On Wednesday, March 11th, I went to Once Ballroom to check out the Irish five-piece band, The Murder Capital. They were touring in support of their debut album, When I Have Fears, which was recorded by one of the most consequential producers of the past 40 years, Flood. I was eager to see how the band would translate the dark and masterfully crafted album from the studio to the stage.
Openers RUDE engaged with the audience, and implored us to come in closer, knocking us out of our perhaps coronavirus-anxiety induced standoffishness. They kicked off the night with a frenetic dose of urgent punk rock. The eye liner-clad Cameron Hurley sang, yelled, and writhed about the stage, his pale face grinned wickedly from behind a mane of willowy blonde hair. The crowd was into it. Twin guitars sliced, power chords riffed, and a piccolo snare cracked through the evening’s morass. As they wrapped, I decided it must be pretty fun to be RUDE.
Then, The Murder Capitol entered to a full crowd. Singer James McGovern appeared both despondent and determined as he crooned in a possessed baritone. Guitar players Damien Tuit and Cathal Roper elicited a cacophony of tones and textures from a small army of effects pedals below them, which summoned lush guitar layers in real-time, and answered my earlier question about ‘will the album sound great in a live setting’ with an emphatic ‘yes!’
McGovern addressed the audience directly, showing himself to be an adept public speaker. For a few minutes, he articulated his gratitude to be starting their U.S. tour this evening, that just a year ago he wouldn’t have believed that he would be touring in America, and warm-heartedly ribbed someone in the audience for mentioning coronavirus. Sadly, The Murder Capital would have to postpone the remainder of their tour the following evening because of COVID-19 public safety concerns.
On “Love, Love, Love”, McGovern gently held a young woman’s hand in the front row as they locked eyes, she danced, and he sang these words to her:
In the rain, the romance lay/Baby, in the rain, the romance lay/ In the rain, the romance stays/ Maybe in the rain the romance will say goodbye/ Well, goodbye, goodbye.
The final act brought about the earlier energy, as the band concluded with “Don’t Cling to Life” and “Feeling Fades.” With the point of a finger and a flick of the wrist from the front man, a dance circle emerged. McGovern jumped into the audience as he shimmied and continued his vocal duties at eye level. He jumped back onstage and moshing ensued.
The final note chimed at 9:50 pm, which reminded me how early these Once Ballroom shows start & end (in stark contrast to Great Scott’s late pm gigs, as AP writer Jackie Swisshelm noted in her recent *at the time* review of Gladie). Although North America only got two shows from The Murder Capital, I’d say they made it count, and on behalf of Boston, I’m grateful they stopped by.