Los Angeles-based synthwave band The Midnight brought the second leg of their Time Machines Tour to Nevermore Hall in Baltimore on Oct. 5. They released their sixth studio album, Syndicate, in October 2025. On this tour, they also celebrated the 10th anniversary of their debut album, Endless Summer.
Tyler Lyle and Tim McEwan are the two permanent members of the band. Touring members include Justin Klunk on saxophone, Oliver McEwan on bass, Rhett Shull on guitar, and James Small on drums. Tim McEwan has stepped back from touring in recent years but remains the band’s primary producer. Bonnie McKee opened the Baltimore show.
I was somehow unaware that the Bonnie McKee performing was THE singer-songwriter Bonnie McKee. She’s spent much of her career as a successful songwriter. Her debut album, Trouble, came out in 2004, but her label dropped her, leading her into songwriting for other artists.
In 2013, she returned with the single “American Girl,” which I remember hearing all over the radio and loving. McKee parted ways with her label yet again, and her subsequent album release was canceled. She garnered a cult following and began releasing music independently in 2015. The shelved 2013 album, Hot City, was re-recorded (Bonnie’s Version, if you will) and released independently in 2024, much to fans’ delight. Her neon, ’80s aesthetic made her a perfect pairing with The Midnight.
“Bombastic” was a highlight of her set — its title speaks for itself. It has a cheerleader-like chantiness that makes it a fun live performance. McKee performed a medley of hit songs she’d written over the years, including “California Gurls” and “Teenage Dream” by Katy Perry, and “Dynamite” by Taio Cruz. She closed her set with “American Girl,” the classic early 2010s pop track that fit seamlessly alongside her other pop hits.
Watch the official music video for “Bombastic” by Bonnie McKee on YouTube:
The Midnight opened with a blend of the Syndicate tracks “Sanctuary” and “Love Is an Ocean.” Both are dreamy synthwave songs accompanied by plenty of strobe lights. “Friction,” also from Syndicate, feels like it should be straight out of an ’80s movie. “Gloria” is one of their earliest releases, appearing on the 2014 Days of Thunder EP. It’s complete with saxophone and synth solos.
Lyle described Nevermore Hall as tall and cavernous, noting how familiar it felt. When he walked in, he instantly recognized it as Rams Head Live, despite being told they’d never played there before. The venue became Nevermore Hall in 2025, so Lyle was both right and wrong: They’d played Rams Head Live, but never as Nevermore Hall.
Lyle introduced the Time Machines Tour in support of Syndicate, explaining how it was equally important to celebrate 10 years of Endless Summer because it “gave us the jobs that you see here today.”
“River of Darkness,” from Nocturnal (2017), is danceable and electric, with Klunk coming in on saxophone. Several people in the audience had inflatable saxophones that they waved in the air every time Klunk played.
Lyle recounted that while finishing Endless Summer, he was supposed to be mixing but instead created a loop that eventually became “The Comeback Kid.” At the time, he was in his late 20s and recently married. As he put it, “nothing was going wrong in my life.”
Over the following decade, however, the song took on a different meaning. Lyle spoke about raising a small child on a musician’s salary, going through COVID together as a family, and his wife’s battle with blood cancer.
“This song has changed,” he said. “I love this song now in a way I didn’t when it first arrived.”
The crowd cheered, and Lyle asked audience members to raise a hand if they were going through an especially difficult time. He encouraged everyone to look around and recognize how many other people were struggling, too, emphasizing how normal those hard times are.
As the song began, he concluded, “This song is called ‘The Comeback Kid’ and this one’s for you. We see you, we know you, we are you, we love you so much. All you’ve got to do is keep going.”
The inflatable saxophones went up, and “The Comeback Kid” was in full swing.
Watch the official music video for “The Comeback Kid” by The Midnight on YouTube:
Bonnie McKee returned to the stage to perform her featured part on the Syndicate track “Runaways.” She didn’t quite hit some of the slippery high notes, but her presence added a liveliness that heightened the performance.
The song faded into “Jason,” from Endless Summer, which started out sounding like a-ha’s “Take On Me” mixed with Michael Sembello’s “Maniac” — likely a direct homage to the quintessential ’80s synthpop sound. The recording features Nikki Flores, but McKee filled in flawlessly.
“Jason” is about a character chasing the next big high of the night, but I think it’s funny to imagine it’s about Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th franchise.
Lyle later recalled meeting Tim McEwan in 2012 and releasing Days of Thunder in 2014, just before learning that he and his wife would be moving from Los Angeles to New York.
They wrote “Los Angeles” about the magical city where they fell in love. Lyle remembered standing on Sunset Boulevard, perhaps a couple of cocktails deep, watching helicopters cross the moon and thinking about what a special place it was.
But the song, he explained, isn’t just about LA. It’s about that feeling that the right combination of time and place can reveal an invisible world layered over our own. Live music, he suggested, can offer a glimpse of that world.
He referenced the sociological concept of “collective effervescence” and challenged the audience to see whether they could rise a couple of inches off the ground together.
As far as collective effervescence goes, I think seeing a crowd with “hands raised like a gospel choir” singing along to “let us live forever tonight” definitely counts.
Next came the band’s medley of songs dubbed “River of Forgetfulness,” continuing the theme of Greek mythology. Klunk started with the saxophone part from “Endless Summer” as spherical lights rotated behind him.
Lyle and Shull faced each other on dueling synthesizers, blending “Lonely City” (2016), “Kick Drums and Red Wine” (2014), “Crystalline” (2017), “Synthetic” (2016), and “Crockett’s Revenge” (2016) into an elaborate club remix.
Watch the official music video for “Crockett’s Revenge” by The Midnight on YouTube:
The medley seamlessly transitioned into the instrumental Syndicate track “First Night in Paris,” featuring prog-metal artist Carpenter Brut. This portion of the set is one of my favorites. I love how it turns into a darkwave house rave.
“Vampires” was another highlight, with Justin Klunk stealing the show on saxophone. Lyle’s vocals were light and airy during the verses, while what would otherwise be the chorus was completely overtaken by the sax — in the best way possible.
During the second verse, Klunk disappeared from the stage and reappeared walking through the crowd. He was greeted with inflatable saxophones and plenty of cheering fans.
I couldn’t quite see him from where I was standing, but I had an even better “Vampires” experience earlier this year. On the first of two nights at the 9:30 Club in April, I was up on the balcony when Klunk came over and played directly next to my friend and me. It doesn’t get more special than that.
The Midnight closed their regular set with the glorious “Days of Thunder.” It’s a great singalong that emphasizes all the best parts of the band: synths, guitar riffs, saxophone, and the feeling of driving a fast car in an ’80s movie.
They returned with “Summer’s Ending Soon,” the final track from Syndicate. It was a fitting choice, given that although it was technically fall, the Maryland weather could still have passed for late summer.
The wistful track, about moving on and the passage of time, perfectly aligns with the band’s motto, the Japanese phrase *mono no aware*. As The Midnight explain on their official YouTube page, the phrase describes the bittersweet beauty of watching time pass and the awareness that moments eventually become memories.
Their finale, “Sunset,” began with brain-tingling synths as Lyle announced, “Alright, we’ve got one more song tonight. This is for the runaways, you know who you are.”
Rhett Shull launched into an earworm of a guitar solo, followed by Klunk ripping through the same melody on saxophone. Bassist Oliver McEwan counted, “1, 2. 1, 2, 3, 4,” prompting the crowd to start jumping along.
There’s something special about chanting “We’re moving on, we’re moving on, we’re moving on” right before the triumphant chorus of “Sunset.”
Lyle frequently pointed his microphone toward fans at the barricade, encouraging them to belt out the lyrics as he jumped around the stage. Bonnie McKee returned for the finale, marking her last night on the tour.
“Let’s see how much energy you got,” Lyle said before counting down to the final chorus.
While it’s hard to jump with cameras strapped to me, I managed something closer to a calf raise. I still had a blast participating in the collective effervescence.
What a blessing to have seen The Midnight twice in one year. May their touring continue to be as prolific as it was this year!
Here are some photos of The Midnight performing live at Nevermore Hall on Oct. 5, 2026. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Carolin Harvey.
Here are some photos of Bonnie McKee performing live at Nevermore Hall on Oct. 5, 2026. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Carolin Harvey.
