On Mondaynight, the band made their long-awaited return to Milwaukee. Combining a grand procession of electric and acoustic guitars, flute and drumswith singer Tim Smith’s commanding voice, the band strolled from there into aset drawing largely from that album (including “Children of the Woods,”“Rulers, Ruling All Things” and “Acts of Man”) as well as about half of the songsfrom their breakthrough 2006 album, TheTrials of Van Occupanther (“Young Bride,” “Bandits” and “Head Home”).
Midwaythrough the set the band launched into an epic mind-numbing jam that rollickedalong, followed by one of the band’s most popular songs, “Roscoe.” The bandkept the fire burning into their encore, which featured “The Courage of Others”and “Branches.”
The bandpulled out all the stops in breathing even more life into the songs and in theprocess throwing the audience more and more into their world. Everything hithardereven their hardest-rocking song, “The Horn,” which milked a climbingguitar riff. The band exercised their musical muscle, going from double-flute-drivenEnglish folk and sweeping folk-rock songs to epic guitar-driven statements thatmight have made early Fleetwood Mac proud (their organic, flowing songs evokedFleetwood Mac’s Bare Trees).
Theevening’s openers featured a good helping of powerful acoustic andpiano/keyboard-driven songs. John Grant, who recorded with Midlake for hislatest album, The Queen of Denmark,provided the audience with some humorous and revealing songs/stories, includinga song about Sigourney Weaver and a story about a drug dealer. Jason Lytle,known best for his work with Granddaddy, provided a short but sweet setfeaturing a few new songs mixed with older ones, mostly on acoustic guitar.
Photo by CJ Foeckler
