The Murder Capital at The Wedgewood Rooms, Southsea REVIEW: 'Frontman James McGovern’s brooding intensity sends the audience into a frenzy'
It takes just 60 seconds for The Murder Capital frontman James McGovern to make his first foray into the audience during the band’s show at The Wedgewood Rooms.
The gig had been sold out for months and by the time their chaotic opener More is Less is done it is easy to see why.
The reverbing guitars coupled with McGovern’s brooding intensity sends the audience into a frenzy and there was plenty more where that came from throughout the night.
Before the headliners took the stage, support acts Unorthodox Coolock and Egyptian Blue treat the crowd to two very different experiences. The former is a spoken-word poet who touched on topics as varied as Dublin bar fights, childhood nostalgia and his love of second-hand books.
The latter are an explosive four-piece from Brighton fronted by Andy Buss and Leith Ambrose. Their electric chemistry suggested there is much more to come from the band.
After The Murder Capital had suitably warmed up with the opening track from their revered debut album When I Have Fears, they entered into more sombre territory. The droning two-part Slowdance clocked in at close to 10 minutes and felt like it was ripped straight from Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures.
This was followed up by an emotional rendition of On Twisted Crowd which commanded complete silence from the Southsea faithful. When I Have Fears was written in the wake of the suicide of one of the five-piece’s close friends and McGovern opens the song with a plea to the audience to ‘give your friends the love they deserve’.
The show reaches a crescendo with renditions of the energetic Don’t Cling to Life and Feeling Fades, which gives the frontman one final opportunity to get up close and personal with those in attendance.