Midland Caps Big Day With Star-Studded Palomino Show

Any other day, the Lankershim Boulevard landmark is known as La Monge Banquet Hall — the fabled Palomino itself has been closed since 1995. But with the help of Valley Relics Museum, the joint was transformed to its onetime glory — complete with the restored neon Palomino sign and clothier to the country stars Nudie Cohn’s restored 1967 Pontiac Bonneville, resplendent in such after-market additions as shotguns, six shooters and an elaborately engraved leather interior — met concertgoers just outside the door.

But inside, once fans meandered through a popup museum of Palomino memorabilia, mainstream country progressives Midland took center stage. Clearly in a celebratory mood from being tapped to be a part of  announcing Stagecoach 2020’s line-up—where they will have a sunset mainstage slot — they thrilled the on-their-feet crowd with 90 minutes of songs from their brand new Let It Roll and On The Rock.

The fire power was evident with heavy hitters in the audience, too. Rob Light, CAA’s co-head of music, and Rick Roskin, the company’s co-head of North American music, were all smiles hinting separately there is big news on the horizon from the agency. Mingling with Sandbox Entertainment founder Jason Owen, as co-manager/Brnd Mgt’s Matt Graham had to miss for the biryh of this baby, the powers that be were congratulating Big Machine’s SVP of Publicity and Corp. Communications Jake Baden on masterminding this magic from the ghosts of California’s country meccas. 

Garage Country originator Aubrie Sellers was in the VIP, rocking with in-demand music supervisor Frankie Pine and ABC’s EVP of music Dawn Soler. Big Machine Label group A&R SVP Allison Jones had the big dogs out, alongside Big Machine GM Clay Hunnicut, VP of Promotions, Kris Lamb and streaming head Dave Kelly alongside day-to-day manager Leslie Cohea.

  The critical faves drew the media in abundance: “Ellen” producer Drue Madrid, Dick Clark Productions Ben Roy, Variety’s Chris Willman, New York Rocker’s Roy Trakin and Hits’ Simon Glickman were all spotted in the sold-out crowd. Netflix’s Jackie Berkowitz, KKGO PD Michael Levine, UTA’s Steve Cohen and GLAAD’s Anthony Ramos made the former club on North Lankershim the place to be.

That diversity is what set the band apart. Whether appealing to to Outdoor Voices founder TY Hanley, the all-famale Golden Voice team and people who caught all the buzz. A box office staffer told Pollstar that in addition to the sellout, there was a waiting list of at least 100 hoping to get in.

In its glory days as the Grand Ole Opry West, the Palomino had a peak capacity of about 400. With the seating and picnic benches removed, there appeared to be about that many in attendance for a raucous, intimate performance by Midland’s Cam Duddy, Mark Wystrach and Jess Carson, who tore into a two-hour set. Having drunk all the Dos Equis before the double-Grammy nominated double-platinum “Drinkin’ Problem,” the crowd managed to stretch the last few drops of Tito’s until their tension building cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain.”

There may be no smoking allowed inside the second-generation Palomino — which is also rumored to return again with occasional pop-up shows — but by the end of the evening, once again, original music played hot proves there’s more than one way to start a fire. Though no doubt it serves the community in its current from, for one Tuesday night, the spirit of what was reared back and roared.

(Getty Images) –
Grippin’ & Grinnin’: Midland shows off the current Pollstar cover at the Palomino in North Hollywood on Oct. 15. Pictured with the band are Pollstar’s Deborah Speer (R), Oak View Group’s Jon Guynn, Andy Gensler and Kevin Robie, and music writer Holly Gleason, who wrote the Midland cover feature.