Active Child made their Cleveland debut at the Beachland Tavern last night, playing lofty music for an introverted crowd.
Frontman Pat Grossi, a sober-looking redhead, sat center stage with a harp between his legs and plucked set opener “High Priestess” backed by two bandmates on synthesizer and electronic drums.
Immediately obvious from the moment Grossi opened his mouth was the crisp, choral tone of his voice, which spread like a sheet over the chord bed laid by the keys.
His heady voice twisted within arpeggios and warped vocal harmonies running through laptops, like during the pensive chorus of “Way Too Fast.”
In other places, the bass and drums bounced under the slow, swelling lines of his melodies, pushing the songs along, like in the poppy “When Your Love Is Safe,” while simultaneously pulling them back from the verge of mawkishness.
