Mix N Match At Midway

North By North anchors a Tuesday night affair at Midway Cafe on Tueday, 30 May 2023.

Wild Velvet, The Under, and On Regret make the final cut on the four-stack bill.

Booking live music is a wild ride.

Be happy that someone else is handling the grunt work to set up the shows you love. It’s a lot of work; endless emails, some phonecalls, and a stream of texts in a pinball vortex between the artists, the promoters, and the venues.

The fronter for Miss Bones once remarked at their release party show for Grey Lady that spreadsheet skills play a bigger role in rock n roll than you might expect. It’s funny because it’s true.

And even with all the planning, the lineup you projected a month ago might look completely different today. Let’s take a look at at least three different versions of Tuesday’s show at Midway Cafe.

Version #1: Sly Fang // Trash Rabbit // North By North // Pinklids

Hump Day News posts its Listings way far out. Farther out than is really responsible, but we like to have something to look forward to (and always warn readers to check the venue’s website for the latest). This lineup was on the books early, probably in April. We’ve written up Trash Rabbit before but never seen them live. Curious about the other acts.

Version #2: Louzy // North By North // Wild Velvet

This was the lineup posted at the Midway Cafe website. It’s pretty close to the final version. It looks like North By North is the anchor band for the bill. Sure, the Chicago rockers could fall through too. But they’re the band that’s on tour and is super motivated to make its dates. You can craft a bill around that motivation, filling in the remaining slots with local acts that can play the night.

Version #3: On Regret // The Under // North By North // Wild Velvet

The final version that appeared on stage on Tuesday night at Midway Cafe. Louzy is a no show, and two new bands are swapped in. Wild Velvet is still opening. North By North take that second or third spot on the bill reserved for touring acts that have been on the road all day and don’t want to close a late night show.

It’s a lot of swapping in and out. For every different version of the lineup that we see (not to mention the ones we never see) there’s a fogbank of emails, phone calls, and texts that surround the people setting it up. Again, be happy that someone else is doing it and you can just sit back and crack a beer and enjoy.

Wild Velvet

Credit Wild Velvet for posting a promo flyer for Version #3 of Tuesday’s bill on their socials. The South Shore band gets points for quick turnaround – extra points if they did their own graphic design.

Wild Velvet performed as a five-piece, mixing in a saxophone with a more conventional rock n roll quartet to diversify the sounds in a set of covers and originals.

North By North

The anchor band of the evening North By North brought heavy shades of White Stripes with their two-person attack. Mix in a little minimalist Pixies as well.

The Chicago band is on what sounds like a Forever Tour. During the set the guitarist quoted “150 to 200” shows last year. Later by the merch table the drummer quoted “200 to 250.” Whatever the number, it’s a lot. But the band said it was their full time job, so you might expect high numbers.

Given the dire state of the music economy for small- and medium-sized acts, it’s hard to believe music is anyone’s full time job except for an exalted few. North By North had its shit together though, from the stage to the merch table. So if anyone can do it, it’s going to be a two-person band with low overhead and plenty of couches to sleep on.

Shout out to the song “My Friends Will Hurt Your Friends,” which the band glossed as just “another day in Chicago.” What part of town are you hanging out in and who are you hanging out with? The hub of the Midwest is not that aggro. Crack a Hamm’s and relax!

The Under

The Under delivered your classic power rock trio jackhammer of a set. The lead guitarist flashed some shredder tendencies. You almost thought he might steer the whole ship into heavy metal seas. But the rhythm section was more drawn to the medium tempo, a stop-and-smell-the-roses pace, instead of the hyper, high wire insanity of speed thrash.

On Regret

On Regret brought its own booster club. And why not?

The four-piece adult contemporary screamo wranglers catered to the well-oiled audience with showmen’s aplomb. There was love in the air on Tuesday night. Oh Lord. Arms a-waving and hips a-swaying.

If this was the late 80s the club would have pulled out their lighters for the slow jam. It’s all the glow of smartphones in 2023, which is a downgrade, but at least you can take a vid to memorialize the occasion.

Can’t do that with a Zippo.