I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: June 8,  2023] Black Midi

So who the hell is Black Midi?  I’m not sure.  I wanted to see them because I’d heard their live show was great.  Although, I’m not sure where I heard that from.

I assumed NPR music, but they don’t really talk about Black Midi all that much.  So it must have been from elsewhere.

I watched a live video online and the show was insane–lots of slam dancing, lots of amazing musicianship.

The main trio is Geordie Greep – lead vocals, guitar; Cameron Picton – lead vocals, bass, guitar and Morgan Simpson – drums.  At our show there was a fourth member. and I’m not sure who he was.  He played bass the whole night and may have played piano for one song (although I couldn’t see him, but SOMEONE was playing).

Black Midi plays a kind of free jazz with a spoken lyric vocalist (Greep) who sounds like he’s an over-the-top crooner/stage actor from the 1950s.  Picton wore a button down shirt and tie and Greep was wearing business casual.

And they inspire some of the most intense mosh pits I’ve seen.

I don’t know how much (if any) of the music is improvised, but the scripted musical parts are intense and fast with incredible guitar playing that would fit right in with King Crimson.  Oh, and a very healthy splash of Primus.

The music is intense and so very specific, yet it is also quite a lot of fun.  The band apparently often plays ludicrous covers, but for this show it was all originals.  And that was fine.

Their stage setup is delightfully democratic, with the three guitar players up front and Morgan Simpson also up front–drum kit facing the rest of the band (so yes, he is sideways).  I actually had a great view of him from where I was standing (very far to the left), although one of his cymbals was blocking his face for most of the night.

I’ve listened mostly to the new album, so I was happy they played so much from it.  But at the same time, the other songs were just as wild and interesting and I enjoyed the whole show.

I was also surprised by just how popular/crowded this weirdo band is.  I arrived thirty minutes before the opening band went on (usually, that’s front row territory) and the merch line was massive and the room was half full already.

I didn’t want to get too close since I was aware of the massive pits, so I was off to the side, which was fine. I did have to go a little further than I would have liked, but the view was still pretty good.

As soon as the first song came on, the woman in front of me jumped up and down and ran to the pit.  She then crowd surfed and returned a few minutes later.  She did this for most of the songs from the new album.

Welcome to Hell opened the night with some staccato chords and funky drumming.  As the frenetic one/two/three of the chords played on, Greep began his fascinating spoken delivery.  Less than a minute in, the song has shifted gears to an almost heavy metal disco beat.  And then returned to the carnivalesque feel.  Oh and the last minute is pretty much a heavy metal freakout.

With so many twists and turns and moments of silence it seems like the most frustrating mosh pit you could possibly be in.  And yet it didn’t stop any one.

“Speedway” is a quieter song sung by Picton.  It feels more jazzy, although the middle section is built around some seriously atonal chords.

“Sugar/Tzu” is one of the more incredible songs they played.  With some of the fastest, most frenetic guitar and bass playing (the speed and dexterity!) while Greep sang in his slow/deliberate style.  It was two minutes of wild chaos before it settled down to a mellow jazzy middle section.

And that was all in just the first three songs.

The middle of the show–“Still,” “Eat Men Eat” was a lot more mellow.  There were some noisy parts but it was largely a chill portion for everyone to catch their breath, I assume.

“Talking Heads” was more upbeat with some fantastic drumming and segued nicely in the short, maniacal opening of “Near DT, MI.”  The song is quiet for most of the middle and then turns into a screaming punk song. Picton has some incredible volume and intensity as he screams the punkiest parts of these songs.  It’s espcially fascinating seeing him so this in a shirt and tie.

The fast chords of “953” were certainly fun and got the whole crowd moving once again.  Then they jumped to the only two songs from Cavalacade that they played.  The wonderfully fast “John L” with dramatic pauses that kept everyone on their toes.  The middle section was a series of staccato chords played with intensity.  Amazingly, there is a music video for this song in which people dance to this nonsense and it WORKS!

It segues into “Slow” which is slow-er, but still has a manic intensity about it.

They ended with a new(ish) song called Magician that is getting some serious rave reviews from (the very intense) fanbase.  It’s about nine minutes long and starts slowly with some pretty guitars.  It builds in intensity and drama and ends with a speedily sung ending.  It’s a great song and a fantastic set-ender even if it’s not really a mosh pit worthy song.

I’ve never really seen anything like this show.  It’s so hard to describe. There was so much pushing and shoving and yet everyone was having a wonderful time.  People in the pit and around the pit were all smiles.  And amazingly, people knew all of the changes and twists and weirdness in these songs.  I love that young people will put in that much effort to learn complex and weird songs that you can dance to.  But will still dance to them.

SETLIST

1. Welcome to Hell ∇
2. Speedway §
3. Sugar/Tzu ∇
4. Dangerous Liaisons ∇
5. Lumps £
6. Still ∇
7. Eat Men Eat ∇
8. Talking Heads
9. Near DT, MI §
10. 953 §
11. John L ©
12. Slow ©
13. Magician

∇ Hellfire (2022)
© Cavalcade (2021)
§ Schlagenheim (2019)
Talking Heads single (2019)
£ Live Fire