GOOD KID/ADAN DIAZ – LIVE – THE SINCLAIR – CAMBRIDGE

By Rick Fleck

Good Kid and Adan Diaz play the Sinclair on 4/21/2024

Following a recorded intro of “Pokémon Theme,” Good Kid opened their set with one of their most popular songs, “No Time to Explain,” an energetic romp that set the tone for the evening. The crowd of mostly die-hard Good Kid fans didn’t need to be won over, but the message was clear: Good Kid were going to give it their all. “No Time to Explain” led straight into another crowd favorite, “Alchemist.” “Bubbly” followed and I challenge you to find a more aptly named song.

Good Kid is a five-piece indie rock band from Toronto — singer Nick Frosst, guitarists David Wood and Jacob Tsafatinos, drummer Jon Kereliuk, and bassist Michael Kozakov. They cite pop- punk and J-rock as major influences and you can hear how older bands like Green Day, Fall Out Boy, and blink-182 have made an impact. Good Kid also cite newer bands like Two Door Cinema Club, PUP, and Bloc Party — influences that you can hear in their economical song structures, jangly guitars, and over-all dynamism. The influence of bands like Kana-Boon show up as well, but Good Kid’s music tends to be less embellished, for the better, than a lot of J-rock.

Photos Rick Fleck

“First Rate Town” is one of my favorite Good Kid songs. It’s just a killer song by any measure. Good Kid played it acoustically and had the audience riveted, myself included. It is a great story song, and speaks to the pain of heartbreak and the sometimes-claustrophobic feeling of your familiar surroundings. It’s a new generation’s response to Bruce Springsteen’s epic “Born to Run”. I would love to hear a live, plugged-in version.

Wood started the song “Down with the King” by asking the crowd, “Do you mind singing along with us?” The song was enhanced with some cool, contemporary, understated video. Several members of Good Kid have computer science degrees and have worked in software engineering. They are, without a doubt, the most social media savvy, content skilled, gamer-friendly band that I am aware of. They foster these attributes by making their music open- source and royalty free to content creators, endearing them to this affinity group and, in the process, growing their fanbase.

Good Kid appeal to a younger demographic of people who are primarily in high school and college, although there were parents bringing in children who were even younger. The show was at The Sinclair, a popular, medium-sized, live music venue in the heart of Cambridge’s Harvard Square. Good Kid’s stage personas, presentation, and pop culture associations all skew younger, despite the fact that the band members are in their early to mid-thirties. (I couldn’t help but think of Bob’s Burgers and the show’s fictional boy band Boyz 4 Now and band member Matt, who clearly has his “boyz” days in the rear-view mirror.)

“Osmosis” has a cool, retro, vocal delivery that brings to mind mid-century crooners like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. It’s a novel approach and works well with the band’s material. I wonder if many in the crowd made the connection, but even if not, they heard some really great singing from Frosst. Kudos to him for choosing this style on these songs, and doing it so well. Being a surf rock fan, I was also thrilled to hear surf rock elements in the guitar playing in “Osmosis.”

There were fun breaks in the show too, like the Wheel of Chaos, where the band did whatever the aforementioned Wheel told them to. Last night, it landed on the space telling the band to play a song they don’t know. Frosst picked the song “All Star” by Smash Mouth, a song they played doing the same game in Austin a month earlier. This was followed by the sing-a-long Irish folk song, “The Rattlin’ Bog.” It was fun, but it went on a bit too long, as sing-a-longs often do.

“Ground” was my favorite song of the night — a little darker in tone, a little more hard/classic rock, and it featured the heaviest bass of the night. Frosst also added some mariachi style trumpet that served as a perfect enhancement. Kereliuk was incredible on drums all night. He played with deceptive simplicity and understated skill. He isn’t as over-the-top personality-wise as the other band members can be, especially guitarist Tsafatinos, but he held the band together with his impressive playing. Kereliuk played with a similar style, presence, and talent as the late Taylor Hawkins.

Photos Rick Fleck

Good Kid performed an acoustic version of “Madeline” during the encore and it turned into another loud, whole-hearted sing-a-long. “Madeline” was followed by “From the Start,” a cover song of modern L.A. jazz-stylist Laufey. It was well placed, well received, and given a classy introduction by Frosst. They finished the night with their most popular song, “Mimi’s Delivery Service.” The audience simply loved it. I don’t know how else to describe it other than to say it was as near a perfect indie, power-pop song as I’ve ever heard. What a way to end the show. As the old adage says, “always leave them wanting more.”

The opening act was Adan Diaz, a 19-year-old Mexican-American musician/singer/songwriter based out of Chicago. Diaz describes himself as a “bedroom pop artist,” a term he coined writing songs in his bedroom during the COVID quarantine. Diaz enjoyed a nearly full-house for his set, and proved to be very popular with the crowd. His songs were in both English and Spanish, sometimes within the same song. Diaz’s lyrics are confessional and his performance style doesn’t shy away from exposing his youthful cynicism, vulnerabilities, and ultimately, his forward-looking hope. Highlights were the opener “bad joke,” the old-school romanticism of “dificil,” the plaintiveness of “jumping fences,” and the finale, the hit song “legroom.”

Good Kid is an eminently talented, cohesive, and singularly focused band. They have legitimately immersed themselves in current pop-culture and made themselves an integral party of it at the same time. They have a keen, insider’s grasp of what their audience wants to hear and experience and they deliver it. Good Kid also challenge their audience, which works to keep things fresh. I’m curious to see where they go with their music and their shows as the years pass and both they and their audience experience new challenges, obstacles, and triumphs.

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