My favorite synthwave band, The Midnight, is currently on their second European tour of 2019. I went to see them again in Oslo.
When The Midnight visited Oslo back in February, they held a helluva show. Together with the saxophone player the band had brought with them on tour, Tyler Lyle and Tim McEwan immediately enthralled the audience.
Earlier this week, The Midnight returned to Oslo. Everything was bigger this time. The venue was bigger, the tour bus was bigger, and the lights were brighter. Tyler and Tim were joined on stage by two other musicians; a guitarist and a saxophone/backup synth player.
This time, the gig got off to a slow start, and the quartet on stage used about two thirds of the show to get the audience really going. Tyler seemed somewhat unmotivated, to be honest, and didn't quite hit the vocals in the same way as he did back in February.
The Midnight has a lot of slow, downbeat songs, in particular from their most recent album, Kids. For whatever reason, Tyler and Tim decided to start the concert with two downbeat songs, which might not have been the best choice.
But The Midnight also has some floor fillers in their back catalogue. Songs like Gloria, Vampires, Days of Thunder, and America 2 all got the crowd jumping and singing along, and the enthusiasm eventually spread to Tyler on stage as well.
About half way through, Tim performed a magnificent solo cover of The Police' Don't Stand So Close To Me. It featured some of the greatest synth sounds of the night. The band also performed a bran new song, which was a nice surprise. The song, Monsters, was a blast, and I hope what we heard is material from an upcoming album.
Despite the slow start, I enjoyed myself. But compared to the first concert, this second visit to the Norwegian capital was a sub-par performance.
But of course I will go see The Midnight the next time they visit.
