I arrived just as opener Injury Reserve began their set on April 19th at the UC Theater. The crowd already seemed promising with both pit and balcony getting filled by people intently watching the duo composed of Ritche with a T and Parker Corey. 

Injury Reserve was the perfect opener, with their eclectic sound warming up the venue for what was to come. The duo performed songs from their latest LP, By The Time I Get to Phoenix (2021), opening with “Superman That.” The duo stood face to face with a chaotic light show filling the stage. The flashing coincided with the sounds that at times were erratic and dissonant. The energy for the night was set as soon as Rapper Ritchie with a T opened with incredible flow and stage presence, unfazed by the chaos onstage. Moshing was rare, which I found surprising, but by the end I realized most of the audience was just engaged with the music that offered an experimental and abstract take on rap. “Knees” closed out the set and it was certainly the crowd’s favorite; noise flooded the venue and the crowd- who was already watching intently- was put under a trance. Noise bode farewell to the performers and audience and before then we began to wait for Black Midi to take the stage.

 People kept flooding into the venue. It seemed like the groups stepping into the pit were never ending, but all found home in the crowd that was a surprising mix of all age groups, from middle schoolers to old couples. British post-punk certainly appeals to all, as this is the type of crowd I have grown accustomed to spotting whenever I see bands of this genre. The diverse crowd listened to jazz before the set. The excitement was clear and felt throughout the entire venue; we all grew a little bit impatient.

Then a voice greets us. Black Midi are introduced by a voice fit for boxing matches. The voice was animated and did its job inciting the crowd with even more excitement. There is no other way to describe the presence of Black Midi than ‘charming’. This boxing announcement led to an impromptu performance of “Last Resort” by Papa Roach, which killed the audience and set even higher expectations for the band. Band members Geordie Greep, Morgan Simpson, Seth Evans, Cameron Picton and Kaidi Akinnibi continued jamming to “Last Resort” until vocalist and guitarist Geordi Greep blew his boxing match whistle into the first song, “953.”

The song is upbeat, with instruments clashing into each other in a hyper melodic way, all members somehow keeping up with each other. Drummer Morgan Simpson stood out, hitting every note and complementing each of the members. I am a huge appreciator of the mosh pit and I can confidently say that 99.9% of the pit was moshing. The energy was contagious enough to get some head bangs from the balcony crowds. The band’s stage presence was out of this world; it was unlike anything I had personally experienced (and I have gone to many, many concerts). The band all seemed happy to be performing and this was infectious. I was excited to see what the lads from London had in store for us. 

This peak in energy saw us into the next few songs “Speedway,” “Welcome to Hell,” and “Dethroned” (which opened with a Fleetwood Mac snippet of “The Chain”). The band performed many songs that were unreleased, which was a nice surprise. Though unreleased, this did not stop the crowd from continuously moshing and jumping up and down for the band. 

There were things constantly happening in the set, with a recurring bit involving saxophonist Kaidi Akinnibi and bassist/vocalist Cameron Picton. This bit was silly as the two constantly tried to court each other and played off each other’s dynamics. This caused me and several others in the crowd to chuckle out loud. Eventually Cameron Picton took his turn at vocals with the slower stuff, “Chondromalacia Patella,” “Near DT, MI.” “Near DT, MI” was a high point in the show, with every member once again showcasing their sheer mastery of each and every one (or two) of their respective instruments.

“John L” was another moment in the band’s set, and it did particularly well in showcasing Kaisi Akinnibis’ saxophone playing. Akinnibi kept high energy as he played and ran around the stage. It was impressive and filled the audience with awe. The tunes (and bits) kept coming at the crowd at godspeed till we hit The Police cover, “Message in a Bottle.” The cover showcased the band’s incredible versatility and left me awestruck. Geordie Greep and the rest of his band members leapt around the stage and looked like they were genuinely having fun. 

Another silly bit came towards the end of the show with Geordie Greep telling the audience to “give us money” while the stage was illuminated by a bright green light. People actually threw money onto the stage. The band and the audience found this all amusing, and this fed into the energy that was already so high. 

“Slow” and “bmbmbm” closed the night out. The bass was so loud and the instruments were-once again- so melodic I couldn’t think of anything other than “this is awesome”.  After “Slow,” Greep introduced the audience to all of the band members, paying special attention to Seth Evans asking the audience to cheer for him and then yelling to Evans “They’re singing for you bitch!”

The band’s set came to the inevitable end with upbeat “bmbmbm” hyping up both the audience and band members at comparable levels. To close, the members stood hand in hand and bowed to a standing ovation. The faces on each of the members was priceless. All were unbelievably happy to be there and we could all see that. 

As I walked home from the UC Theater I couldn’t help but to smile to myself and want to run around. It was an amazing show, one of the best I had ever seen. Even if experimental, math, progressive, and noise rock isn’t your thing, Black Midi is a band you should certainly experience if you have the chance.

Article by Sabrina Herrera

Photos by Itzel Diaz

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