Acts of Men: A Midlake Review

Ahoy.

Midlake came through town last night, and I was fortunate enough to be present at Turner Hall Ballroom to witness the show. I arrived just before Jason Lytle (of Grandaddy fame) took the stage and positioned myself about 20 feet away from the stage, sitting on the floor cross-legged with the other folks not early enough to snag a cocktail table. I found it ironic that Lytle was opening for Midlake, since Midlake's debut album, Bamnan & Silvercork, was obviously inspired by Grandaddy (to really, really good results - it remains my favorite Midlake album, hands down). 

Jason played some of his solo material and some new songs to polite applause. It was great to see him in his signature mesh trucker's cap (which he started wearing before they were cool, by the way) and to hear his instantly recognizable voice fill the room. He closed with the Grandaddy classic Jed's Other Poem (Beautiful Ground), and while I was hoping for some more songs from that era - he played Levitz when I saw him open for Neko Case in Seattle last year - I had to settle for that and that alone.

Not having seen Midlake since 2007, I was a little shocked to see 7 guys walk out on stage and all pick up instruments, nary a synth to be found. When I first saw them at SXSW in 2006, each of the 4 members (besides the drummer) had either a synth, an organ, or a piano in front of them. To deflect attention from their lack of stage presence, they used to project video clips on to a screen behind them, which I really enjoyed. Over the years, however, they've grown into a full-fledged rock band, and their line-up was now drums / bass / flute(!) / acoustic guitar / electric guitar / electric guitar / electric guitar. 

The set list was pretty evenly split between songs from The Courage of Others and The Trials of Van Occupanther. Hearing songs from tCoO in a live setting really solidified the album's greatness for me. Tracks like The Horn and Rulers, Ruling All Things that sound a bit flat on the album benefited greatly from the triple guitar attack on stage. Acts of Man (perhaps my favorite song of the year) and Fortune were both gorgeous changes of pace.  Even Bring Down was surprising well-presented, considering the lack of a female duet partner. 

As for the Occupanther songs, they played everything you'd expect to hear -  Roscoe, Young Bride, Bandits, etc. They closed with an absolutely insane version of Head Home, which is probably still my favorite track on the album. For a moment during the 4-minute-plus jam-extended outro of the song, I felt like it was 1974 as I stared at a bunch of mustachioed and bearded men on stage, hammering away at their axes, trying to sneak some notes between what was basically a glorified showcase for the drummer's ability to hit a lot of drums in rapid succession. It was a powerful way to end the evening, and I decided to take them up on their suggestion and head home before any attempt for an encore could be made. It's not like they were gonna play anything from Bamnan & Silvercork anyways.