When I was a teenager, Weezer came to my hometown. They were supporting Pinkerton, an album that I loved dearly and would continue to love dearly all the way through the writing of this review. On that night in Knoxville, TN, they played a healthy balance of Blue/Pinkerton songs, and we danced and sang and jumped up and down in unison- all the things you do when a band you like is killing it in the 90′s. And now, too, I suppose. Anyhow, Weezer closed with “Surfwax USA” and it was perfect and we all felt great and relaxed as they left the stage. THEN No Doubt played.
Last night, Midlake visited Knoxville’s beautiful old theater, the Bijou. After a charming opening set by Minneapolis bluesy-twosy Peter Wolf Crier (which actually featured some pretty compelling vocal looping) a giant picture was lowered behind the instruments. It was the druid-as-hell cover of the new Midlake album, The Courage of Others, featuring a trippy mirrored image of a few of the cloaked Jesuses of the band. Shortly after, Midlake took the stage, looking awesome and period-specific to their 70′s soaked songcraft. They were beardy, they were stoic, and underspoken. They launched into a very well balanced set of new selections and favorites from their previous album, The Trials of Van Occupanther, with a few long, jammy intros to the hits….which only worked (and they really worked) because this band LOOKS like they’d be all jam.
Read the rest of the review and check out more photos by Jeff McClain after the jump… (Read the article)
