Mimi Barks @Bear Cave, Bournemouth - 09/09/26
The depths of Bournemouth's Bear Cave were the perfect setting for Mimi Bark's tour opening night. A place that is intimate enough where you can actually see the artist, feel the lyrics, and take in the performance without being lost in a sea of people and blinding flashing lights. This actually lets you soak in a performance. Be with the room and not let the show tell you how to feel through pyrotechnics.
Mimi Barks doesn’t need all that. She certainly knows to make good use of those things through her music videos and album art work. But her presence alone onstage feels powerful enough.
Her latest EP. Dreamstate Of Fear is a seven-track release shaped by multiple genres rooted in doom trap. Effortlessly cool and not afraid to dive into multiple genres all while confronting deep themes, this is an album everyone should be listening to. I try not to be that person who compares sounds to other musicians but as a big fan of Bring Me The Horizon it was kind of hard not to see those hypnotising chaotic elements heard in albums like post-human survival horror. Yet Mimi has a sound distinctly her own.
Starting with the dreamy hellscape that is “Dreamstate of Hell” and a song I was particularly looking forward to hearing live. Mimi immediately showed the range that to me makes her stand out. Going from those soft, almost angelic vocals to deep growls within a split second. It felt like the angel on your right shoulder and the devil on your left. The track itself is something you can’t help but think how it wouldn’t be out of place in the past modern remakes Nightmare of Elm Street.
The Bear Cave’s atmosphere suited the music perfectly. As the lights dimmed, it brought a dark aura echoed in tracks like “Power durch Verrat", while the red glow of lights from the bar made it feel like a theatrical performance. At the end of the day the music is what matters most. Mimi is one where hers just reverberates through the whole room, making you have no choice but to soak in her music and messages.
Those songs that are fractured and emotionally volatile within a world where things blur between real and hellish. Her newer releases feel darker, heavier and more intimate than anything she has released before. Tracks such as “Ophelia” live make you feel seen. Backed by her band, Mimi brought each track to life while making use of the space well. With no barrier separating the audience from the stage, it felt more personal.
One of the moments that stood out was watching Mimi be amongst the crowd. Not in a chaotic mosh pit way. But simply going out to connect and involve the fans who came to see her. Making direct eye contact with those filming, getting up close to those up front headbanging away. Those interactions seemed to give her fuel.
As she mentioned, she had injured her leg and was strapped up in a leg brace, so it was down to everyone else to go extra crazy for her. In a short time Mimi Barks has made leaps and bounds to carve out a space for herself within the music world that sometimes relies too much on a stage spectacle to get to the root message of their music. Instead, she uses vulnerability, human connection and the universal language of music to connect. Mimi Barks is not an artist that needs a big stage to tell you how to feel.
Instead, she gives the emotion and the space and allows you to find comfort in it. And that without a doubt is why she is an artist everyone needs to be keeping an eye on.
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