LIVE REVIEW | MADRA SALACH | ST LUKE’S, GLASGOW | 5th October 2026 by Anne Kelly
Stepping out into the crisp Glasgow night air on a Monday, clutching my newly purchased vinyl, I knew I had just witnessed something special. That something was Dublin’s Madra Salach.
For a band that made their Scottish debut almost a year to the day just around the corner at Van Winkle as part of Tenement Trail, their trajectory has been astonishing. Supporting local talent Brògeal late last year clearly left a mark, and by March they were headlining McChuills. Yet leaping from a roughly 100-capacity room to a 600-plus crowd at Saint Luke’s in just six months is remarkable. Factor in a jaw-dropping set at TRNSMT in June, and Glasgow is rapidly becoming their home away from home.
Arriving at Saint Luke’s, I caught only the tail end of Little Grandad’s support set. Not quite enough to pass fair judgment, but reading the room, they were clearly doing something right. Settling into my usual stage-right spot, I made the amateur mistake of braving the bar during the interval. Navigating back through the now-sardined crowd, drink in hand, proved an ordeal. Still, I managed to carve out a cosy wee pocket where, tilted at an acute angle, my 5ft 5 frame had half a chance of actually seeing the band as well as hearing them.
At 8.30pm on the dot, the lights dropped and Madra Salach took the stage. They opened with a cover of Ewan MacColl’s ‘Tunnel Tigers’ before tearing into their new single, ‘Ribbon Factory’. Both songs had sounded great in the open air at TRNSMT, but in the tight intimacy of Saint Luke’s, they hit ten times harder. There is something incredible about this six-piece when they lock in; they fuse into a single collective force, building in unison toward an apocalyptic crescendo. ‘Ribbon Factory’ was born to be played live, and tonight its desperate, explosive energy held the venue by the throat.
Unreleased tracks ‘BOLG’ and ‘Stones’ kept that same sense of urgency, driving forward with an intensity that gave the room no chance to catch its breath. Later in the night, we got further glimpses of new music with ‘Cranes’ and ‘Searrach’ – both to feature on their just announced today debut album Gorta. Rather than stalling the set’s momentum, the new material only tightened the band’s hypnotic grip on the crowd, rolling out in waves of dark, textured drone and explosive release. If these live renditions are any indication of the album to come, then we are going to be completely floored. Madra Salach are, above all else, a band built for the stage.
They lean into a traditional seisiún layout on stage: aside from frontman Paul, every member remains seated. It creates a dynamic that is less like a standard gig and more like a communal gathering, dismantling the fourth wall entirely. Saint Luke’s felt tailored for this kind of collective experience. The converted 19th-century church retains its high vaulted ceilings, an original pipe organ above the altar-turned-stage and stained-glass windows on either side, with the music sitting right at the heart of it.
Every member pours themselves into the sound, building up tension and unleashing raw fury before pulling back into delicate, quiet stillness. One moment it’s raising every hair on your arms, the next it’s melting you into a bubbling mess. Hearing them play, you would swear they had lived twice the years they actually have.
As the set found its stride, the covers rolled out. An upbeat, rollicking take on The Pogues’ ‘Turkish Song of the Damned’ was met with a roar, before giving way to ‘Murphy Can Never Go Home’, the Dónal Lunny and Frank Harte tune featured on their debut EP, It’s a Hell of an Age. A poignant tale of Irish emigrant labourers in Britain, it had the entire hall singing along, peaking at the chorus.
Keeping the mood reflective, the band’s first ever release ‘Blue & Gold’ followed to massive approval. By this point, fed up with staring into the back of someone’s head or an awkwardly placed pillar, I drifted towards the back. Finding a better view proved ambitious, but I managed to squeeze in between the sound desk and the doors. The crowd was practically spilling out into the foyer, and a glance up at the balcony showed much the same.
Two more covers arrived: Neutral Milk Hotel’s ‘In the Aeroplane Over the Sea’ and Lankum’s ‘The Rocks of Palestine’. Both were delivered with such care and command that anyone unfamiliar would have assumed they were originals. Five covers in a thirteen-track set might sound excessive on paper, but Madra Salach never treats them like filler. They understand the music and the weight of the lyrics; Paul embodies the modern seanchaí with effortless conviction.
Despite the heavy subject matter, the band cut through the gloom with genuine warmth and banter. Thanking Glasgow for packing the room again, noting the 1,000-strong ticket waitlist for this gig alone, it was obvious this wasn’t the usual routine tour-stop flattery. Between the familiar “God making Scotland” joke and off-the-cuff storytelling, that easy connection transformed an already potent set into an unforgettable night.
The peak of the evening arrived with two standouts: ‘I Was Just a Boy’ and the closing number, ‘The Man Who Seeks Pleasure’. Both are quintessential Madra Salach – if that’s even a thing yet? Drenched in anguish, Paul’s delivery shifted from a desperate ache to a guttural growl, riding a tsunami wave of crashing drums and haunting, cyclical melodies that tightened with every bar. It’s music that hits you square in the chest, leaving you fighting back tears as it finds every raw nerve. That is the magic of Madra Salach, and they deliver it so beautifully.
Driving home, I couldn’t help but wonder what comes next for this group of young Irishmen. Seeing just how fast their ascent has been, part of me hoped they would be afforded the time and space to evolve naturally without being consumed by industry machine pressures. Their sound and uncompromising authenticity feel like an antidote to the increasingly bleak reality we face. The news that their debut album is arriving imminently on a major label might test that balance, but perhaps Madra Salach aren’t a band the world can keep a secret for much longer. They are already too vital to ignore.
Gorta, the debut album from Madra Salach will be released via Island Records on 15th January 2027. With an album due, no doubt another tour is on the horizon, so watch this space, and when those dates are announced, I urge you to snap up those tickets quickly.
The band’s very sold out UK/Ireland Tour continues across October (UK) and December (IRE) – full dates here.
Editors note: photos by Rachel Brown taken in Sheffield on 7th October
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