ROISIN MURPHY LIVE AT GLASGOW’S O2 ACADEMY

★★★★★ (5/5)

ROISIN MURPHY PERFORMING AT GLASGOW’S O2 ACADEMY
PHOTOCREDIT: STUART WESTWOOD

I had the real pleasure of getting to see Roisin Murphy perform at the O2, Roisin has long been one of the great innovators of music within the UK, consistently pushing boundaries and testing herself but all underpinned by her fantastic voice which was such a driver for Moloko.

I sensed when I arrived at the venue it was going to be a good night, the support act, Crazy P Soundsystem, had just sauntered onto the stage. They proceeded to deliver a blistering dance experience. I don’t know much about them, but the singer has a wonderful voice, perfect for the dance bangers they were delivering to get the crowd in the mood. They got the crowd into the rhythms and kept them there for their whole set, finishing off with a photo of the crowd. Singing, swaying, dancing, this was the perfect mood setter.

The crowd itself was quite a mixed bunch, some clear refugees from the late 90’s, early 2000’s heyday of Moloko, some who were too young to have memory of that band’s hits first time round and a few who clearly were mature when Moloko were about. What they all had in common though was that they had come to have a great night out and sign and dance their hearts out.

Roisin was clearly not in the mood to disappoint, starting off with a Moloko classic to get everyone in the mood and going through multiple costume changes while all the while keeping the show going, making sure everyone was dancing, conducting and encouraging the sing alongs and generally just making sure this was one of those shows that every time you think about it a smile appears on your face and you feel the urge to start moving.

The happiness vibe spread as the show went on to the point that towards the end a random girl next to me turned to ne and informed me I was her best friend. It was that kind of night!

All of the Moloko classics were rolled out mixed in with a number of Roisin’s own songs. What was impressive is just how hard it was to tell the difference between them apart from the crowd reacting slightly more to the songs they knew better.

I did lose count of how often Roisin got changed but every outfit seemed to perfectly fir the mood of the songs and the crowd and the point she was wearing it. Her stage presence throughout was tremendous and her voice is as powerful, as pure and as wonderful as it was.

All in all, a prefect night out with a crowd who couldn’t have been more enthusiastic and a backing band who were incredibly tight and on top of everything. I think the most enjoyable part was when Roisin took her phone camera, turned it on each member of the band one by one, displaying them on the big screen, and then did the same to the audience. It created a feeling of all being in it together, of it being one big party, dance along and sing along.

Roisin is still touring, if you can, get tickets, then you can join me in wandering about with a smile on your face.