the first song played, I let it envelope me. Opening with popular singles, “BLOCKED” and “MICHELLE” packed a punch with angry lyrics about heartbreak and upbeat instrumentals to match. Her setlist also featured two songs off of her upcoming EP, Shut Up and Listen, with a planned release this May. With effortlessly smooth vocals, G Luné commanded the room. I couldn't think of a better way to end my week.
