The Midnight at Brixton Academy
It’s the release week of Syndicate, The Midnight’s new album, and the band’s only London show is busy. With the set about to begin, the room is already a wall of smoke and has the kind of damp warmth you only feel at a gig. The LA-based synthwave group, fronted by singer-songwriter Tyler Lyle and producer Tim McEwan, are known for their retro-futuristic sound and classic neon-lit imagery. Following the synthwave resurgence around the time of their debut EP Days of Thunder, few acts have managed to stay afloat – let alone fill out the Brixton Academy as they have tonight.
The group meet the chatter of the audience with flashing lights and a deep bass that shakes through the venue’s floor. Starting with the new record’s title track, Lyle’s vocals are impressive, matched by complex guitar work of tour guitarist Royce Whittaker. The first three songs play out with a light show that really captures the Bladerunner essence of their sound. When Shadows comes around, the crowd begins to warm up, especially after a long and entertaining saxophone solo from Justin Klunk.
Though their stage presence is constrained by instruments, the musicians keep the energy vibrant and the room engaged. A mix of curious swayers and fans treating the gig like gospel sing iconic lines in unison, a sea of hands pointing to the stage where Lyle occasionally plays synths.
The show hits its peak when Bonnie McKee and The 1975’s saxophonist John Waugh join the band for Runaways. Bringing the futuristic nostalgia to life, they have the whole venue moving. In what could only be described as a “sax-off”, Waugh and Klunk play a solo together, much to the Brixton Academy’s delight.
Riding out the infectious energy of this number, they continue with older fan favourites. At one point, Klunk once again steals the show by running out into the audience, an effort only really seen from the surrounding group in a space like this.
They close their encore with Sunset, finally joined by McEwan. The producer took a step back from the live gigs last summer, but he seems elated to return to the stage. Thanking the crowd as the synths start, he admits, “I cried multiple times during the show.” An emotive close to a great night, the whole venue buzzes with energy right until the end.
Daisy Grace Greetham
Photos: @stars_in_my_lenz
For further information and future events, visit The Midnight’s website here.
Watch the video for Friction here:
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