St Luke’s, with Special Guests Cusk, 19 April 2025
When James McGovern, Damien Tuit, Diarmuid Brennan, Cathal Roper and Gabriel Paschal Blake come together something special ignites the musical spectrum.
Described as a post-punk band, The Murder Capital has been evolving their music and increasing their fanbase since the release of their debut album When I Have Fears in the second half of 2019.
While the pandemic may have stalled their trajectory, the 2023 release of Gigi’s Recovery confirmed that the band had utilised the forced downtime well and a promotional tour demonstrated the development and confidence that all was well.
And so, to 2025, and the release of Blindness to critical acclaim. Eleven songs that continued the exploration of life in the twenty first century. Asking questions, searching for answers and forever critical of what is happening around them.
An album that found itself as the keystone to their current UK tour and a visit to St. Lukes & The Winged Ox.
Only Born Into The Fight from the latest album failed to make it onto the setlist on an evening which was bookended by The Fall and Love Of Country.
The Murder Capital are known for mixing up the pace across their recorded work and while the audience were treated to a high tempo opening with the single More Is Less adding to the opening salvo, there was plenty of space for the audience to focus on the slower paced tracks.
It was also a time to survey the stage and witness the band in action. When not leaning on the microphone stand or prowling the stage during the instrumental breaks, band leader James McGovern held sway, encouraging the audience at every opportunity to get with the music. Not that any heeding was necessary to an audience entranced by the music blasting out of the speakers.
Across the evening, Gabriel Paschal Blake on bass and Cathal Roper hovered around the front of the drum’s platform, never missing a beat, providing the darker sounds that have become the bad’s hallmark. This left Damien Tuit to be the more dynamic of the band, moving in tandem with the sharpness of the guitar notes being played, forever mixing the sound with the various pedals at his disposal and inevitably looking for that extra bit of feedback in front of the amps.
The darkness of the music was never more evident than in Slowdance I & II, a sprawling masterpiece that saw all the band surround the drums of Diarmuid Brennan with their backs to the audience as the swirling guitars cascaded around the venue.
That the tracks come in the middle of the set confirm the confidence the band has in all its newfound material. While it remains the standout point of the set, there is so much more to play that raises the gig beyond the track’s previous significance.
As the band heads to the inevitable conclusion of the night, the fan favourite Don’t Cling To Life reminds us of all of why we began following the band in the first place. It is dynamite, the essence of what the band is all about.
With the exception of the often-requested Ethel, the band returned to play three tracks off Blindness with a blistering rendition of Love Of Country which will in time become one of the cornerstones of future tours.
The Murder Capital absolutely nailed the gig. The new songs blended perfectly well with the old. As musicians they remain as tight as ever and, in frontman James McGovern, they have someone who reminds us all to ‘always be on the right side of history.’
Special Guests – Cusk
As has been repeated here on many occasions, attending a gig early to see the support act(s) can often lead to some pleasant surprises. Watching and listening to Cusk was no exception.
However, in looking for some background information about the band, I came up a little short. With apologies to Esmé Creed-Miles whoI hope I have identified as lead vocalist and guitarist.
The band is also made up of drums, bass, lead guitar and violin/banjo players.
Irrespective of a lack of background information to provide, the tracks played, especially the closing track Does It Feel Like Love, were an exercise in fine musicianship allied to some killer lyrics.
There were times when I thought I might have been listening to Patti Smith and hopefully that isn’t too bad a comparison.
We do hope to get the chance to see them again in the not-too-distant future and will continue to track down some more info on the band and the songs they are recording.
Of course, if they want to get in touch…….?
All comments welcome so that we can improve what we are publishing!