| Midlake: Leadmill Sheffield |
 Once again it was one of those all too rare gigs when you’d be hard pushed to decide whether the support or the headliners made more of an impression. The Leadmill was full, but not rammed, which was a good thing, considering how hot the night was. I’m sure most of the audience were new to the name of John Grant, but a few might just remembered he was once the lead singer with the Czars, themselves former label-mates of Midlake
on the oh-so-wonderful Bella Union label; one of the few I can think of which still have an ‘identity’ and cohesion between the acts they sign. It was a master class in slow-burn, anthemic songs, superbly played and sung, and when John himself added some weird and wonderful keyboard sounds, the songs moved to another level. His deep, resonating singing voice was spine-tingling in the perfect setting of the Leadmill, and the superb sound mix made his every lyric clear. There were folks open-mouthed in amazement at what they were witnessing. Every song earned a greater level of applause as they neared the end of their all too short support set. It reached heights you would not expect from a support act, most effectively on the song ‘Where do dreams go to die?. His debut solo album has been made with Midlake, and they’ve made it their mission to make sure this amazing voice is heard once again. The Czars were always undervalued so it’s to be hoped things change for him soon.Photos: Simon Moss Now, rewind three days and you would have found Midlake headlining Glastonbury’s Park stage on the Saturday night, so a brief stop-over in Sheffield before they fly home is a real treat. The last time I saw them, their album, ‘Van Occupanther’ was on permanent repeat on my iPod, but I’ll admit their follow up ‘The Courage of Others’ has not had me similarly obsessed, so I was interested to see how this show went. They were, if anything, even hairier than before, and have now also grown to a 7-piece band. How often can it be you’ve ever seen a 2 flute/4guitar jam in the middle of a song? It was clear they were intent on trying to recreate the richly layered sound which is their trademark. The songs themselves came from a mix of the two albums, and it didn’t really change my view that there was something particularly magical about their previous release that they had somehow failed to capture on the latest collection. However, banish all negative thoughts, as this was more than compensated for by the fantastic atmosphere they created with their superb playing and sheer intent on us all having a good time. As they moved to the end of their set, the inevitable ‘Head home’ led us to consider doing just that, but not before they thanked us for a memorable night, and the drummer took out his camera to take our photos, in a gesture which had everyone cheering even louder. A great night, from two of the USA’s greatest talents. Words: Mark Perkins |
