Making their third visit this year back to the UK last week, Texas country band ‘Midland’ performed at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Since their debut in the UK at this year’s Country 2 Country festival, on the arena stage, the band’s popularity among the Brits has grown. While queuing for the show, I met a group of fans whose mission it was to follow the band around their UK tour and to take a picture of the band with a Midland flag, up on stage, at every show. So far, the group of fans have attended eight shows and are planning to follow the band to their next show in Dublin.
The night’s opening act was Desure, just a man and his guitar – Desure used to manage Midland as a band before he decided focus on his own country career. Desure opened his set with a song called ‘Have It Out’; a song dedicated to a lost high school sweetheart (‘this town ain’t small enough for you’). As it was just him and his guitar, Desure’s set felt intimate, I felt like I’m intruding on reading his personal love letters, as he played another song called Kid Rocks.
As a single, ‘Kid Rocks’ is a big band song; full of saxophone, slide guitar, and drums, but, as an acoustic version, stripped back, the song has a more raw emotion and pleading aspect to it. Desure closed his set with his debut single ‘Stranded Son’.
During the anticipation for Midland’s appearance, the crowd united while singing ‘Country Roads’ by John Denver, a crowd pleaser from the pre-show playlist. However, the band cut half-way through the song to sing their version of ‘Country Roads,’ – still no sign of any members yet, just their husky and deep voices; one of the main reasons why so many fans are obsessed with this honky tonk band. Then it almost seemed as if the stage burst with energy as the band went straight into their performance of ‘Check Cashin Country.’ Lead singer, Mark Wystrach, led the way wearing a denim shirt that he’d left unbuttoned into a deep V, tucked into jeans, with a neckerchief, bassist Cameron Dutty, wore a polka dot shirt (which he too had left unbuttoned into a deep V) – all the Bee Gee vibes were there – while lead guitarist Jess Carson wore the ultimate honky-tonk look – a cream cowboy hat (and double denim, of course). Through all the beats and amazing guitar melodies, the crowd really got going, I’m talking full on barn stomping along to ‘Check Cashin Country.’
The band followed their opening song with other hits from their debut album On The Rocks; Burn Out, Electric Rodeo, and Altitude Adjustment (with the stage lights dimmed green) before introducing the song that sums up the band best ‘Gator Boys’. The song is yet to be officially released, but seems to have been travelling in the fan’s circle since the bands’ formation. The song talks of how the band are ‘from the wrong side of the tracks’, and their small town mischief.
Then something amazing happened; Midland announce that they’re going to perform new music from their up and coming (still yet to be announced) second record. Their new song called ‘21st Century Honky Tonk Band’, is full of their usual trademarks, but the song also takes on a more alternative sound. Experimenting with a more funky sound, Dutty nearly set his bass neck on fire. The band continued with this sound with a cover of The Rolling Stones classic ‘Miss You’. The cover not only showcased the band’s amazing harmonies, but also made me wonder what their second album is going to entail; could the band’s second album be straying from their honky tonk sound, and heading towards a more alternative country sound – much like fellow country artist Kacey Musgraves’s Golden?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un_y_rsGO0Y
The band commented about how they were playing in front of a plain background, the backdrop didn’t even have their name up in lights, but this band doesn’t need a backdrop; their music truly speaks for itself and so does their latest single, which they played next – a Jerry Reeves cover, originally released back in 1977. The band had covered the song in their performance at the 52nd annual CMA awards back in November, and released the song to stream on Spotify the very next day.
The band closed their set with their most bopping song ‘Make A Little’ which got everyone (including the fans in the nosebleed seats) up and dancing. However, we all know what song the crowd went to hear, and the band returned for an encore of ‘Drinkin Problem’ and a Happy Birthday for Bassist Dutty (who Wystrach stated ‘has never had a birthday abroad’). The band ended the dynamic night with yet another cover; ‘Wicked Games’ by Chris Isaak. For this performance, Dutty played the drums, and the lights dimmed to blue, while the crowd sung as a third front man. In no way is Midland an act that you can just sit through; not only do you dance and sway to their every word, but you soon find yourself becoming a band member, singing to every word, even if you’re in the nosebleed seats.
