Chris Murphy

CHRIS MURPHY

Musician Pub 25th July 2024

A huge feeling of anticipation building during the day... a return to the The Musician Pub to see the return of the maestro, Chris Murphy... and wondering could he be as outstanding as on his previous visit... no question... of course he was... this was another truly superb performance.

Chris had the audience totally in his hands from the moment he walked on stage and announced, with a mischievous twinkle, "I'm just going to take a short break".

From there he explained that he was armed simply with a violin, a guitar pedal, a looper and his own songs... he then dedicated his opening piece to a minority group without a voice... those in LA who don't drive...

Throughout the performance he used the looper to add glorious layers and depth to his music... yet never overpowering his exceptionally brilliant violin playing.

The first half took us through a number of pieces from his superb new "Red Road" EP and touched on a whole range of genres.

The second half was, in his words a Chris Murphy Deep Cuts set, covering songs he hadn't been playing lately... each one a total gem... and including one of the best song titles i've heard... "Jumping off the Last Bridge I Burned"

I've seen many artists encouraging the audience to sing choruses in many ways... Chris has such charisma that he simply walks to the edge of the stage and leans towards the audience to get people singing along.

Towards the end he asked if we fancied a bit of ragtime... yes!!.. and he stepped off the stage and sat at a table in the audience to play a totally acoustic "Lemon Rag".

This was a totally brilliant performance... Chris is an exceptionally talented musician, a great raconteur and his between song banter was always entertaining and informative... and it is always great to see a brilliant musician clearly loving his work and playing throughout with a twinkle in his eye and a smile...

This was a phenomenal performance by a brilliant performer... one of the most charismatic and engaging entertainers you could wish to see.. .and indeed an extremely warm and lovely man

I loved every moment of this night

On a personal note.. huge thanks Chris not only for a wonderful performance but for the kind words and encouragement Keep music live... keep music real... support your local venues