Review and Photos – Middle Kids at the Fox Cabaret, Vancouver, Jun 19 2024
On Wednesday night, Australian band Middle Kids performed for a sold out crowd at The Fox Cabaret in Vancouver. The place filled up early, as excited fans arrived to watch opener Gordi perform her set, before the main act graced the stage.
Middle Kids, formed in 2016, has a back catalogue full of catchy, fun indie rock tunes that you could tell the crowd was excited to hear. That’s why it was unfortunate when the band began to perform, and was quickly plagued by technical sound issues. In no way was Middle Kids at fault for the poor sound quality—when you could hear them properly, and the mixing sounded at its best, the caliber of performance and musical talent of lead singer Hannah Joy, drummer Harry Day, and bassist Tim Fitz shone through.
If the band noticed the audio troubles or not, they didn’t show it to the audience, maintaining a lighthearted and cheeky attitude throughout the show, even as audio clipping plagued some of lead singer Hannah Joy’s vocal performances. Drummer Harry Day had great banter with the audience, praising the Canadian border guards for not checking the back of their van: “We brought in 30 illegals!” Things did get better around the 4th or 5th song as the sound problems somewhat improved.
It was clear that the crowd was excited to groove and sing along to the performance, however the energy was lower than one would normally hope for at a concert. Luckily, as the audio got better and they ventured into their more well-known songs, the atmosphere did improve, and you could tell that people were getting more and more into it. This was especially the case with “Edge of Town,” the song which best displays Joy’s vocal talent and got the most enthusiastic response from the audience.
Though audio problems that were clearly outside the control of the band made this a less than ideal experience, seeing Middle Kids under these circumstances made me want to listen to them even more. Listening to their recorded tracks, it’s clear this band has incredible potential, and it would be a treat to see them again, albeit in a different venue.
More Middle Kids at the Fox Cabaret photos:
Contributors
Hannah Madden-Krasnick
Hannah is a writer and software developer based in Vancouver, BC. You can find her at a cafe, knitting a friend a sweater, and around town training for her next triathlon—except on Wednesdays, when she'll be dutifully watching Survivor. If you see her on her phone in public, she's probably reading a book, as she considers for the dozenth time if she should buy a Kobo. The next time you see her at a concert, let her know your thoughts on eReaders, and she'll show her gratitude by sharing her glitter with you.
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