Midlake – Le National – Thursday, May 21st, 2010
John Grant, who has collaborated in the past with both Midlake and none other than the Flaming Lips, was up first. He set the mood for a laid-back, relaxing evening with his romantic and velvety voice. He rolled through a short 30 minute set, playing a good chunk of songs from his recently released debut, Queen of Denmark. John Grant’s performance had a sense of honesty and sincerity although perhaps a little more energy on his part would have been appreciated. But in the end, along with the dim lighting, it all went to further ease everyone into the mellow mood that pervaded throughout the room.
Next to take the stage was Jason Lytle who you may know better from his work with Grandaddy. With nothing more than his synthesizer, guitar and sweet trucker hat he began his quest to woo the Montreal crowd. Similar to his singing style, Jason Lytle’s voice when addressing the crowd was quiet, humble and reserved – just barely louder than a whisper. He played a new song that, although apparently will not be finished for another 3 months, sounded pretty darn good. Rather than use a laptop for samples and background drum and bass, Jason Lytle went old school and pulled out his discman. His performance kept up with the mellow, laid back atmosphere that began with Grant’s performance, and set the tone perfectly for what was to come.
After an almost too-mellow opening, Midlake took the stage and woke up the crowd from its near slumber. They opened up with an extended and somewhat hidden intro to “Winter Dies”, from the new album and numerous fans immediately recognized the chords and identified the song. Next up was “Children of the Grounds” and I began to worry that they would be sticking to the new material, which would be understandable considering how much they much they must have played the old . Thankfully the band gave us older fans a treat and played a handful of songs from The Trials of Van Occupanther; among them “Bandits”, “Young Bride”, “Head Home” and the ever popular “Roscoe”.
Although on record bassist Paul Alexander’s lines are noticeably interesting, they really shone through on stage. Tim Smith’s vocals were dead-on, and even more lovely than I had expected. However not all of the credit can go to Smith, as he was backed up on vocals for nearly the entire show by the charming Eric Pulido, who played guitar. “The Horn” had a much heavier feel live, with an added intensity. Often when bands perform live, they stick to what they know and play the album through as it was recorded, however Midlake did not follow that path. There were numerous extended introductions and solos scattered throughout the set which really added something special to the show. In the end, while the audience stayed pretty subdued throughout the set, I think it’s safe to say new and old fans alike were thoroughly satisfied by these talented Texans; I know I was. – Amelia Robitaille
Midlake
Jason Lytle
John Grant
Photography by Amelia Robitaille
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