Murder By Death @ Petit Campus (Pop Montreal)

As vagabond post-punk/indie-frotting act Murder By Death made their way to Montreal on a cold Wednesday night at Petit Campus, the mood amongst the throngs of assembled concert-goers was rather jubilant. The show in question fell under the Pop Montreal banner, and the festival's first night was filled with excitement and wonder. Everyone had donned their favourite plaid shirt and newsboy hat, ready to be wowed by the travelling troubadors, Indiana natives who told of stories of whiskey and zombies.

As the members of the touring version of the outfit took to the stage, the venue was quickly transformed from some cold space into an inviting room, the barrier in-between band and audience melted away as a quick succession of songs had the crowd falling under the band's sway.

Launching into opening number 'Sometimes The Line Walks You', those in the know began singing their hearts out, while newcomers with Pop passes dangling from their necks stood back and assessed the band. I hung back to the side, watching the door and noting that not one person decided to take off within the first three songs of the set. Looks like MBD were doing something right to win over the tough crowd of this city's indie rock set.

Singer Adam Turla was in a jubilant mood, bantering along with the rest of the band in-between songs and making quick remarks about the themes or origins of a number of songs. The set consisted of a healthy mix of tracks off of their recently-released Good Morning, Magpie album as well as cuts from their back catalogue, touching upon Red Of Tooth And Claw and in particular In Bocca Al Lupo. New tracks like "As Long As There Is Whiskey In The World" and "You Don't Miss Twice (When You're Shavin' With A Knife)" fit nicely alongside older cuts like "The Organ Grinder" and "Brother".

The band's style of post-punk flirtations with a myriad number of other genres, such as gipsy music as well as country and straight-up punk in order to tell weird tales that captivate as well as entertain. Every song is a new tale, and every new tale is just as good as the last.

At about the halfway point in the show, singer Turla took center stage to sing a solo version of the band's cover of Sonny Bono's "Bang Bang" (from the "Sometimes The Line Walks You" single from 2006's In Bocca al Lupo album) the room was still, save for a collection of slightly ajar mouths softly expelling syllables along with Turla. Those unsure/unfamiliar with the band were quickly won over, and the new converts could be seen smiling during the rest of the band's 70-minute set.

The two-song encore felt like a tremendous climax to an enjoyable evening. Ending things off with In Bocca Al Lupo's "Boy Decide" and Red Of Tooth And Claw's "Spring Break 1899", which crescendoed into a good ol'-fashioned foot stomper before the band made their exit.