{"id":52806,"date":"2026-02-15T23:12:39","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T04:12:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/?p=52806"},"modified":"2026-02-19T09:48:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T14:48:22","slug":"review-tauk-brighton-music-hall-2-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/2026\/02\/15\/review-tauk-brighton-music-hall-2-13\/","title":{"rendered":"REVIEW: TAUK @ Brighton Music Hall 2\/13"},"content":{"rendered":"

Review by Michelle Leung<\/span><\/p>\n

New York natives TAUK returned to Boston\u2019s Brighton Music Hall Friday night with the second leg of the \u201cSomewhere Between Here And There\u201d Tour to much applause and fanfare. After successfully playing the tour\u2019s first stretch in Brooklyn and Portland, as well as participating in the Gem and Jam Festival, TAUK will continue touring until the end of April.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the dim lighting of the venue, the crowd buzzed with excited chatter, flooding in during the opening performance by three-piece group MJT the Band. Composed of the Godfrey brothers, and <\/span>self-described<\/span><\/a> as a \u201cmusical force of nature,\u201d the alternative rock band set the tone with Jordan\u2019s bombastic and invigorating drumming technique, Matt\u2019s double mastery of keyboard and synth bass, and David\u2019s atmospheric electric guitar and vocals. MJT played for an hour, with David\u2019s soulful singing supported by Matt\u2019s high harmonies during groovy songs like \u201cHopeless\u201d and \u201cMr. NoOne.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The trifecta was concentrated in a small radius of the stage. Making the most of the proximity, David would frequently turn his back to the crowd and nod to the beat, making eye contact with his brothers who headbanged alongside him. Notably, they threw in a fun twist of the iconic rock anthem \u201cEverybody Wants To Rule The World\u201d by Tears For Fears, sampling the melody and taking turns to solo over the recognizable tune.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After MJT concluded their set, TAUK briefly hopped on the stage to tune up, officially starting their set at 9:30 p.m. The band was founded by Long Island natives Charlie Dolan, Matt Jalbert, and Alric \u201cA.C.\u201d Carter, who began playing together as middle schoolers before forming their current iteration in 2012, with the addition of Isaac Teel. TAUK is unique in that it has no vocalist; the music is completely instrumental, with Dolan on bass, Jalbert on guitar, Carter on keyboard, and Teel on drums.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

TAUK has been pushing sonic boundaries for nearly a decade, experimenting with the fusion of progressive rock, soul, funk, hip-hop, and EDM into complete, flowing melodic experiences. Amusingly, the quartet took the stage with \u201cLose Yourself\u201d by Eminem. Jalbert introduced the band quickly and succinctly, seeming eager to jump straight into the music.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Starting with a funky, electronic-focused track from 2016, \u201cProgram Select,\u201d TAUK swiftly took over the intimate venue, utilizing several catchy keyboard motifs and building each one with the increased additions and complexity of the electric guitar and drums. They followed with an electric guitar-forward song, \u201cRecreational Outrage,\u201d continuously pushing the beat forward with exciting tension supported by the keys. The track could be lifted from a sci-fi movie soundtrack, the steady pulsing bass beat hitting reliably on counts one and three, complete with atmospheric, dreamy chords.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With their next song, \u201cConvoy,\u201d there was ample time for the bass to perform a beautiful solo, emerging from its typical background rhythm instrument role. A.C. banged out some fantastic refrains and trills on his keyboard, with guitarist Jalbert grinning and nodding in appreciation. Teel gave a shout-out to A.C. as the song ended, also announcing that A.C. had attended Boston\u2019s Northeastern University.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Then came \u201cCMF 9000\u201d off the 2018 album \u201cShapeshifter II: Outbreak,\u201d featuring an impossibly catchy main sting, which TAUK returned to time and time again throughout the six-minute song. TAUK is especially skilled at stripping back their main melody, then adding little flairs and counter-melodies bit-by-bit until they successfully snowball back into sonically full lead-driven solos.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From there, the transition into the next track was buttery smooth\u2014 TAUK headed right into \u201cWhere You Are\u201d without missing a beat. It\u2019s the ninth track off their 2016 album \u201cSir Nebula,\u201d heavily highlighting their plucky synths and grand organ samples. Midway through the song, drummer Teel interacted with the crowd, slamming down twice in quick succession on the bass drum and cymbals before pointing his drumstick at the audience, who whooped \u201cwoo!\u201d The exchange happened eight times, with more and more fans delightedly joining in.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

TAUK have expertly integrated punchy techno sounds into their songs, peppered throughout keyboard trills and repetitive guitar licks. They continued with fan favorites \u201cHello Narwhal,\u201d \u201cSong For Salma,\u201d \u201cMelvin\u2019s Mind,\u201d and \u201cNot Your Nemesis,\u201d before playing the bass-heavy \u201cHot Brown\u201d off the new album. Following these heavy-hitters came \u201cThe Let Out \u201d and \u201cRevenge of Weenus,\u201d before the 30-minute encore with \u201cEldridge Awakens\u201d and \u201cIn the Basement of the Alamo.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Coming into the evening, I anticipated an extremely different concert experience, but it was a wonderful realization that TAUK\u2019s concert felt largely similar to enjoying classical or jazz music live. As TAUK continues to innovate, fusing genres with their expertise, they will remain important figures, setting the stage for future instrumental bands.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Review by Michelle Leung New York natives TAUK returned to Boston\u2019s Brighton Music Hall Friday night with the second leg of the \u201cSomewhere Between Here And There\u201d Tour to much applause and fanfare. After successfully playing the tour\u2019s first stretch in Brooklyn and Portland, as well as participating in the Gem and Jam Festival, TAUK […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25732,"featured_media":52832,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1525,1523,15],"tags":[33,215,327,2648],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52806"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25732"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52806"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52806\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52833,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52806\/revisions\/52833"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}