A striking whirlwind of jazz, punk, and progressive-rock ballads, English band black midi brings their unique sound back to the Nashville stage for the first time since late 2019.

Consisting of frontman Geordie Greep (vocals, lead guitar), Cameron Picton (bass, vocals, guitar), and unbeatable drummer Morgan Simpson, black midi plays music that truly can not be successfully compared to another act. Instrumentation that ranges from off-beat high-octane punk to quiet and complex jazz sections and lyrics that combine twisted, divine fantasy with the grounded and personal make for one of the greatest guitar bands of our generation – and they’re just getting started.

They released their debut album, Schlagenheim, in 2019. With the addition of member Matt Kwasniewski-Kelvin, (unfortunately, his only appearance on a black midi project alongside the band’s spin-off record Anthology Vol. 1), the band delivers a screeching post-punk revival record with the force of a mad cat. In 2021, the band released their sophomore record, Cavalcade, leaving nearly every shred of their debut’s sound behind, opting for something with a heavier jazz influence, sometimes reaching ethereal beauty while still embracing the chaos from their previous work. The following year, they released Hellfire, a perfect blend of both albums combining the peace and nightmares of their previous releases without skipping a beat. On top of this, each song has its own crafted story, loosely connected to the other songs, with the final closing track wrapping it all together in a bow.

Don’t get the wrong idea from all of this praise, though. I assure you, the band does not take themselves seriously at all. 

Their sense of humor is as strange as their music and they don’t shy away from it. It’s something you’ll notice in their songs, but it’s prevalent in their live shows as well. They walk on stage after being introduced as world boxing champions, “BLACK ‘HELLFIREEEEEE’ MIDIIIIIIII!” Greep rarely introduces the band members by a correct name, instead introducing each member with titles such as “The Machine,” or a member of Family Guy’s Griffin family. I really could not think of anything more fitting for their music.

Nearly a year after the release of their third album, Hellfire, they embarked on a U.S. + Canada Summer Tour… with zero Canadian dates. Interestingly, however, they were returning to Nashville for the first time in four years. I had missed their performance in Louisville last year shortly after Hellfire’s release, so I figured this was as good of a time as ever to catch a show from one of my favorite bands.

I took my friend Andrew with me, as he hasn’t had the best track record with concerts as of late, being taken to see The Zac Brown Band in Cincinnati, Ohio; an experience best described by him as “forceful” and “against his will.” I had gotten him into black midi a few months before, so I was hoping taking him to their show could rectify his previous live music experiences.

Before heading to the venue, The Basement East, we stopped at Tower Market and Deli in east Nashville for some incredible sandwiches and talked about the upcoming show. Biting into possibly the greatest Cuban sandwich ever constructed, Andrew told me about all of the songs he was dying to hear, with “John L” easily at the top of the list. I wasn’t sure what I wanted them to play that I knew they probably already would, but I was really down for anything.

The line outside of the venue sat patiently and was generally quiet with some light conversational buzzing, and some people detached from the show swiping in line to take a photo with the “I Believe In Nashville” mural. In line, I got to chat with a few people about some music, along with those who saw King Gizzard perform at The Caverns on the same dates I did the week beforehand.

And then I got inside the venue. I swear to you, I have never seen more King Gizzard shirts in my life. I’ve been to three King Gizzard concerts, and somehow a black midi show is the most concentrated group of King Gizzard fans I could explicitly see with my eyes. I’m not too surprised, though. There were a lot of black midi shirts when I saw Gizz in Asheville! I’m starting to think the Venn diagram between black midi fans and King Gizzard fans is a circle.

As I was getting ready to take photos, I watched the crowd slowly pour in through the door. The Basement East isn’t exactly lit well, but it’s lit in a way that I really liked, with slightly dim, hazy neon strips covering pieces of the ceiling, and the merch stand in an area that just felt… mysterious. I felt like there were more than just shirts and records behind that counter. There were spells. There were potions.

The merch guy was really cool, too. I think he was Greep’s guitar tech. Thank you for letting me take your photo!

Around this time, my dad tried to look for a security guard to see where I was and wasn’t allowed to go around the stage with my photo pass, and met with a man wearing a shirt that said “SECURITY,” front and back. The man politely shut my dad down, as he wasn’t a security guard, but rather used to be in a band called Security. Curiously enough, an extremely similar situation happened to my dad last year during a Greenwood High School production of The Spongebob Musical, so we just chalked it up to dumb luck.

The venue’s background music waned to a silence and it was time for the opener, walking swiftly onto the small stage. One figure walking out, however, was the man in the Security shirt. This man was Niko Kapetan, the frontman of black midi’s opening act, Friko.

I had researched absolutely nothing about Friko before the show, and I think that made my experience hearing them even more impactful. Their full set is best described as indie art pop. Their first couple of songs were mostly guitar-driven, while some songs incorporated keyboards or even a miniature string section. Friko shocked most of the audience, including me. Their songs were incredibly moving, from the band’s wide instrumentation, touching lyrics, and Niko’s beautiful vocal range.

A notable stand-out for me was “Holdin’ On People,” which takes advantage of the two-piece string section, forming a sound akin to Isaac Wood-era Black Country, New Road. The music wraps you like a serpent until it’s hiked far enough to pierce your heart. It’s an experience that was more than convincing enough for me to sprint to the merch table to buy a cassette and hand-made patch donning the band’s name. I can’t recommend Friko’s music enough.

Half an hour later, introduced as the mighty heavyweight champions, black midi lands the stage.

The band has gone through a couple of member line-ups for their live performances after the departure of member Matt Kwasniewski-Kelvin, consisting of either the remaining three members or the core three members with the addition of Seth Evans on keyboards and Kaidi Akinnibi on saxophone, forming a unique and abrasive live experience. For recent shows, however, they seem to be meeting in the middle with these two line-ups. Akinnibi is no longer a part of the show with Evans remaining, but with a major role change, now performing primarily on bass guitar while the band’s typical bassist, Cam, is now on secondary electric guitar, perfectly enunciating Geordie Greep’s guitar performance.

As they do with most gigs, they open their set with a ripping version of their debut album’s opener, “953.” The song is as wild and complex as ever, sending the center of the crowd off, spinning like a freshly motorized Beyblade. Quiet and melodic verses are connected by fast and heavy instrumental sections, making “953” a Yin to its own Yang. Just before the song ends, it slows for a quick bluesy passage, only to speed up again before ending abruptly.

Finishing off the trademark opening 3-song stretch, the band continues with “Speedway” and “Welcome To Hell.” “Speedway” is the first song in this gig to have Picton on main vocals, with some lyrics changed to be directed towards Nashville, Tennessee. The song is a bit calmer than “953” and serves as a nice breather before the next song. “Welcome To Hell” was the first single released from Hellfire and it quickly became one of my favorite songs by the band. I had heard live recordings before that I had really enjoyed, but hearing a studio version gave me a new appreciation for the song! I’m pretty sure I listened to the single a little over 30 times the day it was first released, so it was something I was looking forward to. And, for the most part, it did not disappoint. There were extra touches added for the live version, such as all instrumentation screeching to a halt near the beginning of the first verse, and the song was just as fun and funky as I would’ve hoped. However, black midi, (both Greep and Cam), tend to sort of rush a lot of their vocals in songs, leading to them talking more than singing. For the most part, it’s not the worst, just a little disorienting. However, it was starting to become noticeable in this song and would continue for a lot of the songs throughout the setlist.

“Sugar/Tzu” might be even more enjoyable live than on Hellfire. The sprawling, unfolding riffs and epic story throughout the song make this one of the perfect songs for a concert setting, and even more fitting for a Nashville crowd. You know your music is good when the crowd isn’t just yelling along to the lyrics, but the guitar lines as well. The audience could kind of be their own band at that point.

“27 Questions,” (sometimes abbreviated to “27Q”), followed “Sugar/Tzu” with an even more powerful, fantastical story, but with a slightly more lackluster performance. It’s mostly great, the first few sections of the song feel downright evil, depicting the death of washed-up fictional celebrity Freddie Frost on stage, utilizing tritones extremely well, making something really fun, but crushing. The melodic section of the song falls short, however, as Greep starts to cinch up the lyrics and speed up his vocal performance, making something that’s just kind of uncomfortable to listen to. I did really like seeing him use his hands while asking Freddie Frost’s almost 27 questions, and it kind of made the character seem like he was pleading for answers, intentionally or not.

“Dangerous Liaisons” is as great as the album version, depicting a noir-style story of a farmhand turning to human murder for a little extra cash, set to piano bar-esque instrumentation, which is an energy that continues with the following non-album song “Lumps.” It’s really interesting, and something black midi does very well – hopefully it’s something they expand on in the future!

The setlist continues with two more songs led by Cam Picton. Around this time, it was a little noticeable that Geordie and Cam both kind of looked irritated on stage, and I can only imagine it didn’t help with a crowd member heckling Cam before the start of “Still.” It was unfortunate to see, but luckily it didn’t seem to impact either of their performances throughout the night. The band’s rhythm section, Morgan and Seth, still seemed to be having a great time and were full of energy the entire show.

Continuing, Cam’s next two songs were total opposites of each other, but offered great performances. “Still” is probably the smoothest and most touching song of the night, being a powerful ballad about an ex-partner of Cam’s, drawing the slightest folk inspiration throughout. Following that is “Eat Men Eat,” something considerably louder than “Still,” chugging like a train, until it climaxes with Cam screaming the lyrics at the top of his lungs. Probably one of the best songs of the night.

Cam gets a one-song breather with “Dethroned,” as Greep returns to vocals. And return he did, as this is easily his best performance of the night. The whole song he sounds regal, as if he’s trying to impersonate a great king or queen. His vocals along with the impressive and layered instrumentation through the song help “Dethroned” graduate as not just one of the best songs of the show, but a live performance that is considerably better than the studio version on Cavalcade.

Finally, Cameron returns with a final two-song punch, starting with “Slow.” Despite the title, the song is anything but. Quiet at times? Sure. But definitely not slow. Similar to “Sugar/Tzu,” the verses on this song feature sprawling guitar lines, but are far more low-profile, only for the song to momentarily explode near the end of each verse, holding itself as a self-evident explanation as to why it’s a staple in black midi setlists. “Near DT, MI,” on the other hand, is a lot more cut and dry. It’s a punk song about the Flint water crisis, starting as quiet and melodic, then quickly switching to much louder and heavier. It’s quick, to the point, and it’s a fantastic crowd starter.

Near the end of the setlist, we finally reach Andrew Zies’ golden goose: “John L.” I was looking forward to this as well – I had a bit of an infatuation with this song, with every performance seeming to sound totally different, and I had no idea what was in store. And I really, really had no idea what was in store. The song still began as explosive as ever, sending the pit into a spiral. Abrasive, fast, wild, and completely unpredictable. However, once the band reached what would typically be a moment of near silence in the studio version of the song, they went silent and then started noodling with their instruments. And then kept noodling. And then kept noodling. Ultimately, it turned into a quiet jam that lasted for nearly three times the main section of the song that felt aimless and a little boring. Some parts showed real progress in the jam on Seth and Morgan’s behalf, which showed the song start to form a really good groove, but didn’t really go anywhere. It was probably more strange than it was disappointing. However, in an impressive twist of fate, the audience was completely still, silent, and listening to the song, which the band tends to have bad luck with at shows. It was nice to see a little respect from the audience, even though I’m pretty sure most people had no idea what was happening.

Closing out the show was “Magician,” a non-album track, with Seth moving to keys, and Cam moving to bass. This songs title is perfect, because “Magician” is nothing but spellbinding. Described by Seth as, “the best song I’ve had the blessing to play on stage,” “Magician” has powerful, yet touching lyrics that are downright philosophical, grouped with stunning instrumentation, and one of Greep’s best vocal performances. Not just that, but the guitar line in this song is not just one of the prettiest I’ve ever heard from black midi, but probably one of the prettiest guitar lines I’ve heard in general. This is more than a fitting closer to the band’s performance, and I can’t wait to see them put this on an album some day.

In a roar of applause, the band walks off stage, while Greep stays on stage, continuously introducing each member as “The Machine.” He then introduces “The Power Of Suggestion” on guitar. As the crowd gets quiet, Greep pulls a dry-erase marker out of his pocket, twisting it to squeak like the depths of a forest and its critters. As a member of the crowd heckles his marker-based performance, Greep responds with a “YEAHHHHHHHH!” at the top of his lungs, and promptly exits the stage. I’m convinced this could only happen at a black midi show.

Thank you so, so, so much to Pitch Perfect PR for helping me experience this! I had a great time!