Aussie/American pop rockers Midnight Til Morning made a long-awaited visit to Arizona on Saturday for the penultimate stop on their second North American headlining tour. Their devoted fans- affectionately known as Midnighters- packed the house at Crescent Ballroom to catch the group perform songs from their debut EP and celebrate another successful series of shows in the States.
Starting things off was Harvey Brittain, a British singer who found fame online with his video cover series. His opening slot was a chance to showcase some original material and the fans who got there early were more than happy to encourage his performance. He spent the set interacting with the crowd, encouraging them to light up the room with their phone flashlights and sing along whenever possible. One bold fan even gifted him a tasseled cowboy hat, which Brittain wore with pride until the end of his short but excellent set.
The buzz around Midnight Til Morning’s arrival to the stage built to a feverish pitch as the fans began chanting and cheering to welcome Shane Appell, Zach Newbould, Conor Smith and Mason Watts to Arizona. The quartet emerged from the fog right into “Ghost of Us”, one of the band’s most popular tracks. The audience was frenzied in its adoration for the group, singing loudly to each song and capturing every moment on the wall of phones pointed at the stage.
While MTM is still a very new band, each member has their own experience with music and they all looked comfortable and at ease performing together in Crescent’s intimate space. Their four-part harmonies were flawless from top to bottom, stealing the show as the guys moved seamlessly through the space- all while making each fan feel serenaded throughout the set.
MTM was formed on a Netflix series called Building the Band and after the show ended, they made the decision to carry on as a group, relying on each other’s talent and natural chemistry to propel them to the next level. That sentiment has clearly resonated with their fans, many of whom traveled to Phoenix for this date of the tour (as evidenced by the plethora of signs in the crowd). They also referenced mentor Liam Payne- who passed away in 2024- as they covered “Midnight” in his honor. The middle of the set found the guys seated for a soaring acoustic section that included another cover- this time it was Wheatus’ “Teenage Dirtbag” alongside Hoobastank’s “The Reason”.
The Afterglow EP had every shining moment, however, with “Navy Eyes” and “Edge of Amazing” resonating as fan favorites. With one final cover of Olivia Rodrigo’s “Driver’s License”, the band concluded their set before returning to say a proper farewell with “Bye”. MTM has certainly begun the stages of building a community that goes beyond the Netflix hype and finds the four members genuinely connecting with a fanbase eager to latch on to the music they’re creating. The guys stayed onstage after the final notes, high fiving fans, accepting trinkets, strengthening the bonds between artist and audience and reassuring the lovestruck crowd that this is only the beginning for Midnight Til Morning.
