We gathered in spring
Wednesday night Midlake played the Crocodile Cafe in Seattle, which to be frank, was one of the best things I’ve experienced in recent days. I met up with Bill, Robbyn, and Tony for a drink beforehand, then walked down to get in line. Surprisingly, the show seemed to have sold out. I say this because not only is Midlake still relatively unknown, but the doors were at 9PM, which meant they wouldn’t be getting on stage until after 11. (For that being a school night, that could be pretty late for a lot of people.) Above the door is posted a sign “Capacity 381″ and given how difficult it was to walk around after the second opening act finished their set, I’d say they were at capacity.
Before heading in to the stage area I wandered up to the merch table where the Midlake keyboardist Eric sold me a shirt and poster, which he obliged to sign for me. (We quickly ran this out to Tony’s car so it wouldn’t get damaged.)
The first opening act I didn’t even catch the name of, but that’s okay because they were pretty dull. The second was apparently friends of Midlake’s from way back who went by the name of Ester Drang. Their sound was mostly instrumental, sort of a cross between Explosions in the Sky and Stars of Track and Field, but more psychedelic. It was very pleasant to listen to in any case. Just before Ester Drang came on we made our way to the front of the crowd near the stage so we’d be in position for the main event. It was lucky we did this when we did as the crowd began to press in towards the front shortly thereafter.
The first thing I noticed about Midlake when they got on stage was how horribly crowded they were up there with five musicians and loads of equipment. It’s a good thing they don’t tend to move around a lot when they perform because there just wasn’t enough room. Based on the reaction of the crowd there, I’m guessing that’s the last time they’ll ever play a venue that small in Seattle.
Midlake opened with “We Gathered in Spring” which was a nice lead-in. It isn’t one of their best-known songs but is a good mix between the sort of futuristic keyboard-laden sound of their first full-length album Bamnan and Slivercork and their newer ’70s progressive/folk style of The Trials of Van Occupanther. They had a projector set up which Ester Drang also used during their set, but it malfunctioned near the beginning of their second song, so they turned it off, telling the crowd “You’re here to see us anyway, right?”
I was quite pleased to be standing so close to the action, which meant I was able to get a lot of great photos and videos and be able to watch their actions quite closely. They brought out the Van Occupanther mask and set it out right in front of me, so I was able to see that it was not made of papier mache like I’d thought, but black duct tape. Heh. A few of the musicians traded places during a couple of the songs, so I was able to observe different people and even interact with them. At one point the guitarist Eric (not to be confused with the keyboardist Eric) sat down at the keyboard in front of me and posed for a photo when he saw I had a camera. He was quite charismatic and sort of hammed it up for the audience, many of whom seemed to actually be friends from their hometown of Denton, Texas. It surprised me that they’d travel so far to see them perform in Seattle.
I was pretty impressed with the mix of music they chose, as it was a good balance between their current stuff, which most people are familiar with, and their older stuff, which I actually prefer (but which is a bit odder and less accessible.) During the intro to one of their Bamnan tunes, Tim, the lead singer, said “This is the stuff that *didn’t* get us to Seattle.” This is a true enough statement I suppose, but it’s a bit sad that they had to change their style to appeal to a wider audience. They managed to play all of my favorite tunes including “Balloon Maker,” “Young Bride,” “Some of Them Are Superstitious,” and of course, the ever-popular “Roscoe,” which is the song our cat is named after (and easily my favorite song of 2006.)
I noticed a lot of people complaining about the heat in the place as they had it going full blast even with so many people packed in, and with how small a venue that is I can see how it would have been really uncomfortable for some. I’m sure I would have been quite disappointed to be standing anywhere but right in front since I was so keen on seeing them in person, not just to be in the same room as them while they’re playing, which I’m sure is how it seemed to the people near the back. But hey, it was only $8 anyway, so I really can’t find anything to complain about! After all, I have no reservations in calling Midlake my favorite new band, so seeing them live for that price is just ludicrously awesome to me.
