Midlake

The biting February cold gives way to a toasty main room at a very sold-out Brudenell Social Club as Midlake return to one of the UK’s most hallowed stages. The natives of Denton, Texas are a folk rock cornerstone currently taking their latest album, A Bridge To Far, around Europe and it’s easy to see how they’ve made it this far in spite of line-up changes and gaps between records that would kill off most other bands.

They kick things off with a jam-heavy ‘Bethel Woods’ from their fifth album of almost the same name, before lead singer Eric Pulido introduces a band that really needs no introduction to a Wednesday night crowd. The audience quickly stands, captivated to the point of being almost too polite, as he points out on more than one occasion. 

The early hush is broken by a band clearly at the top of their game, living up to Pulido’s promise of showcasing their back catalogue. From the lush three-part harmonies of ‘Children of the Grounds’ of 2007’s The Courage of Others to the hypnotic three-part guitars on ‘Young Bride’ from their breakthrough The Trial of Van Occupanther, they’re tight and on every note.

There’s time for an always deserved thank you to the venue’s Pieminister menu and the Brudenell team, as well as a tongue-in-cheek plea for free Gibson guitars that’s quickly retracted. But only after a hard hitting run through of ‘The Ghouls’, the evening’s first taste of that new LP, and a flute-rich odyssey on ‘Acts of Man’ led by the multi-instrumental talents of Jesse Chandler.

Half-way through the set brings the first real high watermark, however. ‘Antiphon’ is the title track of their first album after original lead singer Tim Smith left the band, yet it manages that rare feat to stand as possibly their finest work amidst such upheaval. Tonight, it’s transcendent, the almost-haunting harmonies led by Pulido carry us into a jam led by the effortless Joey McLellan on guitar and underpinned by McKenzie Smith’s relentless drums.

‘We Gathered in Spring’ follows to slow it back down a touch before they launch into a pair of newbies, ‘A Bridge To Far’ and ‘The Calling’. They sandwich the epic ‘Feast of Carrion’, which sets the scene for the evening’s crescendo. A raucous, bellowing rendition of ‘Roscoe’, possibly their most famous and lauded song, causes the crowd’s earlier politeness to fade away, while the hypnotic refrain of ‘Days Gone By’, ‘‘...with the sun, and the moon, and the skies’’, leads into a frenetic, solo-led version of ‘Head Home’.

There’s time yet before we all have to do so, thankfully. There’s time for one last reminder as to why Midlake are still a must-watch after more than two decades in the business. ‘The Old and the Young’ of that majestic Antiphon record closes the night out, its ethereal choruses not lasting nearly long enough for this observer, but that’s the only complaint anyone could really have as they rush back out into that frigid February night.