‘Til Death Do Us Part: Murder By Death Plays Final Chicago Shows

Jul 18, 2025 admin_bitlc Features, Music News, Reviews 0

By Kyle Decker

Murder by Death has been a crucial band for me for more than half my life. They were first brought to my attention in late 2003. It was my freshman year of college and I was home for winter break. My friend picked me up and we were driving around and she had a mix-CD playing (you remember mix-CDs?). It was her usual blend of indie, punk, and emo. Good stuff, but all familiar. But all of a sudden this song starts to play. This shambling, gothy, chamber-pop number with just a hint of salsa and, holy shit, is this about zombies? In a school? Any readers who are fans already figured out I’m talking about “Killbot 2000” off Who Will Survive and What Will be Left of Them?, Murder by Death’s second album, released in 2003. On a totally unrelated note, kids born that year can drink now and it’s kinda fucking with my head.

Those first three albums, Like the Exorcist, but More Breakdancing; Who Will Survive …?; and In Bocca al Lupo would consistently contribute to the soundtrack of my college years. Hell, the line “these hands made of splitters keep knockin’ back the whiskey sours” from the song “A Masters in Reverse Psychology” is probably the reason whiskey sours became my drink of choice in my early 20s, before I could afford the good stuff and learned to like it neat. “Intergaltic Menopause” from Like the Exorcist… is a gorgeously haunting tune and perfect background music for wandering campus when you’re depressed, dissociating, and still a bit drunk from the night before.

The band had formed in Bloomington, Indiana under the name Little Joe Gould, but changed their name to Murder by Death- a 1976 parody of Agatha Christie stories starring Peter Falk- around the release of Like the Exorcist… Though, they typically have been labeled as “alt-country”, especially since they had some releases through Bloodshot Records. In general, I’ve described their work, particularly the 2003-2010 era, as “Johnny Cash composing the score for a gothic-horror spaghetti western.” But not everything in their oeuvre behaves well enough to be defined. Adam Turla’s baritone vocals are definitely Cashish… Cash-esque?…Cashian? …processing qualities reminiscent of Johnny Cash. But even that’s a bit reductive. Turla has vocal range for days.

In their early years especially, the band was known for concept albums. Who Will Survive…? tells the story of the Devil waging war on a small town in Mexico after he gets shot in a bar fight. In Bocca al Lupo (“Into the mouth of the wolf”, the Italian equivalent of “break a leg”) was inspired by Dante’s Inferno. Each song focuses on a sinner or sinners in the different circles of Hell or the people they’ve impacted. Interestingly enough I’ve had two short stories published that were inspired by songs on that album. Fitting considering the title is an Italian idiom for “Good luck.” My short story “Brother” was inspired by the song of the same name. And “Family Night” was inspired by “Shiola.” 2008’s Red of Tooth and Claw is Homer’s The Odyssey reimagined as a revisionist western. The song “Comin’ Home” gained some notoriety after being used in an episode of Sons of Anarchy. Although my personal favorite track is “Fuego!”, which seems inspired by Calypso and/or the Sirens. For my money, it is one of the sexiest songs ever written. Even during the years they broke from making concept albums for several albums, story telling was always at the heart of their music. “I Came Around” from Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon (2012) tells the story of a man who attends his rival’s funeral out of spite, only to be taken in by the man’s friends and family and learns the man he hated was actually a decent person. 2018’s The Other Shore saw a return to the concept album. It tells the story of people leaving Earth and people left behind.

Over the last 13 years or so, the band would fund albums through Kickstarter, with one of the higher tier rewards allowing contributors to request a cover song. This resulted in an album series called As You Wish, which consisted entirely of these covers. My wife and I danced to their absolutely beautiful rendition of INXS’s “Never Tear Us Apart” at our wedding. So, yeah… this band means something to me.

When they announced a farewell tour-which included two Chicago shows On July 16 and 17- I knew I had to see them. It had been a number of years since I’d seen them live, part of this was due to the fact I lived abroad for half-a-decade. But I had to see their final Chicago show. Within minutes of seeing the announcement, I put in the request to James at In the Loop to get a press pass. But, I know how big of a following they have in Chicago, and I wanted to leave nothing to chance. So I got tickets for Thursday, July 17th. Just to be sure I saw their final Chicago show.

And what a show! It began with a Star Wars style scroll welcoming everyone to the show and stating this was Murder by Death’s 1914th show (My exact number may be off. I have dyscalculia on the best of days, so if anyone was there feel free to correct me). After a few songs, vocalist Adam Turla thanked everyone for coming out. Sadly, I missed the previous night. He mentioned they would be “playing two songs from each of their ten albums” and then some. And they’d be doing 17 songs they did not play the previous night. “But we do this one every fuckin’ night.”

They then launched into “Brother.” The song is a raucous and rowdy number, and though a full on mosh pit didn’t break out (it was still early yet), it was on the verge. Honestly, if I gave the right person a gentle shove, I probably could have set one off. Later in the set a mosh pit did get going to “Comin’ Home” and “Rum Brave.” The energy was high throughout. And it was hard to tell if the fog rolling off stage was a fog machine, or smoke coming off of Sarah Balliet’s cello. My only real note is that they didn’t do “Fuego!” I saw the previous night’s setlist and they didn’t do it then either. Which is a little surprising.

Throughout the show there were occasionally video projections. Including an animation of growing vines, and a loop of the 1898 George Méliès short film The Astronomer’s Dream. The inclusion of which proves again how much the band loves and has been inspired by film. Again, their name is taken from the title of a movie.

At one point a fan back by the bar shouted “I FUCKIN’ LOVE YOU, ADAM!” to which Turla replied, “That was intense, Bro. Maybe dial it back.” A bandmate quipped, “Or dial it up.”

“No. Back,” Turla replied.

Turla went on to express the band’s love of Chicago and how they’ve always felt appreciated by the city. He went on to say they’ve probably played more shows in Chicago than any other city. Counting a few suburban shows, he estimated they’ve played the Chicagoland area over 80 times in their 25 years. Which tracks. I’ve been to more than a dozen, I think. As they played Chicago a few times a year during my peak concert going days. Although I had also seen them in Iowa City with the Reverend Horton Heat.

The band came back on stage for a two song encore. Naturally they closed out with “Alas”, the chorus of which is “I need to stay, but alas I must go.”

For me it was a pretty emotional experience. It’s a band that carried me through very formative years and helped inspire my own art.

My friend who was with me had never seen them live before, but commented that it was one of the best live shows he’s seen. It’s a shame that it’s over. And I hope it’s not over forever. They’ve said they plan to continue their famous annual cave shows. And I’m definitely down for a road trip. Until then, I’ll keep knockin’ back the whiskey sours.

Set list for Thursday, July 17th:

Riders (Spell/Bound, 2022)

Until Morale Improves, the Beatings Will Continue (Who Will Survive…?, 2003)

Brother (In Bocca Al Lupo, 2005)

Lost River (Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon, 2012)

Stone (The Other Shore, 2018)

Ash (Red of Tooth and Claw, 2008)

Straight at the Sun (Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon, 2012)

Foxglove (Good Morning, Magpie, 2010)

True Dark (The Other Shore, 2018)

Wandering (Egg & Dart, 2025)

The Big Sleep (In Bocca Al Lupo, 2005)