Live music review: black midi brought jazzy, math-rock to LEVITATION

I’m not sure what your exercise routine is, but I try to do enough so that running a couple miles doesn’t wear me down. I feel like I have pretty good musical stamina too. At Mohawk on October 29th, black midi displayed their sky-high musical endurance and tested the audience’s as well at the 2021 verison of LEVITATION Fest.

Opening as “Orange Tree Boys”, or black midi dressed in hats and camo, lead singer/guitarist Geordie Greep employed a surprisingly accurate American accent and led three Steely Dan-inspired tunes, closing with Bruce Springteen’s ‘Born to Run’. The cover tune paid homage to the song by recreating it nearly identical to The Boss. Not sure if that was meant to ironic, satirical or perhaps an inside joke within the group but it’s how black midi “opened” their own show.

A half-hour later, an announcer over the PA introduced black midi like a fighter in a heavyweight boxing matchup. Saxophone player Kaidi Akinnibi and keyboardist Seth Evans carried Greep in their arms like a post-fight Rocky Balboa. Maybe the opening band was meant to be funny because their intro certainly drew smiles.

Seconds into the opening staccato chords of “953” I was thrust towards the stage in an undertow of 20-something dudes trying to mosh to avant-garde jazz. Luckily, this wasn’t my first rodeo, and I managed to secure a safer spot at the front of the stage.

This roller coaster requires a lot of stamina from both the band and the audience. It’s not challenging the audience like a metal show will inundate your ears by hurling abrasive ugly dissonance at you. It’s balls-to-the-wall neo-jazz, as if Black Sabbath and Miles Davis gave birth to the oddest musical baby you’ve ever heard cry.

black midi’s set was split into three parts, with the first showcasing songs from their full-length debut, Schlagenheim, the second trying out new material, and the last act playing material from their most recent release, Cavalcade.

Going to a thrash metal show may be a headbanger’s paradise, but it lacks dynamic range. black midi thrives in creating tension because of the space they let simmer (see “John L”). Their newer songs accentuate the quiet pockets with soft octatonic scales and the noisy crescendos with chords that make you reevaluate the term “loud”. Live, the band can noodle for what seems like a 10-minute intermission from structured songs. They’re then equally likely to veer into a thunderous guitar riff as they are to play ‘Yankee Doodle Dandy’. 

“Dethroned”, showcased the vocal range of Greep, who can straddle the satirical singalongs of Frank Zappa with the fidgety yelps of ‘The Great Cornholio’ from Beavis and Butt-Head. 

For their live performances, saxophone player Kaidi Akinnibi is present in nearly every song. For the night’s highlight in ‘Chondromalacia Patella’, Akinnibi punctuated the main “riff” with a screeching, soaring brass roar, moving up and down along with his notes like a drinking bird toy.

We then sang happy birthday to drummer Morgan Simpson, who couldn’t be any older than the rest of the band in their early 20’s. Even at their young age, black midi are already prog-rock virtuosos. It’s rare to see musicians so sure of themselves at any stage.

I met a couple guys who accidentally stumbled into the pit, thinking they were seeing an entirely different concert. “I’m just here for a good time man!” he told me before the show started. Walking out of the venue after the concert, I saw the two sitting on a bench outside. Before I could ask how the show went, one of the two tilted his chin up and stoically threw a rock-and-roll hand gesture into the air. His stamina may have been depleted, but I’m sure his faith in live music had never been higher.

We found video of the entire show on YouTube:

 

For fans of black midi, check out: Death Grips, Black Country New Road, Shame, Preoccupations, Idles, Battles, CAN

All photos Drew Doggett