Malcolm Middleton - Night & Day - 06/04/08 by Chris Horricks

Never has the weather and the demeanour of an artist been so closely matched, on a grey Manchester day with an odd hint of warmth Scottish misery singer song writer Malcolm Middleton played an intimate set to a select band of adoring fans. The mood of the evening was set with his opening utterance to the audience ‘It’s about to get a lot more indifferent’ fortunately this was to be proved entirely inaccurate.

Despite the Night and Day being comparatively smaller than its close neighbours at the Academy the atmosphere generated within its walls was one that would put bigger settings to shame. There was a certain sense of togetherness and almost community spirit between strangers who had been brought together by witnessing a maestro at work.

Middleton’s lyrical content makes Morrissey seem like Mika, however the charm and wit displayed in the gaps between songs makes the previous weather comparison complete. In his own way he is life in a nutshell, in that the only certainty is death (as expertly noticed in ‘We’re All Gonna Die’, the song that could and should have been a festive number one) but as there is nothing anyone can do about it there’s no point in worrying about it which is perhaps why the often upbeat musical backdrop seems appropriate and works in a yin and yang way.

Middleton’s on stage performance isn’t a song a dance routine but it doesn’t have to be as all eyes were on him and Jenny Reid, who provided backing vocals. The biggest contributing factor to this is respect, which he’s gained from self-awareness and honesty as demonstrated by describing fan favourite ‘Blue Plastic Bags’ as “a song about nothing”, during which he noticed a fan in the crowd who was mouthing the words back at him which prompted him to remark ‘this guy knows my words better than me’

New song ‘Travelling Socks’ which Malcolm said would be important in the near future was faster paced than his usual offerings, could this be the start of a transformation akin to that of Bob Dylan going electric. This led to him making a comment which confirmed that he knows he’s a mainly miserable man “imagine if Id come hear smiling, you’d have told you’re friends, ‘I saw Malcolm Middleton, he was happy, its wasn’t a patch on when he’s depressed’ can’t have that now can we?” another subtle hint that he’s changing is his refusal to slag off Newton Faulkner despite onlookers trying in vane it coax him into it.At the end of a marathon gig that would put a lot of other acts to shame the audience left exhausted but happy having witnessed a night to remember.