Murder Capital and Cusk at Outernet

Another thumbs up for live music. 

Luka and I arrived at doors open, and there was quite a wait before the first act arrived. But a couple of pints later, on came Cusk. I thought they were quite accomplished, but Luka enthused massively about them. The lead singer had perfected the "I've just got out of bed and am wearing my boyfriend's shirt" look. A bit of research found that she is also an actress, Esme Creed-Miles. To Luka's chagrin, they weren't on spotify, but had cassettes on sale. How retro is that? 

But main act were Murder Capital. Luka said he had just listened to their latest album, Blindness, and was far from impressed. I have played it a lot more and while I wouldn't say it was their best, its not too bad. As he and I discussed, they seem to be heading more towards slower ballads than the stuff we like about them, with discordant guitar intros. Anyway Luka should have been disappointed as the set did go heavy on the new album.

Actually from my perspective, standing at the front as is my wont, the gig had a very distinct pattern, storming start, a real dip with some slower numbers and then an upturn. Luka, who as Murder Capital started had divested himself of jacket and jumper onto yours truly, headed into the mosh pit, and said he was really grateful for the"dip" as it gave the crowd a bit of a breather. I could see (either by turning round, or more by watching the screen which frequently showed the mosh pit), quite how vigorous a crowd it was. One could observe them going mental on "More is Less", the second song of the night. 

At any rate, despite his initial misgivings, Luka said he had a great night. Hence my initial comment - a thumbs up for live music. It is a very different experience than just listening to an album cold.  I certainly enjoyed the experience. My guess is that this was fourth or fifth time I have seen the band. I would go again!

I think that is young Luka in profile on the right of picture 

 Oh and additional plus points at the venue. Compared to many places I go, the toilets are amazingly clean and hi-tech. Most pub venues look like they are crack dens.

We popped across the road to a pub for an after gig drink and a chat. All I can say is Thursdays really are the new Fridays,. They were pulling pints as fast as they could.

And got home from Tottenham Court Road (which the venue is right next to) amazingly quickly. Very satisfactory night. Now just have to persuade Luka to go to some more gigs with me as he in London for a while. But meanwhile I intend to do two more gigs, both at Dublin Castle, over next two nights. Watch this space!