Show Review: Watchhouse at The Pyrle 4/16/26

The Pyrle is a new venue in Greensboro, NC, and it is the perfect place to see a band like Watchhouse. It opened in February, and it strikes a balance of having large enough capacity and also being intimate, reminding me of wonderful places like Haw River Ballroom or The Sinclair (up in Cambridge, MA). When Watchhouse began their set, Emily commented that they realized they’d never played Greensboro, aside from when they were first starting out, playing pig pickings and a wedding in Greensboro. “We’re here!” a couple shouted from the mezzanine, still together and still sharing their favorite music–that can’t be a coincidence. 
Sam Moss opened the show with a beautiful set of his spare, lovely songs. His voice is entrancing and he can take a simple idea and imbue it with depth and meaning. Sam’s guitar playing is equally transfixing, and the audience gave him a warm welcome and you could feel them leaning in further with each song.

The show featured a wonderful balance of songs from their fantastic latest record, Rituals, and some longtime favorites, like “Gospel Shoes,” “Old Ties and Companions,” and, of course, “Wildfire.” I really loved how they encouraged the audience to hum along with “Wildfire”–it felt communal in the best way and there was a ripple of energy through the crowd as we provided a low backdrop to that haunting song. 

One of my favorite moments of the show was when there was a sound malfunction, just because of the band’s reaction. They just kept playing and after the song, Andrew said something like, “You might have noticed that Emily’s guitar stopped going through the system midway through the song. And I thought, well I can either get distracted by that or remember that I’m playing music with my best friends here and it’s gonna be OK.” What a wonderful perspective, and it’s funny how sometimes those things that go “wrong” are what make a show feel right. 

It’s that attitude that makes Watchhouse such a fun band to see–you can feel their genuine connection to each other, the joy they have making music together, and the confidence they feel that it’s going to work out. It helps, of course, that they play beautifully and have a catalogue of songs that are incredible examples of the craft of songwriting; but I think they attained those things because of how they seem to have approached music from their beginning–that it is about community, about sharing melodies and building them together. In some ways, I think they’d still be happy playing at a pig picking, as long as they got to play. 

The show at The Pyrle was near the end of this leg of their tour. But Andrew & Josh are playing a few duo shows together in May, and Watchhouse is back on the road for most of the summer, including their annual trip to the Green Mountain Bluegrass Festival. Find tour dates here and get out to see this amazing group. 

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