“It’s been almost half a decade now playing music and doing this and at some point it stops feeling like a project, it’s just my life now.”
We were very excited to see what he was going to do at the gig at the Albert Hall. Murphy takes to the stage, instantly capturing everyone’s attention – even the seated higher tier are straight on their feet.
From the opening moments of the show, he shattered any doubts that people have expressed about his evolving style, entering to a brilliant sonic boom of noise. From there, Murphy launched directly into his Faker catalogue, lulling the audience into a sense of familiarity.
Hardly talkative, Murphy looked engaged and in control. Wearing a black suit and crisp white shirt, with a spectacular light show behind him, dancing Murphy is front center stage – a true showman.
As the set went on, each track is mixed into one another with a heavy base sound from the sound system that vibrates through the hall – giving a more club night feel to the gig. Mid-song he strips off his dark suit jacket to reveal his white shirt, there is instant screams from the audience.
Somehow he manages to take us from his new electro experimental sounds through to his jazz roots. Murphy and his band deliver a very tight and energetic and soulful performance featuring sax solos and funky keyboard riffs. His early jazz influences made appearances throughout show and the Albert Hall giving the perfect setting for an intimate Jazz cafe feel to the gig.
The moment of truth was the encore, the thought on every fan’s mind was “ will he play ‘No Diggity?’” Murphy walked back onstage and launches into a piano solo and starts to play a brand new song. Maybe an old hip-hop cover song, as great as it is, had no place on the set list.
To end the night he finished with his first single as Nick Murphy, ‘Stop Me-Stop You’ – his raw vocals soaring over the crowd and echoed off the hall walls. The setlist was a blend of older Chet Faker songs combined with newer Nick Murphy tunes. The energy of the show was intensified with the lighting that added more of an electronica feel to the performance. A great show all round. We don’t mind what he calls himself.
