Photo credit: David Saxum<\/p>\n
Review by James Klein<\/p>\n
\u201cMusic is in my soul, rock and roll is in my blood,\u201d Buck Meek declares on his recent single \u201cRing of Fire.\u201d Meek lived up to that line as he poured his soul out at The Sinclair on Wednesday, delivering a hometown concert that made the night look effortless.<\/span><\/p>\n Buck Meek is best known for being the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of Big Thief, but he has an extensive catalog of his own with releases spanning from 2014 to his most recent in February 2026, \u201cThe Mirror.\u201d Meek uses \u201cThe Mirror\u201d to explore the vulnerabilities and emotional highs and lows of a relationship. Onstage, Meek pairs that introspective lyricism with his signature trembly twang and a live band full of chemistry.<\/span><\/p>\n At exactly 8 p.m, Meek first took the stage with his recently formed side project, Kisser. Meek took a backseat role on guitar and backing vocals while vocalist Germaine Dunes took center stage. Kisser played with a relaxed confidence, impressive for a band formed less than a year ago. The whole venue was buzzing, fans filtering in and gathering around the bar. The band made faces at each other, trading cues. One fan yelled \u201cKisser, I hardly know her!\u201d in the silence between songs, which was met with a rimshot from the drummer, Jesse Quebbeman-Turley. The band leaned into the goofy energy. One song started with a long, ambient guitar intro, and was abruptly interrupted with aggressive drum hits before being cut off entirely, making some band members hold back laughter. Amid the fun, they highlighted two songs released just a day earlier: \u201cGhostgirl\u201d and \u201cBad Boy Mountain,\u201d the band\u2019s first songs released online.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n After a short break, Meek returned with a quick \u201cSup y\u2019all\u201d before launching into \u201cGasoline,\u201d the opening track from \u201cThe Mirror.\u201d \u201cGasoline\u201d was driven by persistent drum patterns and rapid-fire delivery, including bursts of gibberish that Quebbeman-Turley backed him up on. Meek then played more from \u201cThe Mirror,\u201d with \u201cGod Knows Why\u201d and \u201cCan I Mend It,\u201d two of the slower, introspective songs off the record. Meek sings about the dark side of relationships, reflecting on pain from both perspectives while searching for forgiveness. Both songs further showed the band\u2019s rapport before Meek introduced Adam Brisbin on guitar, Steven Van Betten on bass, and Jesse Quebbeman-Turley on drums.<\/span><\/p>\n The band then rushed into a sped-up version of \u201cPretty Flowers\u201d with the drums taking on a more prominent role than on the studio recording. Meek joked afterward that he\u2019s the band leader who \u201cstarts the song in the wrong key and figures it out in the middle.\u201d If anything, moments like that only added to the charm of the night.<\/span><\/p>\n Meek then took a calmer route, moving on to some older songs with \u201cJoe by the Book\u201d and \u201cPareidolia,\u201d both fan favorites from previous records. His strumming on \u201cPareidolia\u201d joined with bubbly synth textures and light cymbal work created an atmospheric outro perfectly suited to a smaller venue like The Sinclair.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Then came the first few chords of \u201cCertainty\u201d by Big Thief, immediately recognized by the crowd, a song on which Meek typically provides backing vocals. As one of the show\u2019s highlights, Meek flawlessly switched to the melody for this cover, his singing joined by much of the audience. The rest of the set drew from his new record, with standouts like \u201cWorms,\u201d \u201cDeja Vu,\u201d and \u201cRing of Fire.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Meek displayed his performance chops, doing justice to a well-written album and leaving the stage before reappearing to an excited crowd. He expressed his love for Massachusetts, saying he lived here for about six years in places ranging from Central Square to Kendall Square to Jamaica Plain to Braintree. Fans appreciated each of his shoutouts as Meek reminisced fondly about his time in Massachusetts.<\/span><\/p>\n His encore included \u201cHalo Light,\u201d a more tender cut, along with a new, unreleased song, \u201cKiss My Mirror.\u201d The song closed the night with a bouncy bassline, guitar riffs, and Meek\u2019s signature lyrical style. He left the crowd in good spirits, delivering a hometown gig that showcased his talent and the overall strength of Big Thief\u2019s lineup. Having played every song off his new record, Meek proved himself focused on making meaningful, catchy tunes that not only record well but also translate seamlessly into a live setting. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Photo credit: David Saxum Review by James Klein \u201cMusic is in my soul, rock and roll is in my blood,\u201d Buck Meek declares on his recent single \u201cRing of Fire.\u201d Meek lived up to that line as he poured his soul out at The Sinclair on Wednesday, delivering a hometown concert that made the night […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26199,"featured_media":54149,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1525,1523,15],"tags":[2718,126],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54148"}],"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\/26199"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54148"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54148\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54155,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54148\/revisions\/54155"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}