PETER MURPHY
HAMDEN, Conn. – Godfather of Goth Peter Murphy at The Outer Space Ballroom in Hamden Conn. recently proved to be a real coup for local fans. Murphy on tour supporting his current release, Lion, opted to make a pit stop on this tour and fill an empty date that was sandwiched between major market shows in New York City and Boston. What a treat this was!
Murphy opened the show with Hang Up and quickly moved to Low Room and Low Tar Stars. In typical fashion, there wasn’t much crowd interaction from Murphy as this night belonged to the music. The set stayed mostly with songs from his solo releases that included Memory Go, Peace to Each, Deep Ocean Vast Sea, Gaslit, Eliza, Holy Clown and Strange Kind of Love.
Murphy then dug deep into his past and performed two Bauhaus songs, Silent Hedges and She’s in Parties, much to the crowds delight. Many of the fans in attendance were sporting Bauhaus shirts and were most likely looking to hear a little more than the two songs played from his previous band.
After the Bauhaus songs, Murphy dove back into his solo material and played Velocity Bird, The Prince & Old Lady Shade. Murphy then encored with Cuts You Up, Lion, and Subway and then finished off the evening with Uneven & Brittle.
With a vast catalog of solo releases (nine to be exact, 10 if you include the live one…) Murphy’s focus for the evening was getting his fans acclimated with his latest release Lion, as five of the 18 songs played were from it. He also favored his previous release to Lion, 9th, adding five songs from that one. He did touch on most of his other solo releases throughout the night.
The Ballroom with only a 300-person capacity was packed with fans reliving the past and taking in Murphy’s baritone voice and haunting lyrics. The limited lighting of this small rawk club only added to the ambiance of the concert and the music.
Murphy has his cult following and is able to release new music on a regular basis which in turn leads to regularly touring – a great showcase of singer/songwriter who has performed through numerous decades and doesn’t have to do a greatest hits tour just to draw people to the show.
