Couch sure made the District feel at home on Saturday, November 15th, 2025. Their sold-out show at the 9:30 Club had lines wrapped around the building and fans eagerly awaiting the hype, jazz sound that they know and love of the band’s repertoire.

Creating this comfy, welcoming atmosphere was largely in part due to Stephen Day’s opening act. Day performed true to his signature southern-inspired pop-folk sound that was as smooth as honey and set just the right tone for the evening. With selections from his latest single release “Moonshine” and his 2024 album “Gold Mine,” the crowd easily leaned into the chord Day struck as he leaned into his ‘modern crooner’ sound.

With a hum in the air, Couch launched into their set with a warm welcome: their first track release of three ahead of the Big Talk album’s release, “What Were You Thinking.” The audience immediately matched the energy the seven-piece band brought to the stage. Just like Couch’s sound, there was always something new to focus on, whether it was an element of the music or an element of their stage presence.

Couch had an explosive energy that is true to their sound in the studio. To see it translated onto the stage was truly an amazing experience. Not only did they put on a good show, but they allowed every member of the band to have their moment. Whether it was a moment for the horn section, Eric Tarlin on the saxophone and Jeffrey Pinsker-Smith on the trumpet, Jared Gozinsky on the drums, Will Griffin on the bass, Zach Blankstein on guitar, or Danny Silverston on the keys, each member of the band had a moment to shine in between shining as a stunning group on stage.

Blankstein and Gozinsky have a special connection to Washington DC, and highlighted it during their set. “This is really special for all of us, but especially Jared and me,” Blankstein told the crowd during their set. “We met at GW [Editor: George Washington University], we went to college here. We would come to concerts like, every weekend here. We saw a bunch of our favorite bands, and we always talked about how fun it would be to get to do it ourselves. And here we are tonight, so thank you.”

The hour and a half long set mainly featured selections from their newest album Big Talk. They opened their set with “What Were You Thinking,” threw it back to their early days with “Saturday,” and jumped between some of their newer numbers while maintaining that connection to their roots.

One unique aspect of the show was a tradition the band calls “Couch family photos.” Tossing disposable cameras into the audience, the band explained that they have done this for every show they’ve played since they first started touring. They expressed how it is a way to feel connected to each and every member of the audience and to encourage that connection between audience members. Fans took photos with the cameras, and the photos were then uploaded onto Setlist.fm, where fans could view and even purchase physical copies of their photos and have them signed. Lead singer Tema Siegel explained that the proceeds from the photos would go to an organization called Rosie’s Place, a women’s shelter in the band’s hometown Boston that is the first women-only shelter in the United States providing wide-ranging support services to more than 13,000 women a year.

Before a rendition of “Window” off of the Big Talk album, Siegel talked about what the song meant to her as she wrote it. Siegel described a habit of being jealous of the lives that her neighbors might be leading and how it was really detrimental to her own wellbeing. “This song is about interrogating that habit and looking at all the wonderful things I have, if I could just reframe it for myself and romanticize my own life,” she said.

The performance also featured an extended version of “Static and Noise” with a major bass feature that led to an intense drum feature, bathing Gozinsky and the stage in white light as the other band members exited and reemerged to perform “Still Feeling You” from their self-titled EP released in 2021.

Siegel slowed the room down a bit to speak to the audience about “Lucky To Be Stuck With You.” She gave a shout out to her father on the balcony, describing how the song was inspired by a conversation she had with her family during a road trip to New Hampshire this summer. Her father blew kisses down to her on stage and beamed, clearly proud of his daughter. The song expresses the feeling of content and nostalgia that come with being surrounded by the same people from childhood to adulthood, and Siegel’s shout out to her father was a touching way to introduce the song’s meaning.

Not only was the song emotionally touching, but musically touching. Silverston led the audience in a three-part harmony for the song’s vocal ending, dividing the room and balconies into sections and teaching each a different harmony. It left a resonance in the room that was immaterial.

As the band rounded out their show, they invited opener Stephen Day to return to the stage to sing Couch’s “Autumn.” Siegel and Day’s voices were strikingly complementary, especially since the studio version of the song features R&B jazz singer-songwriter Jackson Lundy. Nevertheless, it was a refreshing feature on the song and was no less Couch.

The band wrapped up their set with a two-song encore of “Easy to Love” and “Middle Man.” With confetti in the air, it was clear how far the band has come since they last performed in DC as an opener for American funk band Ripe in 2023. Now that we have seen them headline an iconic venue such as the 9:30 Club, and based on the reception they’ve received online and in person, they seem destined for even more. Couch is truly a band no one should sleep on, as they have consistently made a name for themselves in city after city.