Mild High Club Concert REVIEW
Mild High Club. Photo Michael Eidelson.
Walking towards Casa Del Popolo, light rain falls on the chilly evening of Mild High Club’s sold out show. They’re on the road in support of their latest record Skiptracing which was released through Stone Throw Records back in August. Plenty of people are outside smoking, huddled together avoiding the drizzle of the rain. Walking into the bar, every seat is taken by people enjoying their freedom for the weekend. Friday night is a good time for everyone in attendance. The second opening act, Alex Calder, was finishing up soundcheck in what was an already a humid room. They started to perform and got everyone in the groove for what was to come from the headliner.
The band played songs from their older material and tested the waters with some newer tracks they’ve been working on. A few issues with the sound began to slow down the performance. After a few minutes of tweaking the levels on the soundboard, the technician was able to fix the problem and the band kept playing their set as originally planned. It’s evident that people were having a great time after a long week. Laughing, hugging and cheering could be seen through the crowd in the cramped space of Casa. After half an hour Alex Calder ends their set and everyone roars with a humbling cheer. The sweaty room quickly dissipates as nearly everyone heads outside to light up another smoke.
Roughly twenty minutes pass by and people started to head back into the venue. Mild High Club are on stage setting up their instruments and making sure the microphones pick up their voices. The lead vocalist starts talking to the audience as the rest of the band members tweak any last adjustments.
“We drove all the way from Los Angeles to Montréal for the show and couldn’t be anymore pleased with having a sold out show to perform at. Thank you all so fucking much for showing up tonight!” Says Alex Brettin, the founding member of the soft rock band. His gesture for the turnout of the audience came off sincere and honest, they look like they’ve been traveling for an absurd amount of time and one can tell it took a lot out of them.
They performed an array of tracks from their newly released album Skiptracing and also dug back into their debut LP Timeline. The band played well together and engaged with the audience after finishing each track. Alex, at one point, had to yell at the technician at the back of the room to turn the lights down due to the amount of heat they gave off. Within half an hour into the performance it became disgustingly moist in the venue, especially towards the front where it was condensed with people.
My one gripe with their music is that each song sounds way too similar to one another, I wasn’t sure what song was being played because it sounded like the one before. Regardless, the band still performed a fun show and even though their music blended together, it was still well executed on the live stage. Twangy guitars overtop of ethereal feeling synths accompanied by some of the most precise drum playing I’ve heard in weeks.
After an hour of material, the band concluded their night in Montréal with an encore. Alex Calder accompanied Mild High Club on stage for their absolute last song of the night. The night ended in cheers and everyone, including the bands that played, spent the rest of their time drinking and hanging out in the crowded bar of Casa Del Popolo. It was a great way for everyone to start their weekend on and take a break from the work week that consumes our lives for most of the year.
