Review: Peter McPoland at 9:30 Club on February 24

“I am not cool,” Peter McPoland told the Tuesday night crowd at the 9:30 Club, most of whom kept their puffers on in the surprisingly chilly venue. There were a couple tentative whoops from the crowd. McPoland smiled and lifted one hand. “Come on, cheer!” 

As the audience shouted in response, he turned his attention to his guitar, already preparing for the next number. “I am not cool,” he repeated. “But let me tell you, no one else is going to love playing music and putting on a show as much as I do.” With that, he strummed the first few chords of “A Place Like This,” taking up space on the stage with an ease and an authenticity that could only come from that love of performing.

McPoland’s live performance, in fact, carried an entirely different energy than his studio recordings. His nasally voice kept its distinctive quality, but seemed to have an additional depth when coming through the microphone. Songs like “Romeo & Juliet” exemplified just how much better McPoland is live; the contrast between the verse and chorus made for a completely different experience of the song.

The show also highlighted the singer’s talented bandmates – Joe Curtin on the drums, Josh Suarez on the keys, and Landon Laney on the bass. The three of them opened the show huddled around the mic, singing transcendent harmonies to “Dead Air,” an incredible expansion of the recorded version of the song. Later, Laney returned to sing a cover of John Prine’s “Bruised Orange” alongside McPoland. 

Beyond musicality, though, McPoland’s charm and banter clearly influenced the energy that the audience walked away with. He kept up a string of dedications throughout the night: the set was in memory of the penny, the encore was for his aunt Paula (who was in the audience), “Mold” was for a girl named Sarah who had DMed him since October requesting that he play it in DC, and “I Love the Animals” was for Levi, a toddler who could be spotted on the upper deck, headphones on, in the arms of his mother.

Introducing each of his bandmates in turn, McPoland would shout, “Do you love him?” When the crowd inevitably roared, the singer would shake his head. “You don’t know the first thing about him,” he’d say, to laughter from the audience. 

Awash in orange light, hair gone stringy from sweat, and grinning as he walked offstage, McPoland left the crowd with a reminder of just how cool it can be to care.