Murder by Death / O'Death
live in Boston (2015)
Brian Shultz
A double bill of death? O'Death was the opener on this frigid Friday night for Murder by Death's Boston stop of their ongoing tour in support of their most recent effort, Big Dark Love. The band's never particularly been my bag, but they were definitely pretty entertaining and rousing live, with a really wild and energetic set of crazy gypsy folk or however you want to categorize it, and crazy, raspy vocals from vocalist/guitarist Greg Jamie. They sounded like the kind of thing you'd stumble into at a rural barn party, and much of the crowd was right there along with them, hopping and throwing their arms along with the action. Violinist Bob Pycior might have been the most energetic of the bunch as he really sawed away and strutted and hopped around.
Murder by Death is certainly not quite as wild a band, and I noticed the crowd might have been a little more sedated during their set by comparison. But they were definitely as receptive, shouting and finger-pointing along to big songs like "Brother" or "Comin' Home" with fervor and excitement. The veterans went through a set that spanned back to their second album (they're on no. 7 now), and didn't skimp on mid-period stuff despite a brand new album out. While I think that album in question, Big Dark Love isn't quite the quality comeback that Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon was, the dramatic, huge title track was a definite highlight of this set. Same for "Fuego!", though, with frontman Adam Turla's snarling shouts maybe being the common factor here.
While Turla strummed the beginning of "Shiola" alone on stage, the rest of the band came out quickly to accompany him and get the sound back to up its full, bustling tone that it really held strong for during the entirety of the set otherwise. They retained that twang and air of storytelling mystery to everything while engaging the crowd with just big musicality that thankfully didn't have any forced pomp or swagger. At one point, they mentioned that this was the biggest headlining show of their careers. Although they played the Paradise their last time here (unless I missed a show the three years in between), I suppose the venue looked a little fuller this time around, and may have even sold out during the show (if not, it looked damn near close). It was definitely cool that a band like themselves were now capable of packing just shy of 1000 people into a room that isn't even close to their hometown.
They were kind enough to play a few requests that could be heard shouted out (at least, I definitely remember hearing "Sometimes the Line Walks You" being pleaded for), including "Ghost Fields" and first encore song "Sometimes", where cellist Sarah Balliet took over keys for new-ishcomer and multi-instrumentalist David Fountain, who added a great emphasis to that aforementioned huge sound. Hearing the dark bar room atmosphere of those older songs as well, though, were cool and mixed in with the more shuffling, upbeat stuff well.
Set list (10:23-11:44):
I Came Around
A Masters in Reverse Psychology
The Curse of Elkhart
White Noise
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Big Dark Love
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Kentucky Bourbon
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Last Thing
Ash
Lost River
Fuego!
Hard World
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Ghost Fields [request]
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Send Me Home
Shiola
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Three Men Hanging
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Brother
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A Second Opinion
Dream in Red
Until Morale Improves, The Beatings Will Continue
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Comin' Home
Encore (11:45-11:54):
Sometimes the Line Walks You
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Spring Break 1899