The Murder Capital @ Whelan’s, Dublin 11/05/2019

The Murder Capital made a quick pitstop back in their hometown to play to a sold-out Whelan’s for Eastbound Festival.

Touring relentlessly in 2019 across the UK, The Murder Capital have been leaving jaws on the floor. Their return to Dublin was no different.

Supporting them in Whelan’s was another Dublin band, Melts. Melts psychedelic vibe and then shift in tempo to borderline post-punk had traces of warming Stone Roses material in one song and then the broodiness of Interpol in the next.

Frontman Eoin Kenny’s voice was poignant as he echoed, pun not intended, “in time everybody changes” on ‘Echoes’. While the band around him engulfed Whelan’s with a pounding beat and a sun-soaked melody. It was a hair-raising moment during the Dublin quartet’s set.

The show was sold-out but late arrivers meant that Melts didn’t get a crowd that they deserved. It was a set were the band seemed in sync and created a feel-good atmosphere.

The Murder Capital are a phenomenal live band, there’s no point wasting time in getting to the point that was going to be made in this review. They give so much in their live shows. The five Dublin lads create a tense environment and it is absorbing.

There was no room for a lull in the performance, with ‘More is Less’ searing through a now-jointed Whelan’s early on and other songs like the happy-go-lucky ‘Love, Love, Love!’ that are sure to be released in good time, hooking everyone on every chord, beat and lyric played.

It was a sight to behold, with bassist Gabriel Paschal Blake thrashing around the stage, while frontman James McGovern would attack his microphone with every word to come out of his mouth.

During ‘Twisted Ground’, which McGovern explained is about losing someone close too soon, the mood temporarily changed. He pulled back a speaker from the edge of the stage and sat down, while Blake joined him.

Each word from the frontman was gripping, just based on the sheer emotion you could hear in his voice. By the time the song closed in hair-raising fashion, all that was left to be heard was McGovern’s breathing. The room still with silence while he composed himself, hunched over his microphone as he was still perched on the speaker.

Once back on his feet, that’s when Whelan’s reacted and it was a truly poignant moment. A band that have turned so many heads in so little time, it showed that The Murder Capital are following in their friends, Fontaines DC’ footsteps on the path to success.

Words and pictures don’t justify just how good this band is. They create carnage on stage as they wildly thrash about and create carnage off it as audiences do the same.

Their lyrics strike a chord, their music pumps adrenaline. The Murder Capital are the best live band from Ireland right now.

All pictures of The Murder Capital except for lead image taken by Alice Lavigne. Check out her Instagram and website Out of the Sound to see more of her work.