Black midi at the old fruitmarket
By Cosi Lovegrove-Leak
Black Midi walks out onto the stage of The Old Fruitmarket in Glasgow, and is introduced as if they are boxers entering the ring. As they begin to play, personas begin to appear: the vaudevillian frontman Geordie Greep, doing samba steps between his epic vocals. The drummer, Morgan Simpson, is full of energy, sticking his tongue out as he’s introduced. The stoic bassist, Cameron Picton, stands in the shadows of the back of the stage, unmoving except for his fingers on the strings of his guitar, and the keys, Seth Evans, a chill dude.
Black Midi is named for a genre based on maximalism. This maximalism is reflected in their music. Their most recent album, Hellfire, is an amalgamation of different styles, ranging from jazz, to prog, to punk, to latin with stories throughout. “Sugar/Tzu” tells the story of a member of the audience at a boxing match, murdering one of the boxers. “Eat Men Eat” recounts a story of a captain of a ship who slowly poisons his crew members. The album is well worth a listen, but I was unsure how their music would translate to a live performance. So, the fact that the performance was not only impressive but enrapturing is a testament not only to their musical abilities, but also their stage presence.
They are clear performers, especially Greep, whose commanding vocals mesmerized a rowdy crowd. For an unreleased song, “The Magician,” I was entranced as he sang to a former lover, directing vitriol towards this person not only with the lyrics, but with his entire being. In these moments, I wasn’t even sure there was an audience. Everyone was so quiet, as if singing over Greep would be sacrosanct, or at least a waste of his performance. Despite Greep’s dominance, all four men on stage contributed to the ambiance. Simpson was hitting the kit with such passion he seemed like he was transcending. His playing was so tight that Picton had to concentrate very hard to keep up with him. And when Picton had his turn on vocals all eyes were on him.
The band’s high energy music foreshadowed a fast paced concert that may have resulted in their music having less impact on the audience, however, the show was well paced, allowing for moments of moshing broken up with moments of serenity. They understood that there was a balance when it came to pacing and that was a big part of the ambiance.
The first hour deviated little from the setlist except for slight improvisations on the way songs were recorded. Towards the last third however, the performance became more abstract jamming, including a multiple-minute aside where the keys and guitar communicated back and forth. I watched them experiment with their music in awe as the band members improved as they saw fit. It was as though we, the audience, were given a glimpse into the process of the making of their art.
The feeling I had while walking back out onto the street was that to the band there was no audience. They didn’t reference that they were playing to anyone other than maybe a minor change of the lyrics in “Speedway” to reference Glasgow. I say this to mean that this show was about their performance, and when it was over I felt that I had just gotten the chance to witness some extremely talented musicians doing what they do best.