Pitchfork

Photos by Zach Vowell

Residents of Denton, fresh from their tour kick-off in Houston, Midlake stopped in Austin Friday night and found a sold-out crowd waiting for them. They easily could've played a rousing "Roscoe" and then dialed in the rest of the set under cover of cozy songs-- but no! To meet the demand, singer Tim Smith ratcheted up his drowsy earnestness just so and the band followed suit with (mostly) material from Midlake's latest, The Trials of Van Occupanther, not so much serrating the album's soft-rock edges as filling them in with slightly more urgency and pluck.

Opener "We Gathered in Spring" quickly introduced the infectious throwback stylings of keyboardist Eric Nichelson (who could probably sweep all Garth Hudson look-alike contests). On the flipside of the stage Eric Pulido played guitar and keys-- with that creepy panther mask from Van Occupanther's album cover perched atop Pulido's keyboard stand, glaring over the crowd.

Smith was very clear about the mask being a panther, not a bear. Pulido claimed kids in Montreal and Houston had swiped the panther's papier-mâché nose, then threatened the Austin front row with his watchful gaze. Of course, both threats and clarifications were completely in jest, a quality that seemed to have similarly leavened much of Midlake's folksy preoccupations for the better. Midlake continue their U.S. tour through March, then hop overseas in April.











Midlake:

02-28 Phoenix, AZ - Rhythm Room
03-01 San Diego, CA - Casbah
03-03 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
03-04 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill (Noise Pop)
03-06 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
03-07 Seattle, WA - Crocodile Cafe
03-09 Salt Lake City, UT - Club Sound
03-10 Denver, CO - Hi-Dive
03-17 Austin, TX - Buffalo Billiards (SXSW)
04-08 Liverpool, England - Academy 2 *
04-09 Glasgow, Scotland - Oran Mor *
04-10 Sheffield, England - Plug *
04-11 London, England - Shepherds Bush Empire *
04-12 Brighton, England - Concorde 2 *
04-13 Oxford, England - Zodiac
04-14 Rotterdam, the Netherlands - Motel Mozaique
04-16 Lyons, France - Le Ninkasi
04-17 Zürich, Switzerland - Abart
04-18 Milan, Italy - Rainbow
04-19 Clermont-Ferrand, France - Cooperative
04-20 Paris, France - Trabendo
04-21 Brussels, Belgium - Botanique
04-23 Malmö, Sweden - KB
04-24 Gothenburg, Sweden - Pusterviksbaren
04-25 Stavanger, Norway - Folken
04-26 Bergen, Norway - Hulen (Bergenfest)
04-27 Oslo, Norway - John Dee
04-28 Aarhus, Denmark - Voxhall

* with Robert Gomez