The Goth Kids Just Don't Get It

Ross Currie contributed to this piece. Actually, he penned the majority of it.

Being big fans of Fair to Midland’s Fables from a Mayfly album, we walked into Tuesday night’s (yes, we know we’re terribly late with this review) show at the TLA (“Fillmore” be damned) sticking out like sore thumbs with our lack of black clothing and facial piercings (FtM was the sole metal act in a night of goth rock), and with a bit of nervous anticipation. As we noted in our preview, given the intricacies of the band’s music, we were a little concerned that it might not translate very well live. We were right to some extent, but fortunately, by and large, the songs came across as well live as they do on the album. (The one notable exception was, unfortunately, our favorite song from Fables, “April Fools and Eggmen.”)

Before Fair to Midland took the stage, we observed the most glaring evidence possible that they are an up-and-coming band and not an established one: they were their own roadies. Well, that’s not quite accurate. They had roadies. But they were helping the roadies and tuning their own instruments. We’ve got to admit, we kind of enjoy seeing bands tech for themselves on some level.

Because FtM was an opening band (the second of the four bands to perform, the first of which, and the only other band we caught, being Night Kills the Day, who reminded us of what Depeche Mode would have sounded like with Fred Schneider as their vocalist), they played a fairly short, five-song set, which was a little disappointing, because we would have liked to hear more, but also a little relieving, because we were clearly among the oldest 10% of the crowd by a good five years, so we got to leave the TLA by 9:30.

We were a little concerned when the band opened up with “Walls of Jericho” (one of the real standout tracks from Fables), and vocalist Darroh Sudderth barely moved. We like energy in our performers, particularly our frontmen, and we were worried that, despite the level of intensity of Fair to Midland’s music, we wouldn’t see it in the performance. We were wrong. Oh boy, were we wrong. As the band launched into “Kyla Cries Cologne,” just about all hell broke loose on the stage. Seriously, we’re not sure how Sudderth, shirtless guitarist Cliff Cambell, and equally shirtless bassist Jon Dicken don’t kill each other with the way they flail around the stage – our photo pass was completely useless to us, because nobody onstage could remain still long enough for us to snap a photo (ergo the video above). But we loved the band’s energy level while they were playing. We also loved Sudderth’s incredible range, both in singing style (ranging from clear vocals to gutteral screams), and his ability to hit high notes in full voice.

What we didn’t love, however, was the band’s energy level when they weren’t playing. It was clear that most of the people (and by “people” we mean teeny-goths) in the TLA that night had never heard of Fair to Midland, let alone heard their music, and the band's lack of inter-song banter wasn't going to promote name recognition. We at Phillyist want some kind of connection with the performers we go see. For a band that’s trying to build a fanbase, it’s essential to connect with the audience. Talk to us between songs. Tell us who you are, where you’re from, whether you like long walks on the beach. Okay, maybe not that last part, but give us some reason to care about your music when we’ve never heard you before and you need to hook us. If the gentlemen of Fair to Midland really want to get big, they’re going to need to work on making their personalities between songs as outgoing and memorable as their personalities when they play. If Sudderth can give even half of what he does performing to connecting with the audience, the band’s live show would improve exponentially. That being said, it was still pretty damn good.

FYI: Fair to Midland will be the primary support for Chevelle on their tour in the fall, and we look forward to seeing them do more than a 5-song set – and with a more logical musical line-up.