As sleet and snowfall blanketed Bloomington streets on Tuesday night, Murder By Death--a four piece indie-rock band orignially from Bloomington--took to the stage of the Bluebird to deliver a rousing, rollicking performance to a cheering hometown crowd. Here's a quick recap, and a few photos of the night, by IDS photographers Nick Lembo, Alex Schultze and Ryan Dorgan.
Although originally scheduled to open the night at 9:00 p.m., Bloomington's Prizzy Prizzy Please started off their 40 minute set at 10:30 p.m.
As audience members waited and socialized, Adam Turla--lead singer of Murder By Death--manned the merchandise table, sipping a Pabst beer and chatting with fans.
As soon as Prizzy began their energetic set, a racous and receptive crowd cheered along to their characteristically fast-paced beats and strumming. With naked passion and intensity written on their excited faces, Prizzy performed a spirited set, leaving them drenched in sweat.
Following Prizzy's set, Murder By Death walked on stage to tune and set up their instruments before playing their extensive set. Before beggining to play, Adam Turla fostered a playful, sarcastic mood when he made a jab at the Goo Goo Dolls.
"In all of the times we've performed, we have never started on a Goo Goo Dolls song," Turla said as the Goo Goo Dolls' 90's hit, "Iris" played in the background on the Bluebird's speakers.
Appropriately, Murder By Death started their set with "Comin' Home" from their 2008 album, Red Of Tooth and Claw. Adam Turla led the rest of the band in delivering an exuberant, impassioned 21 song set. Their copious set included every song from Who Will Survive, and What Will Be Left of Them and Red Of Tooth and Claw.
As they played, audience members joined along in singing and chanting as they swayed back and forth, drinking a beer or sipping on a flask.
Murder By Death precisly performed a virtuosic set, with only mishap: Turla broke a string on one of his guitars. Turla joked that it was a bad omen to start off a tour with such technical difficulties, before the band dove back into their enchanting performance.
Murder By Death kept audience members captivated with Sarah Balliet's (cello) sensual playing and writhing, bassist Matt Armstrong's makeshift techniques, Turla's theatrics and pianist Vincent Edward's sprightly impromptu solos between songs.
Edwards rejoined the band after a five year hiatus, with audience members welcoming him back by cheering his name throughout the set.
After playing through their 21 songs about an hour and thirty minutes after they began, Murder By Death finished their set and walked off stage into the Bluebird's band room, as the rambunctious crowd stood cheering and clapping for an encore.
Turla walked back on stage to perform a slow, solo rendition of "Shiola" from In Bocca al Lupo, before the rest of the band returned to perform "Brother" and an instruemental-only song, which Turla said "was a very old one we haven't played in years."
Murder By Death finished their show at about 1:30 a.m., with audience members deeply pleased, with contented smiles pasted on their faces.
Overall, a great night.
Look forward to a filmed interview with Adam Turla and Dagan Thogerson of Murder By Death, appearing in the future at idsnews.com
-Yahya Chaudhry
Photos of the night by IDS photographers Nick Lembo and Alex Schultze:
And a few more by fellow IDS photog Ryan Dorgan:
