It's now well over 30 years since I first saw Crime & The City Solution playing on what I think was the band's first UK tour, at the long-gone Mean Fiddler in Harlesden back when the late great Rowland S Howard was in the band alongside Mick Harvey and Simon Bonney et al. I can't remember if Bronwyn Bonney had joined the band by that point or not. It was also just before I then saw most of the band playing as These Immortal Souls.
This being late night London by the time we had negotiated some train problems and got to the General Browning we had missed most of Joshua Murphy's opening set, the only complete song we heard was the closing song of his Lowlands Ep A Town With No Fear that was played dramatically slowly, with every ringing chord carefully played as the dark tale at the heart of the song was laid before the already packed M.O.T.H. Club crowd.
After a very short break it was time for Crime & The City Solution whose current line-up features Joshua Murphy on Guitar and piano, Bronwyn Bonney on Violin, Simon Bonney on vocals, Christopher Hughes on drums and Frederic Jacques on guitar and synths.
They opened with the epic slow All Must Be Love that had Simon Bonney's rich vocals making clear that the only way to heal the world is to spread more love as the dark hued guitars added texture.
They dived into the bands back catalogue for a slow delicious version of On Every Train (Grain Will Bear Grain) that had some full on violin swirls from Bronwyn who seemed to delight in every note she was adding.
Bronwyn was accusing Simon of having The Gun something he sort of denied, as they started playing the classic I Have The Gun that was greeted with a huge cheer, they played a good long version with Joshua's guitar seeming to battle against Bronwyn's fraught violin part.
They then played new song River Of God that had plenty of dark hues musically as this complex tale of the current state of the world was played with a stark beauty. The Bride Ship sounded as apocalyptic as ever, the dark tones being conjured up by the band who repeatedly told us My Name is…
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Bronwyn made clear they were going to play Brave Hearted Woman from the new album, it sounds as much like a classic as anything else in the set, this is a fearsome song for all the woman who have suffered for too long as Bronwyn harmonized with Simon.
Home Is Far From Here could easily apply to the bands original Australian home as their current Berlin one, as the old song went down a treat, emphasizing just how at ease they all seemed to be.
It was then time for a visit to the Paradise Discotheque for The Last Dictator parts II and IV whose theme seems very much for our current troubled times, if only we could rid ourselves of all these dictators.
Bronwyn was complaining that Curfew was approaching as they got ready to launch into Witness that I think was the song that had the most keyboards and gadgets from Joshua and Frederic, that made this feel all the more downbeat as Simon's claims I Am To Blame seemed like he wanted absolution but it wasn't being offered to him.
They then played the first single off of The Killer, Peace In My Time a plea that's needed more than ever currently, it sounded so relevant and timely with dark runs on the violin and Simon's vocals getting totally impassioned.
They closed with the albums title song Killer having apologized that they wouldn't have time for an encore, as this song about mans constant need to Kill other humans and the bands hope that we can all find it in ourselves to be lovers rather than killers, it was a great way to end a really great set, that was just a little bit too short. But they had to finish by 10pm as obviously these days Crime & The City Solution fans need to be home and tucked up in bed before midnight..
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