26 May 4 – 10, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Goooooal! On the cusp of Midlake’s new live album, Ted Lasso gives them a shoutout. BY DANNY GALLAGHER T The past few weeks turned out to be the kind that bands and their publicists dream about when they’re slugging it out on the road or compiling lists of music journalists’ emails. Midlake, a folk-rock group from Denton, released its first live double album, Live at Roundhouse, on Saturday for National Re- cord Store Day. They performed a special set on its release date at Good Records in Dallas. Just in time for that performance, the group got a shoutout from a hit TV show. On mid-April episode of Ted Lasso, when the AFC Richmond team spent a night trying to let off some steam in Amsterdam, one of the band’s shirts showed up in a crucial moment during the episode. “Right when it released, we started get- ting all types of messages,” says guitarist and singer Eric Pulido. “It’s nice to see so many folks coming out of the woodwork who were fans. We were humbled and excited.” The live album recorded at Roundhouse in London is one whole show of the band’s new and classic tunes from the end of a U.K. tour last year. The band planned to put to- gether some tracks from various gigs, but the final show in London hit all the high notes in the right places. “It was the biggest audience, and the venue was just beautiful at the Roundhouse, which is a historic spot to play right by Cam- den,” Pulido says. “Just having fans who have become friends over the years and the folks we worked with, it was just really neat. It’s palpable when you’re over there.” Midlake has been traveling between the U.S. and the U.K. for the last 20 years. The group’s first trip abroad in 2003 brought them to England for a record deal, and they started to build a second audience of fans in- cluding some notable names like comedian Ricky Gervais. “When we played there, we were open- ing for other bands,” Pulido says. “So it was a great way to introduce our music to an audi- ence, but we would also hub out of London and go play shows in and around the U.K. and come back to London because our label had a flat we could stay at or a hostel.” Apparently, actor James Lance, who plays journalist Trent Crimm (formerly of The Independent), is a fan as well. Pulido says they spotted him at a show in England, and he stopped by to greet the guys and buy a tour shirt. “He bought a shirt at the show and we met him afterwards because a lot of times, we’ll go out and greet folks and sign auto- graphs,” Pulido says. “Sure enough, he bought a shirt, and we didn’t put two and two together. We said, ‘Man, that guy looks familiar.’ He took about 10 steps away and we said, ‘That’s Trent Crimm!’” Pulido says Lance called the group as they were shooting the episode, titled “Sun- flowers,” to ask if he could wear the shirt in one of its pivotal scenes in which the unusu- ally objective Crimm finally lets himself open up to the camera. We won’t go into de- tails beyond that because as Coach Lasso taught us, “Doing the right thing is never the wrong thing.” “He contacted us about the show and kind of kept in contact and sure enough, he said he wore the shirt and if they kept it in, it would be a really powerful moment,” Pulido says. “It has a connotation that Trent Crimm is a fan of Midlake.” As if the week isn’t already great enough, now they get to come back to their other home turf and celebrate their successes with the fans who helped launch them to their global status. “We’re excited to release this because it’s a celebration of all these years,” Pulido says. “We love being home and back at our local record store putting out an album on Record Store Day. It’s good to have that bridge be- tween our home and our second home in London.” ▼ MARIJUANA DO YOU WANNA ... GET HIGH? NORTH TEXAS ROCK GODS THE TOADIES ARE BACK AND THEY’RE BRINGING EDIBLES WITH THEM. BY KELLY DEARMORE N orth Texas rock titans the Toadies have been doing their thing for over 30 years. More specifically, in the past decade or so, their thing has been re- cording righteous hard rock albums and playing legendarily ferocious live shows. To celebrate 4/20, the Toadies lent their name and vibe to a new line of edibles. I Come from the Watermelon is a new watermelon- and prickly pear-flavored 10 mg delta 9/10 mg THC gummy produced by Texas High Country. Made in Texas, the gummies are also vegan-friendly and are naturally derived from hemp without any synthetic additives. In a press release for the timely offering, Texas High Country founder Andrew Clark- son said he and many from the company are longtime fans of the band, so reaching out to the Vaden Lewis-led outfit to propose a col- lab was “a no brainer.” It’s likely that the company was aware of just how willing the Toadies have been to venture out into non-musical realms to con- nect with their fans in the marketplace. Since the 2014 release of Rubberneck Red, a crushable Toadies-themed brew from Fort Worth’s Martin House Brewing, the band has remained active in attaching its name to things that look cool on a merch table and taste pretty great too. Along with a few more Martin House beers, including the must-try Bockslider, the past several years have also seen the band branch out into java with the release of Toadies Texas Pecan Coffee in 2018 and Dark Secret in 2021, roasted by Dallas’ Full City Rooster. Band bassist Doni Blair, who doesn’t drink alcohol, helped drive the highly caffeinated offerings with local cof- fee guru Michael Wyatt. The Toadies also introduced a line of graphic novels in 2021. Based on some of the band’s songs, including fan favorite “Tyler” and deep cuts “Jigsaw Girl” and “Queen of Scars,” the books are written by Lewis and illustrated by noted artist Lee Davis. Beer, coffee and comics are all things that can be enjoyed after dropping the needle on a record. Certainly the same can be said for the new tart and tangy gummies. Comic enthusiast and band drummer Mark Reznicek is “really excited about this collaboration with Texas High Coun- try,” he said in an email to the Observer. “We like to team up with other indepen- dent Texas-based companies in exploring ways of reaching people besides the regu- lar followers of our music, but still in the realm of our fans’ interests, so this seemed like a natural.” And to be clear, new Toadies music isn’t far away. Not only will the group re-release their first-ever single, “Dig a Hole/I Hope You Die Today,” but the songs will now be available on a colored 12-inch vinyl record. And soon, the group will head to the studio to record a new album with famed producer Steve Albini (Nirvana, Pixies) that will likely be released in 2024. The new I Come from the Watermelon edibles are available to purchase for people over 21. They come in an engraved Toadies collector’s case and are also available as a part of a special-edition bundle with a T- shirt. Barbara FG Midlake, formed in Denton, has fans all over the world. Even on TV shows. Andrew Sherman The Toadies continue to release more than just music. | B-SIDES | ▼ Music
