Greta Van Fleet is a tight live band, I'll give them that.

They play with precision and confidence rare for bands of their youth, and Josh Kiszka's voice was in top form despite constant wailing. The crowd was into it — specifically on the floor — and the band sold a good amount of Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.

However, for someone whose fandom has waned with each regressing album, Greta Van Fleet's show encapsulated the once-rising band's biggest flaws. Their “Starcatcher” world tour is a self-indulgent, prolonged mess of a show that hardly plays to their strengths. Perhaps the jump to major arenas including Madison Square Garden on their ongoing tour was another case of the band biting off more than they can chew.

Greta Van Fleet “Starcatcher” tour review

Surf Curse opened the show with a far better (and concise) set. From my section, you can clearly see the pit getting really into this set. I hadn't heard of Surf Curse prior to the Greta Van Fleet concert. However, I exited a bigger fan of them than I left a Greta Van Fleet fan. The band looked like four dads playing an open mic, with dated references to the likes of The West Wing and Night at the Museum filling time between songs.

That dorky awkwardness is what made Surf Curse so endearing. Their music rocked, too, with a set filled with more than their TikTok-famous track “Freaks.”

Around 8:45, Greta Van Fleet took the stage for their headlining set. The near-two-and-a-half hour show began with “The Falling Sky” and “The Indigo Streak” — two of Starcatcher's indistinguishable songs. To be fair, the songs sounded a lot better live and served as a fun way of opening their show with two songs from one of their weaker albums.

From there, it was all downhill.

As someone who became a Greta Van Fleet fan after listening to their early EP, From the Fires, and their debut album, Anthem of the Peaceful Army, I thought hearing “Lover, Leaver (Taker, Believer)” would be a good thing. However, this song quickly went from a welcomed surprise to an unwanted guest. On the album, the song runs six minutes long. During the concert, it was one of guitarist Jake Kiszka's elongated guitar solos. My cousin, who was running late to the concert, popped in during this song. He clocked in nearly 25 minutes after Greta Van Fleet took the stage. We weren't even halfway through the third song.

The best way to describe these guitar solos is as a Christmas gift you didn't want. I'm sure as you read that, you reminisced about some gift that you began to unveil as you slowly realized what it was. It's not something you asked for, but now you're forced to open it in front of your aunt. During Greta Van Fleet's concert, you're forced to open many of these gifts (three, to be exact).

Some levity was found when the guitar solo (mercifully) ended and the band went into the best song on Starcatcher, “Meeting the Master.” Jake Kiszka opened the song with a clever snippet of The Beatles' “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown).” They then went into the standout from their previous album, The Battle at Garden's Gate, in which Josh Kiszka nailed the sky-high notes.

After donning some Elton John shades and introducing the next song as his “favorite” of their discography, the band kicked into “Highway Tune.” With the song's high-energy rock-and-roll intro, it's shocking that my section sat still during it.

That was, perhaps, the biggest issue with Greta Van Fleet's show. Not only were the songs prolonged, but the crowd in my section was awkward. It wasn't dead, as the guys in front of me clapped like seals at every guitar solo and song as if it was an MCU movie, but it wasn't until “Light My Love” — the set's penultimate song — that anyone stood up (not to brag, but it was me and my girlfriend that started that trend out of the pain sitting was causing my ribcage).

And look, I didn't want to cause an Adele situation, but Greta Van Fleet doesn't put on a Cat Stevens-like acoustic concert. They are playing a rock-and-roll set in an arena, so it was weird that no one wanted to move or even stand up. Everyone was more focused on getting the right angle for their iPhone videos than being in the moment. Not to sound like an old man — I'm in my early 20s — but this only further hampered the show.

The entire audience suffered from a widespread misunderstanding of what an acoustic set is supposed to be. After a 10-minute drum solo, Sam and Josh Kiszka reemerged at the other end of the floor in an awkwardly-placed B-stage. The duo did their own rendition of “Unchained Melody,” which in all fairness was one of the better performances on the night. They were then joined by the other band members, leading to some awkwardly-forced banter, as they went into acoustic arrangements of “Waited All Your Life” and “Black Smoke Rising.”

Idealistically, the band probably wanted the crowd to be illuminated with the white iPhone lights. That didn't happen, as there were a total of five lights on throughout this portion of the concert in the 100 sections. What was supposed to be a stripped-down, relaxed portion of the set became even more of a momentum-killer than the previous solos.

Back on the main stage, three more Starcatcher songs were played before the band finally played a previous hit, “Light My Love.” They then closed out their set with “Farewell for Now,” which even Josh admitted was written for the exact situation of closing out concerts.

Just like that, nearly two-and-a-half hours of my life had vanished, which felt like an eternity. Greta Van Fleet's lead singer Josh Kiszka changed between outfits that included white onesies and most of the band was barefoot during the show. That, along with some of their songs that speak about “ascending to the stars” among other similar themes imply that the band has some spiritual motif they want to convey. It comes off like they want to play God, which is fitting considering the length of their show.

The “Starcatcher” world tour feels like a jump too big for the band. With a minimal stage setup consisting of three different backdrops, some (very loud) pyro, and two projector screens on both sides of the main stage that you'd see at a contemporary worship service, Greta Van Fleet's show didn't feel worthy of playing an arena such as Capital One. Not that every show needs a 98-foot-long LED screen in the middle of the arena or any kind of intricate stage setup, but having seen the band in a smaller venue such as the PPL Center (the same arena Elton John opened his “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” tour in), the smaller scale works for the band at this stage of their career. They don't yet have the firepower or spectacle to warrant such a big stage. Sure, attendance can be a part of that conversation, but two nights at the PPL Center can probably get more butts in seats than one night in Capital One Arena.

And then the set itself is a disappointment. Greta Van Fleet seem like the kind of band who don't want to look back on their old work, always looking ahead. That's admirable and a wise approach for bands that get stronger with each passing album release. In the case of Greta Van Fleet, their music has taken a step back and the band refuses to play the older hits — which especially sucks when most of their recent material sounds the same. With only 14 real songs being played (and one of them being a cover), the band gives themselves no room to have fun and play songs that fans actually want to hear.

After seeing Greta Van Fleet's previous tour, my one desire was for a longer set. They played just a dozen songs during the set which similarly prioritized their latest album at the time. I've never felt the cliché “less is more” greater than seeing Greta Van Fleet. They can play God all they want, but making their sets feel like an eternity is a cruel punishment for those who became fans of the band years ago.

Greta Van Fleet's “Starcatcher” world tour is going on right now. For more information, check out their official website.