Dublin band Madra Salach played the biggest headline shows of their career this week, selling out two nights at London's Electric Ballroom on a run that underlined their reputation as one of the most compelling live acts to emerge from Ireland in recent years.
The six-piece closed the first night with «The Man Who Seeks Pleasure», a song that has become their de facto finale over the past year. Beginning with a sustained harmonium drone from Maxime Arnold, the track swelled from near-silence into a full-band eruption, with frontman Paul Banks's vocals shifting from gentle intonation to raw, affecting rasps as the crowd joined in. The performance carried the weight of a band fully in command of its own emotional register.
That closing number capped a set that drew heavily on the folk tradition of passing stories between generations. Madra Salach opened with a punk-edged cover of Ewan MacColl's «The Tunnel Tigers», multi-instrumentalist Jack Martin attacking his synths between sweeping arm movements. Banks introduced each cover with context, history and humour, framing the band's choices as part of a living lineage rather than a museum exercise.
Among the highlights was an incendiary take on The Pogues' «Turkish Song of the Damned», which will appear on an upcoming tribute album to Shane MacGowan. «A big influence on the band, and not just because of my teeth,» Banks quipped. The band also performed «Murphy Can Never Go Home», a track from their debut EP «It's A Hell Of An Age» that details Mick Curry's move from Ireland to Birmingham in search of work. Banks noted that the fabled gold lining the streets of the UK is really «just Holiday Inns».
The spirit of protest ran through the set as well, with urgent readings of Sinéad O'Connor's «Black Boys On Mopeds» and Lankum's «The Rocks Of Palestine», the harmonium drone put to pointed use. Alongside the covers, Madra Salach showcased their own growing catalogue. Latest single «Ribbon Factory» arrived early, its insistent stomp thundering through the venue, while «Blue And Gold» delivered intoxicating delusions of impending grandeur.
The band's rise has been propelled by their concerts, and the Electric Ballroom shows demonstrated why. There was scarcely a note in the set that did not land with physical force, whether through Banks's expressive voice or the band's collective intensity. For a group still building toward a debut album, the performance carried the assurance of a much more established act.
Madra Salach are now looking toward 2027 and the release of «Gorta», their first full-length record. If the London dates are any indication, the band is only getting better, and their shows more powerful even as they move into bigger rooms. The full setlist included «The Tunnel Tigers», «Ribbon Factory», «BOLG», «Stones», «Turkish Song Of The Damned», «Murphy Can Never Go Home», «Blue And Gold», «In The Aeroplane Over The Sea», «I Was Just A Boy», «The Rocks Of Palestine», «Cranes», «Black Boys On Mopeds», «Searrach» and «The Man Who Seeks Pleasure».