The Murder Capital / Rescue Rooms / Nottingham
The next big thing…..?
Based in Manchester England, the Dublin quarter The Murder Capital took to the stage at the Rescue Rooms on Monday night to a sell out crowd. Oft described as the ‘next big thing to come out of Manchester’ is some claim to have to live up…. For a city known for such iconic and influential bands as Joy Division, the Stone Roses, the Verve, and the Smiths that’s a tag that many bands would not want to have.
The Murder Capital are a band with intelligence, not just in their song writing and musical craft which is excellent by the way, but in how they structure a live show for maximum effect. The show highlighted songs from their excellent 2019 album ‘When I Have Fears’ and first half of the show was intense but in a kind of slow burning soft kind of way, the latter part building the momentum building towards an explosion of music, noise and emotion by the final song. They cleverly built up the pressure, the anticipation….. then BANG !
Opening the set with the frantic ‘More is Less’ with its high energy style, it didn’t take long for singer James McGovern to leap into the crowd with the mic. Retaking the stage, he declared that now we know each other. The pace slowed slightly as they dove headlong into ‘Green and Blue’ with lyrical delivery and guitar work reminiscent of Robert Smith and the Cure. Up next was ‘Slowdance’ I and II which starts slow and builds and build into a Muse-like grand finale filling the room with beautiful sounds.
Before starting ‘On Twisted Ground’ McGovern addressed the crowd to explain the song was about a close friend who had committed suicide and asked the crowd to look out for each other and reach out if in need of help. A simple, but incredibly beautiful song, simple guitar and vocals, McGovern sings with a feeling that hits you hard, right in the heart. The crowd were silent throughout and loved it, a touching and heartfelt personal moment of connection.
Mid way through the show ‘On Twisted Ground’ was the quiet, thoughtful interlude, positioned perfectly to grip the crowds attention ready for the set to explode towards its finale.
The tempo now began to increase as we ran through the excellent ‘Love Love Love’ and headfirst into the tempest that is ‘For Everything’ with it’s barked out vocals and pounding drum and bass background.
Into the final two tracks, finishing with ‘Don’t Cling to Life’ and the raging high explosive close of ‘Feeling Fades’. McGovern quietens the crowd and gets them all to crouch low….. building the tension until the final track explodes into life and McGovern again hurls himself back into the crowd. The final act of intensity on an incredible night.
No encore - Done. But no disappointment, the crowd scream their approval and leave on an emotional high. The only disappointment for me tonight was that they didn’t perform the amazing ‘How the Streets Adore Me Now’, the only song from ‘When I Have Fears’ missing and for me the highlight of the album. Hey if that’s my only complaint then….. !
The Murder Capital for me are similar to Idles (a band I absolutely LOVE) but also simultaneously very different. Hard to explain, but for me they do the extremes of Idles brilliantly No catchy easy to singalong with choruses like the songs of the Bristolians, but at one end of the scale, more intense, grittier and forceful (Feelings Fade), and then at the other end of the scale, at times far more beautifully eloquent (Slowdance / On Twisted Ground).
This is not a band to play to the camera, to show off and milk the adulation with encore after encore…. It is from the heart, direct and true.
We started with the idea that they could be the next big thing…. Can they be ? The simple answer is yes. For me, they have more talent and energy than most fresh new acts I’ve seen this last year, and an intensity and songcraft that is second to none.
If they keep shining this bright, then the future for The Murder Capital, is incredibly bright.
Set list: More is Less, Green and Blue, Slowdance I, Slowdance II, On Twisted Ground, Love Love Love, For Everything, Don’t Cling to Life and Feeling Fades.
Support was provided by the excellent Brighton based Indy band Egyptian Blue who are Andy Buss and Leith Ambrose (both guitar/vocals), Luke Phelps (bass) and Isaac Ide (drums).
The early crowd were also treated to the spoken work of Unorthodox Coolock. A close friend of The Murder Capital, the poetry was delivered with passion and humour and was a welcome addition to the night.
