Dear Nora, the View from the Merch Table is Nice

June 25, 2025 - Seattle, Washington

On March 1, 2025, Katy Davidson sent me the following text: “What’s up with the band Greer? What’s their vibe? What are their fans like?” Oh boy. I proceeded to answer Davidson’s questions, spewing a brief history of the band, their sound, and the scene they had come up in. The southern California band is made up of twenty-somethings around my age and skyrocketed to popularity the instant a YouTube video of the band playing a few unreleased singles was posted. Drummer Lucas Ovalle is Josh Ovalle’s younger brother, whom you may know from hit Vines such as “Whaddup, I’m Jared, I’m 19,” and so forth. The Internet acted like a claw machine, scooping up unwitting teenagers, and I was one of them. I was fifteen when the original “introducing Greer” video was released. For a period of time, this now deleted YouTube video was the only real way to listen to Greer. It was a mainstay of my YouTube history before the band slowly began releasing singles on Spotify. 

Dear Nora’s merch table at Neumos. Photo by Megan Lorich.

Simply put, Davidson could not have picked a better colleague to ask about the band. My guess is that Davidson saw the age of the band, realized they were popular with Gen Z, and decided to ask their favorite resident Gen Z intern about the group. Davidson and I first started working together during the summer of 2023, when I was first assigned to the Creative Services team at Marmoset Music. Davidson is a producer for Marmoset, a music licensing company based out of Portland, OR. But before Davidson worked with Marmoset, they were primarily known as Dear Nora. Davidson fronted and formed the indie pop band in 1999 with a few friends in Portland. These other members of the project have come and gone, but Davidson remains at the helm, continuing to add new songs to the Dear Nora catalog. The early days of the band revolve in the same indie rock universe as early 2000s acts like The Microphones and Bright Eyes. A rerelease of the band’s 2004 album Mountain Rock in 2017 earned Pitchfork’s best reissue of that year. Davidson’s moniker as Dear Nora is why they reached out to me. Greer had asked Davidson to open for the band at a few shows on their upcoming tour. 

To say I lost my mind at this information would be an understatement. If it was professional for me to be vulgar, the string of expletives I spewed out in response to that text would be in front of you. I encouraged Davidson to take part in the tour if possible and promptly forgot about the conversation for a month, when Davidson reached out to me yet again. On April 24, I was officially on the list for Greer’s stop in Seattle, WA. But like with all good deals, there was a catch. Davidson had wrangled me into merch duty, sitting on the sidelines as both Davidson and Greer performed. I’ve worked the merch table for Dear Nora previously, in my hometown of Olympia, WA back in June 2024. That was another instance of Davidson reaching out to me. They had been curious as to what venues in Olympia they could play on their tour, eventually settling on Le Voyeur. That Olympia show was the first time I met Davidson in person – we both work remote from Marmoset’s Portland office. I’m still not quite sure what Davidson saw in me then or now, but if it means free concert tickets, I am more than happy to give out opinions and man the merch table. 

Neumos is located in Capitol Hill, an area of Seattle that divides Seattleites. To some, the district has become rampantly gentrified. To others, the district remains a safe haven for youth, people of color, the queer community, skaters, and so forth. It’s certainly one of the hipper parts of town and a fitting venue for Greer. The line for the band snakes down a full city block and I am endlessly grateful that I don’t have to stand in it. Davidson and I sneak through the back of Neumos, past security guards and VIP ticket holders. I get a quick tour of the green room, a free Hazy IPA from Davidson’s dressing room fridge, and a rundown on how to use a Square card reader. Over the course of the night, I sold about three shirts. Despite the lack of a customer base, sitting at the merch table is exhilarating. I feel like I’m a part of something. I have a cool wristband. I get to chill out in the green room.  I am helping my mentor and friend. 

Davidson heads to the stage and begins their set. It’s simply them and their guitar under stage lights that switch from blue to purple and back again. Dear Nora definitely has edgier songs in their catalog, but the project’s newer songs have leaned more into a folk and acoustic sound. These are the songs that Davidson plays to the crowd, mostly off of their two newer projects human futures (2022) and Skulls Examples (2018). The first older project that gets some love is Mountain Rock, off of which Davidson plays “Here We Come Around”. Davidson likely captured the attention of the audience due to their frequent comments between tracks. “What’s the name of Greer’s fanbase?” they asked the crowd. “You’re Greer heads now.” There is no choice for the audience. If Katy Davidson decides the name of your fan base, you simply must listen. 

Dear Nora opens for Greer at Neumos. Photo by Megan Lorich.

The third track in Davidson’s set is a cover of Television Personalities’ “This Angry Silence”. Davidson briefly comments on how the lyrics of the song are still relevant today and I am inclined to agree. It’s the only cover in the entirety of Davidson’s set and was clearly chosen to stir the thoughts of the audience, encouraging us to listen, not just by playing the song, but in the repeated refrain of the song itself. Then it’s back to Dear Nora tracks: Davidson soldiers on through the lyrics of “White Fur”, which echo throughout the venue with the slow methodical strums during “human futures”, and the repetitive march of “Black Truck”. I’ve heard Davidson play these tracks before, at the aforementioned Olympia show, but “human futures” specifically has always stuck out to me.

In person, “human futures” is at its most stripped back. This can be said of most Dear Nora tracks when they’re performed live since Davidson’s performances typically feature only them and their guitar, but this lofi sound works wonders for it and has made me prefer live renditions of the track than its recording on its titular album. Because of the deliberate pauses, each line from the song lingers in the air when performed live. These lines are punctuated by a synth riff, which is absent when Davidson has to take the song on the road by themselves. It’s a short little diddy, but its brevity and minimalism makes “human futures” hit even harder. 

But the modern Dear Nora track that most will likely be familiar with is “flag (into the fray)”. The song is a collaboration between Dear Nora and Frankie Cosmos. After playing a few shows with the band in 2019, Davidson reached out to Greta Kline of Frankie Cosmos, and asked if she had any unfinished songs for Davidson to look at. The beginning of “flag (into the fray)” stuck out to Davidson and the two developed the song further. The introduction that Kline had sent over remains on the studio version of “flag (into the fray)”, with the artists swapping verses at the titular lyric “into the fray.” Dear Nora’s sound is a clear influence on Frankie Cosmos’ anti-folk sound, whether through osmosis from other projects or from listening to Davidson’s music directly. It’s a perfect end to Dear Nora’s acoustic set. 

Greer Nora takes the Neumos stage. Photo by Megan Lorich.

Technically, it’s the end of Dear Nora’s set entirely. Davidson talks into the mic again, this time about the new friends they made yesterday. A group of young bandmates had asked Davidson not only if they could open for the band, but if they could play some of their favorite Dear Nora songs alongside them. This results in the lineup of Greer Nora, made up of Davidson and the entirety of Greer, minus frontman Josiah. Greer Nora’s three-song set is made up entirely of tracks from the early days of Dear Nora. The original albums, EPs, and LPs featuring these tracks cannot be found on streaming. Rather, they are placed in a compendium called Three States: Rarities 1997-2007. These songs are much grungier than the modern acoustic Dear Nora sound, and the crowd responds in turn. “Second Guess” is the most mellow of the three tracks, but Greer Nora will go into overdrive.

“Up on the Roof” feels like a party, with the Neumos crowd dancing along as the track bursts into a full sound. “Out to Dry” similarly gets the crowd moving, though the track doesn’t rock as hard as the preceding song. Keen-eared Greer listeners will clearly be able to hear the influence Dear Nora has had on the band through the covers Greer Nora performs. “Up on the Roof” is most suited to the band, as evidenced by the crowd movement throughout its performance. Dear Nora may feel like an odd opener for Greer compared to their opener on the first half of the tour, Chinese American Bear, due to the project’s mostly acoustic sound. But Greer Nora perfectly encapsulates why Davidson is opening for the band’s first tour after three years of hiatus.

Davidson hangs out with me at the merch booth for a few minutes after their set before heading back down to the green room. I, once again, get to sit uninterrupted at the merch table, this time watching Greer perform on their own. If you’d like to hear more about the show, fellow Music Box contributor Marisa Segura Mooers detailed their performance the previous night in Portland, OR. It felt sort of like a miracle, that for one night, I am briefly in the bubble of the band that meant so much to me during my sophomore year of high school. Without complaint, I help Davidson with tear down after the show ends. Both they and Greer have a long drive ahead of them to Sacramento over the next two days. Speaking of, Davidson introduces me to the band. I am incredibly proud to say that I did not fangirl in front of them, though I would on the drive back home. They’re all lovely guys, who were, or at the very least acted, like they were more than happy to meet a fan after a long show. 

Knowing Katy Davidson is a joy. Not just because of this experience, but the knowledge they have imparted on me. KD, as I lovingly call them, has encouraged me multiple times to venture into producing and to stretch my musical muscles. They never hesitate to remind me how times are different from when they were my age. That pursuing creativity as a career in this era is harder than it has ever been, and that they have a very comfortable couch. KD is Dear Nora, my mentor, but most importantly, they are my friend. Nothing brings more joy than seeing your friends excel at what they love, and I am lucky enough that KD brings me along for the ride whenever they are in Washington. For those interested in seeing Dear Nora for themselves, Davidson will be playing shows in Duluth, MN (July 22), Minneapolis (July 23), Fargo, ND (July 24), and Winnipeg at Real Love Summer Fest (July 26). I hope they bring as much joy to you as they do to me.