On Sunday, November 24th, I had the pleasure of catching Cory Wong and Couch at Palace Theatre in St. Paul, MN. As the last show of their tour, the night felt extra special, a sentiment amplified by Wong being back in his hometown area. The Twin Cities turned out a packed crowd for Wong and his crew, with many long-time fans and a variety of ages in the audience.
Boston-based band Couch kicked off the show with their opening set at 8:00pm. A relatively newer group, Couch formed in 2019, sourcing seven members from across the US. The band includes lead singer Tema Siegel, Zach Blankstein on guitar, Danny Silverston on keys, Will Griffin on bass, Jared Gosinsky on drums, Jeffery Pinsker-Smith on trumpet, and Eric Tarlin on alto saxophone. If you’re anything like me, they may have popped up on your TikTok feed at some point with one of their viral videos.
I was very excited to hear the group perform live, and they did not disappoint. They performed mostly their funky original tunes with tasty horn licks and tight little solis complementing Siegel’s fantastic vocal melodies. They also included a couple covers in their set–namely an awesome funkified version of Justin Beiber’s hit “Sorry” and a pretty epic cover of the Schoolhouse Rock classic “Conjunction Junction.” You could tell this was the last night of the tour, as their set was smooth and polished from lots of reps with seamless transitions between songs.
Along with palpable chemistry, Couch had great stage presence and energy, getting the crowd dancing and even singing in three-part harmony at one point. Perfectly-timed key changes consistently raised the energy, which is exactly what you want from an opener tasked with getting the crowd excited for the headlining act.
After a quick break to turn the stage over, Cory Wong and his band came out with a bang. The eleven-piece ensemble included drumset, auxiliary percussion, keys, bass, three saxes, trombone, trumpet, and two guitars including Wong and special guest Mark Lettieri (of the band Snarky Puppy) who doubled on the rare baritone guitar. With a mostly-instrumental set, Wong also invited Couch’s singer Tema Siegel and another guest vocalist up to sing a couple tunes.
Some of my notes from Wong’s set included phrases like “funk barrage” and “smacked in the face with a wall of funk,” (smacked in a good way of course). Driving rhythm guitar and funky basslines underscored tight, complex, syncopated horn solis, so it was no wonder that most of the crowd danced along to every song.
While the members of Couch showcased their individuality with unique outfits, Cory Wong’s band was decked out in matching jumpsuits, one of several visual elements that took the show to the next level. The stage was outfitted with stunning coordinated lights and a large screen that projected great graphic elements including clips of video games like guitar hero, Kanye West meme video clips, perfectly synchronized music video style animations, and scrolling music notation. During breaks, they also featured an audience kiss cam reminiscent of sports arenas, as well as a mustache cam and one for “this guy plays disc golf.”
If you are at all familiar with Cory Wong, you’ll know that he’s curated a somewhat unserious persona including comedic bits that complement his musical talent. After a dramatic musical finish, he followed up his set with a “press conference” with the whole band on stage during which he went over all of the “mistakes” they made that night and took questions from the audience for about 15 minutes. Original elements like this make Wong’s shows really stand out as unique experiences. He concluded the evening with a couple more high-energy encore songs, and it is safe to say that the audience was beyond satisfied with the show.