Chef’s hats, sailor’s hornpipes and temperature checks – Black Midi’s bizarro double gig Hackney Church blowout in pictures

South London weirdrock crew celebrate new album ‘Calvalcade’ with equally strange return to live arena

Pictures by Holly Whitaker…

Black Midi marked the release of their widely acclaimed second album Cavalcade with two sold out socially distanced shows at Hackney Church at the weekend, with results every bit as weird and wonderful as the album itsel.f.

The South London band played two shows – one at 5:45pm and a ‘late’ one at 8:30pm, with audience members checked for temperature as well as tickets on the door. Rather than a support band, the crowd was treated to a recital on the church’s impressive organ, and when the band did take to the stage they were all dressed as chefs. As for their opening tune , they picked the cinematic theme from ’20th Century Fox’, also adding a traditional sailor’s hornpipe half way towards the end for good measure.

The set was made up of tracks from Cavalcade and their first album Schlagenheim , closing with Ascending Forth, the new album’s closing track.

The full set list was as follows:

20th Century Fox

Hogwash

Chrondro

Welcome to hell

John L

Chefs

Amaranta

Dethroned

Fusion

Marlene

Sailors hornpipe

Slow

Ascending Forth

The band will return for a massive European tour in the Autumn in support of Cavalcade…

Tour Dates::

31/08/21 – 01/09/21 – Bristol Trinity Centre

02/09/21 Manchester O2 Ritz Manchester

03/09/21 London Wide Awake Festival

05/09/21 Birmingham The Mill

06/09/21 Glasgow QMU

09/11/21 Dublin Vicar St.

11/11/21 London Alexandra Palace Theatre

14/11/21 Bath Komedia

15/11/21 Cambridge Junction

16/11/21 Sheffield Corporation

17/11/21 Newcastle Wylarm Brewery

21/11/21 – 23/11/21 Leeds Brudenell Social Club

24/11/21 Brighton CHALK Live

25/11/21 Portsmouth New Theatre Royal

27/11/21 Paris Cabaret Sauvage

28/11/21 Rennes UBU

30/11/21 Brussels Botanique Orangerie

01/12/21 Hamburg Kampnagel

03/12/21 Oslo John Dee

04/12/21 Stockholm Slaktkyrkan

05/12/21Gothenburg Musikens Hus

06/12/21 Copenhagen Lille VEGA

08/12/21 Berlin Festsaal Kreuzberg

10/12/21 – 11/12/21 Amsterdam Paradiso Noord

12/12/21 Cologne Gebäude 9

14/12/21 Milan Magnolia

15/12/21 Zurich Mascotte

16/12/21 Lyon Les Subsistances

17/12/21 Lille Aeronef