Gig review: MIDNITE CITY – The Black Heart, Camden, London, 17 June 2023

June 25th, 2023 by andynathan

Touring their freshly released fourth album ‘In at the Deep End’, I was delighted that Midnite City’s schedule included a relatively rare London date at the Black Heart. Perhaps as a result of long running festivals at places like Wigan and Nottingham, the melodic rock scene seems more robust in the rest of the UK than the Capital.

Unfortunately the venue is one of my least favourite. It’s great to have a dedicated rock bar which are shamefully few and far between in London, but in the upstairs music room it is impossible to see much, if not in the front row, and photography invariably involves a sea of heads below the band and poor lighting above. To add to my grumpiness the sound was piercingly loud for both bands.

Star Circus were the support and I have to declare an interest as I’ve known their frontman Dave Winkler since meeting at the same rock clubs at the turn of the century and seen him in numerous bands. On this occasion they were far heavier than the glam or power pop act I somehow imagined them to be, with Dave, who now also takes on lead vocals sharing a double guitar attack with Jon Crampton, which expanded to a triple one when the keyboardist often strapped on a guitar.

I enjoyed songs like ‘Times Get Tough’, ‘Something’ which was almost punky, ‘War Around Your Heart’ and single ‘Bridges’. The penultimate song ‘Save Your Life’ was one of the strongest but reminded me of the early nineties when hard rock hopefuls were going for a more alternative sound, then ‘Before the Song Is Over’, which apparently has been knocking around for 20 years, ended a set which seemed to go down very well, Dave enjoying an easy rapport with the crowd.

Midnite City’s (superb) new album had not officially released at show time, albeit available at the merch desk, yet large parts of the crowd already seems familiar with it. That meant the decision to feature it so heavily it wasn’t quite the gamble it first appeared.

They opened as on record with ‘Ready To Go’, a perfect opener then the more guitar oriented ‘Atomic’, sounding like a cross between Firehouse and Warrant. The new material was concentrated in the early part of the set including two songs that had already been in my head since being sent a review copy in ‘Girls Gone Wild’ and ‘Someday’, while the ballad ‘Hardest Heart To Break’ was very impressive, notably the big backing vocals.

Despite the limitations of the cramped stage, the blonde haired Rob Wylde is the perfect glam frontman, working the crowd and living out the songs. He was rewarded as the atmosphere started to boil to the more familiar hooks of ‘Ghosts Of My Old Friends’, and ‘Summer Of Our Lives’, which I expected to be saved for later in the set, allied to newie ‘Good Time Music’.

On ‘She Don’t Understand Me’ the gang backing vocals were even better and almost of Def Leppard quality. Then a solo guitar slot that Included a snatch of ‘Careless Whisper’ from Miles Meakin- whose long fair hair and ever present grin led to much banter that he was Sam Ryder in disguise- led to a new song, heavy by their standards, in ‘Raise the Dead’, which I sense the rhythm section of Josh ‘Tabbie’ Williams and new drummer Ryan Briggs particularly enjoyed.

‘They Only Come Out At Night’ was another that was irresistibly catchy with its ‘na-na-na’s, while the ballad ‘Heaven’s Falling’ had a touch of Shinedown’s ‘Second Chance’, and- dedicated to some fans who had travelled over- ‘Girls of Tokyo’ was simply too good to have been hidden away as a bonus track on a previous album. They ended with two older songs in ‘Give Me Love’ and ‘We Belong’, the latter enlivened by Shawn Charvette taking his portable keyboard off its stand and joining the others larking about.

Impressively they played an hour and 20 minutes, even though some old favourites like ‘Can’t Wait for the Nights’ were surprisingly dropped. Having twice as many albums as when I last saw them in London in 2019 has given the set a superior and more varied amount of material. Despite the venue limitations, this was a brilliant night confirming they have the songs and presence that belong on a larger stage to justify their self-proclaimed tagline of Europe’s no. 1 hair metal band.

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan

Album review (In At The Deep End, 2023)

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