British prog-punks black midi landed at Saturn in Birmingham, AL this week as part of their tour behind their second album Cavalcade. We caught the group at Fork Festival last month and I immediately knew the band was unmissable in the small confines of a club – their multi-genre tenacity combined with the absurdity of vocal delivery and lyrical reflections from frontman Geordie Greep made it happen. makes a niche and can’t- miss the live act.
Their set at Saturn confirmed what we already knew: this band isn’t messing around. After a last minute cancellation of the opening Orange boys‘set (the whole existence of which is very mysterious), the band started with “953” from their debut album schlagenheim. From there it was a tour de force with the individual strengths of each member highlighted and combined to create the strike entity that is black midi. Drummer Morgan Simpson makes you forget any other drummer in the music industry; its ability to alternate between harsh, thunderous beats and lighter, more jazz dishes when the band demands it is unparalleled among any I have ever seen. This group played every show as if it was the last they were going to play, improvisation reigning supreme to the point that the songs stretched out for nearly seven minutes. The band didn’t focus on much of the new album or schlagenheim – instead, the crowd were treated to an almost entirely new set of material that will devastate listeners once it finally comes out. Check out our photo coverage of this insane set below:
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