Couch shows you can go home again

Couch made it overwhelmingly clear that, yes, you can go home again. In fact, for the septet that mines a jazzy, sometimes pop and a bit funky sound, was back on home turf for their biggest show ever.

The group did not disappoint from beginning to end of the lively, nearly 105-minute show before a sold-out crowd of 3,500.

The most obvious reference point for Couch is Lake Street Dive, a band that also got its start in Boston. Both share that jazzy, sometimes funky musical space. However, in concert, Couch was a less bluesy and at times more poppy than LSD.

One aspect that both bands clearly share are very strong lead singers, but Tema Siegel was no clone of Rachael Price, who is more jazz focused. Fortunately, Couch's sound person mixed Siegel's to the point that she could always be heard above the instrumentation. From the start, Siegel showcased a strong, powerful, elastic voice. She also has showed considerable stage presence, bouncing around, putting a lot of herself into the material, sounding triumphant throughout.

While Siegel certainly was the centerpiece of Couch, she was no stage hog. Each member had a chance to show their stuff with Siegel content on a number of occasions to go to the side of the stage, putting the spotlight elsewhere. There was a lot to like about every band member. Particularly prominent were the one-two punch of Eric Tarlin on saxophone and Jeffrey Pinsker-Smith on trumpet, who played prominent roles for much of the evening.

Perhaps indicative of what was to unfold for the rest of the night, the show began with Tarlin and Pinsker-Smith giving the intro on "What Were You Thinking." They were far from done for the night, often contributing and/or setting the pace.

Guitarist Zach Blankstein, a friend of Siegel's going back to their early school days, infused the songs with sometimes funky, sometimes taut spikey lines. Danny Silverston supplied the keyboards, while the rhythm section of Will Griffin on bass and drummer Jared Gozinsky were in step.

In fact, the whole band was with tight playing while also getting multiple opportunities to assume the spotlight.

One of the highlights was a surprising cover of Britney Spears' "Toxic." Now, one wouldn't think that song would be the type of song that would work for a band like Couch, but they made it their own with Siegel's vocals and particularly the sax and trumpet punctuating the song.

Couch finished the regular set strongly with "On The Wire" and "(I Wanted) Summer With You."

But it may have been the first encore song that said it all – "Easy to Love." Siegel sang "I wanna be easy to love." With shows like this, that was not hard for Couch and their enthusiastic fans.

Georgia native and Nashville resident Stephen Day opened the night with a 40-minute set that complimented the headliners. Day was more soulful and funkier in a confident performance with the crowd behind him.

Just when you felt he needed to stretch out more musically, Day answered the call with sharp guitar lines. He later would come out to join Couch on "Autumn," once again showing that Couch was an inclusive kind of band.