Indie shoegaze band Midsummer Motel, took the crowd by surprise when they announced on stage they would perform their debut album Beat the Horse in its entirety at Vinyl on March 7. At that moment, the night went from a rock show to an artistic performance. I was feeling pretty warmed up from the earlier bands, Estimated Principles from Augusta and Nocturne’s Kiss from Atlanta with their thrashing guitars and upbeat rhythms. Midsummer Motel slowed down the night for everyone to truly savor it. The frontman mentioned this was a special performance for them and gave us his takeaway for the whole album towards the beginning saying, “It’s okay to f**k up.” Despite the light turnout, Midsummer Motel was able to maintain the integrity of their live rendition of the debut album’s coming of age story while guiding through each track along the way as vignettes of young adult love and life.
They began the show with the haunting chords and melancholy lyrics of the album’s opener, “Helmoth County Search Party”. The room became much quieter, but I was far from bored and listened intently during this shift in mood. As time went on, people started to sway with the music and become present in the moment. “Turning into Mercury”, a relatable song about fleeting young love, featured a fast beat and ethereal guitar reverb that was totally engrossing.
The sound was consistent until the bassist and drummer exited the stage, stage lights shifting from an icy blue to a soft, amber glow, leaving the frontman to perform a solo acoustic version of “Romantasy”. I listened to this album prior to this concert, and while I enjoyed the hook of this song, it didn’t really stick out as a favorite of mine. This performance changed that. The delicate, finger-picked arpeggios did justice to the studio version, but felt more raw and vulnerable.
After the band returned, they led us to the end of their album creating a vibrant dance floor of head banging and hair swaying with “Heavy Tripp”.The namesake and closing track of the album “Beat the Horse,” finished with a fitting line, “Nothing even hurts anymore.” They ended the night with an encore of one of their first singles “where do all the good people go?” leaving us with a fun, easy going indie beat reminiscent of a movie soundtrack.
Overall, those that showed up were not disappointed with the story of Beat the Horse. A majority of the audience were around the same age as the band members, a perfect demographic match. It is the age where they are entering adulthood full of naivety, making mistakes, getting their heart broken, and learning to be okay with it all while still figuring themselves out. I loved that they were able to play around with Beat the Horse as a concept album, and the slight variations that they did translated well live. I see a lot of growth and potential with Midsummer Motel based on the full performance of their debut album, something I wish more bands did. I, and I’m sure many others in the audience that night, look forward to their future sound and contributions to the Atlanta indie scene.