The Murder Capital, New Century. 18th April 2025

An early start catches me off guard as I miss the beginning of The Murder Capital set tonight. I wouldn’t recommend it, but it feels quite nice walking into a party in full swing, as long as you don’t miss much of course. It does throw me off a bit and songs like ‘The Stars Will Leave Their Stage’ and ‘That Feeling’ seem to pass in a blur as I catch my breath in a room that appears to be having the air sucked out of it. You wouldn’t want to miss ‘Heart in the Hole’ though. Not being on an album, I often miss it out, but its dark, moody and defiant tone strikes a chord. They’ve never been short on confidence and swagger, but tonight sees them step it up a notch. ‘Feeling Fades’ has a river of poetic angst flowing through it as does much of the set. It’s more than a series of songs played in order. There’s genuine visercal energy in the room. That might explain why it’s hotter than hell. The double header of ‘Slowdance I’ and ‘Slowdance II’ allows the pit to catch its breath, with the stage bathed in red and James’ sombre sultry vocal seeping from the speakers magnificently. The sound in New Century is bang on tonight. As the wall of guitars builds on ‘…II’, it’s worth the price of admission alone. The girl behind me declares “He can’t hit the notes” on ‘Swallow’, which is bollocks, everyone’s critic these days and mostly with nothing nice to say. She goes on to add that she’s done 10,000 steps today though which might give you an idea of the quality of her attention span. Still, well done her. I will say there’s not much in the way of stage craft to keep the wayward of mind engaged. They’re a five piece band, playing their songs with a few lights, nothing fancy. “We’re just getting warmed up” James threatens though as the psych twister ‘Crying’ unfurls. James flamboyantly spiralling his arms in the air as the crowd copy, clearly in the palm of his hand. Songs like ‘For Everything’ are what got me hooked on this band. I’ll admit I’m struggling to get into the new record a little more. It’s good, but hasn’t totally bitten me like this does. James is a messianic fighter as he leads us through it, goading the crowd, charging the band who sound utterly deadly. After ‘Can’t Pretend to Know’, ‘Moonshot’ is a bit shambolic, but in that live anything can happen exciting sort of way. ‘Don’t Cling to Life’, then steers us back and takes us into the break, which is kept mercifully short and before we know it ‘Trailing a Wing’ brings us back into the encore with an introductory story of infidelity. Couples hug as warm bass notes glide over brushed drums and a soft lament ushers from James’ mic. It’s pretty spine tingling to be honest. Especially when they’re about to rip it out with ‘Ethel’. The phones are out, the voices rise, it’s by far and away the biggest response of the night. “Manchester you’re fucking unreal” gushes James. I agree this is a good crowd. You don’t always get that, but the city can be proud tonight. ‘Words Lost Meaning’ is another new one in a set that’s leant heavily on Blindness. Like I said it’s a record that has yet to grab me, but hearing this live helps and that desert rock stoner groove that underpins it sounds marvellous. They close with ‘Love of Country’ with more reductionary free Palestine sound bites that seem mandatory for all Irish bands at the moment. I understand what these statements are trying to say, but I’m afraid I find it far too simplistic for such a complex issue. The song though almost encapsulates the set in one sitting, which sounds exciting but it kinda fizzles out. I think my last gig with them was better if I’m being brutally honest and it’s fair to say missing the start probably wasn’t ideal, but it’s still a great set and fuels my desire to stick with this third record and give it a fair crack. I’ll definitely be back next time they visit Manchester and I’ll be on time too.