photo by Caroline Garo
THE Murder Capital played their biggest Glasgow show to date at the QMU and leave fans desperate for more.
It’s September 2018 and the low ceilings of The Priory quake in the Dublin outfit’s presence at Tenement Trail. Five months later in February 2019, 125 people with their finger on the pulse of new music witness them at The Poetry Club. Two more shows at Nice n Sleazy’s and King Tut’s later, The Murder Capital cement themselves as one the most captivating live acts of the post-punk revival.
(VLURE) photo by Caroline Garo
Due to ill-health, the hotly tipped Egyptian Blue were unable to play, and while competition has no place in music, their unfortunate loss was undoubtedly Vlure’s gain. At the last minute they stepped in to more than salvage the vacant support slot. Their industrial flavoured post-punk performance has to be witnessed to be believed. Every song hit like a tonne of steel and mortar. Frontman Hamish Hutcheson and guitarist Connor Goldie acquainted themselves with the audience with frequent forays into the crowd, striking fear and bemusement in equal measure. Late last year they released a live session at Axion Art Centre but with no music released on streaming platforms as yet, they further tantalised their growing following with a stunning display.
While post-punk is increasingly in-vogue, this was by no means a run-of-the-mill show. Departing from the norm and harking back to perhaps a more quaint form of support, The Murder Capital have brought Dublin poet Craig Doyle, who performs under the name Unorthodox Coolock. In a thick Dublin drawl, the steadily growing crowd was regaled with stories of life in Dublin’s housing schemes. Delivered with humour, cynicism, optimism and all in a slam-meets-hip-hop style, it was impossible not to hang on every accent saturated word.
The Murder Capital entered the stage to a flurry of strobe lights and, following an onslaught of feedback, burst into More Is Less. The initial aggression that announced their arrival soon gave way, however, to the tenderness and vulnerability that sets The Murder Capital apart from their contemporaries. As easily as they inspired movement, they soon had us all fixed to the spot as On Twisted Ground unfolded. The song is a tribute to a friend the band lost to suicide, and endures as the most poignant and moving moment of the evening. The Murder Capital’s supreme artistry is in their breadth of ability – they cover all bases in their genre and beyond. Their set is textured and engaging, and as soon as they evoke one feeling, they pull another from you. They ended their set with Feeling Fades, the first song released prior to the release of their debut album When I Have Fears. Their set ended as it began – with hundreds of flailing limbs and euphoria.
The trajectory of The Murder Capital seems similar to that of contemporaries Fontaines D.C and Idles. With every show they move more and more people, physically and emotionally. As More Is Less goes: “If I gave you what you wanted you’d never be full.” The more you see of The Murder Capital, the more you want.
