Midnight Generation Brought Funk, Disco and Serious Musicianship to Empire of the Sun
There are opening sets that ease you into a night, and then there are the ones that make you immediately start wondering when you can see the band again.
Midnight Generation was the latter.
Opening for Empire of the Sun, the Mexico-born band walked onstage looking like they had stepped straight out of another decade, dressed in coordinated retro looks that made the visual side of the set feel just as intentional as the music. But the outfits were only the introduction. Once they started playing, it became pretty clear that this is a band built for the stage.
Their sound lives somewhere between disco, funk, synth-pop and the glossy side of electronic music, but live, everything feels bigger and looser. Bass lines bounce, synths shimmer and the entire set carries the kind of groove that makes standing still feel almost impossible.
Frontman and producer Fernando Mares moved between vocals and a Sequential Prophet-10 synthesizer, at points using a talk box that only pushed the set further into its retro-futurist world. Around him, the rest of the band matched that energy. This was not a show built around one person while everyone else stayed in the background. Every member felt locked in, and watching them play was part of the fun.
That musicianship may be one of Midnight Generation’s biggest strengths. Their songs are immediately accessible, but there is so much happening underneath them. The live arrangements let the individual instruments breathe, giving the funkier elements of their music even more room to take over.
Their latest release, “Norway,” fits naturally into that world. Written while the band was touring at Trevarefest in a small Norwegian fishing village, the song was inspired by the place and an unexpected connection made while they were there. Mares describes it as an impossible-love story built around the hope of someday making it back.
Sonically, “Norway” pulls disco warmth through a modern lens, layering shimmering synths and French Touch influence into something that still sounds unmistakably Midnight Generation. It also arrives as a preview of the band’s forthcoming album, making their current run with Empire of the Sun feel particularly well timed.
“Norway” is not a departure from what Midnight Generation does best. It feels like another piece of a world they have already made completely their own.
And that world translates incredibly well live.
By the end of their opening set, Midnight Generation did not feel like a band simply filling the time before the headliner. They were one of the highlights of the night.
They are fun without feeling gimmicky, technically impressive without turning the show into a demonstration, and stylish without letting the aesthetics do all the work. More than anything, Midnight Generation is the kind of band that reminds you why live music is supposed to be fun.
The kind you discover as an opener and immediately want to see again with a much longer set.
Stream “Norway” and the rest of Midnight Generation’s music now, and keep the band on your radar.
