A much anticipated show from The Middle East saw a full crowd in The Sugar Club on Saturday night. Perhaps, having seen them twice before and one of those times being particularly memorable, I had overhyped the gig in my mind so I was a bit disappointed in truth. Jim agrees as did others who had seen them before. I just hope they can write more songs of the calibre of ‘Blood’ and ‘The Darkest Side’ for their first album.
The above video is in two parts: the first song (I think it was a cover?) is performed with support act Halves, the second the mightiest song in their catalogue, ‘Blood’. Download ‘Blood’ and ‘The Darkest Side’.
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005 . He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Cara Magazine, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, founder of Lumo Club, club promoter, event curator and producer of gigs, listening parties & events in Dublin.
Blood and The Darkest side did stand out, but I quite enjoyed some of the other stuff too, particularly any tracks they brought the banjo out for. I like the way they can shift from an almost bluegrass style to the likes of Blood. The “token war song” they did with Halves was great too, but there were a couple – including the encore track – that did little for me. I hadn’t seen them before so I can’t compare, but I thought they it was a fairly good show. I thought Halves were pretty good too – must check out more of their stuff.
A good show, not as amazing as I hoped..
The sound was my biggest issue. Sound man/lights man if you read this:
You ruined the gig for most.
That snare was ripping my ear apart at the start of the set, his voice was completely lost in a muddy wall of noise and that light clicking above the crowd really ruined some of the quieter songs for me and most the people around me.
Halves were good but their visuals was far more interesting than their music. Excellent visuals and maybe the highlight of the night for me. New album should be interesting considering who their producer was.
Shame really. Was hoping they’d put on a good show. Looking forward to catching them at Oxegen. Something a little different from what’s on offer there!
Btw – The Middle East have actually released a full length debut. it’s called “the Recording of the Middle East” and was released in Australia in 2008. The band split up afterward and reformed last year after American blogs picked up on the record. It has been rereleased in a shortened EP form though the full length record is available if you look hard enough. “Blood” and “The Darkest Side” do stand out mind you.
That war song is an original, no covering.