Madra Salach at McChuills

Paul Banks, Madra Salach singer, McChuills, March 2026

Dublin six-piece Madra Salach blew my friend Joe and I away last year. We caught the band playing The Van Winkle in the Gallowgate as part of Tenement Trail. Singer Paul Banks was like a cross between Lydon and MacGowan, singing with his heart and soul. 

In my blog, I highlighted Madra Salach's closing song The Man Who Seeks Pleasure (Is the Man Who Seeks Pain) stating that it was a genuine spine tingling moment. It will be interesting to see if they can capture this kind of intensity on record. This was beautifully raw, heartfelt and soulful. Banks gave it his all and his band played as if their lives depended on it. 

Madra Salach, The Van Winkle, Tenement Trail, October 2025

The band have since released the song and it has been gathering attention from the likes of 6Music and is no doubt helping them to sell out every gig they currently have listed. In addition, Madra Salach will be supporting Kneecap at their huge summer show in Crystal Palace.

In the short term, the band are on a tour playing small venues that must be in the 100-250 capacity range. I am sure that they could have upgraded last nights show at McChuills to a larger venue, but I'm so glad that didn't happen. Seeing a band on the verge of breaking in a small venue is incredibly exciting for music fans, but I think it is equally as exciting and even more important for bands and artists to play in those venues at such a time and 'feel' the mood, experience the atmosphere. Madra Salach know that bigger venues will come. 

So, yes, there is a buzz about Madra Salach and there was a sense of anticipation in the air, possibly helped by the fact that it was the day after St Patrick's Day. McChuills was in full swing. 

A 10pm week night curfew for live music meant that Madra Salach were on at just after 8.30pm. Joe and his 2 brothers were in supping Guinness and Murphy's by the time I arrived just before 8. It was the first time I had caught the train to Glasgow Central since the recent fire. I felt a tingle of pride as I approached the station, gazing out at the city lights as the train crossed over the river. Glasgow is a resilient city. The loss of the corner building and defining dome is tragic. But we will rebuild.  

The venue was rammed as Madra Salach took to the stage bathed in red light to set up. All of the band are seated, other than lead singer Paul Banks, who ambled on and cleared his lungs to begin Blue & Gold, their debut single that was released in September 2025.

Banks tells the story of a young couple being broke and down on their luck. In the first verse Banks sings of having nothin' in me pocket except the old linin', while in the second his lover tells him of how they have no food for eating, nor money for heating.

Banks has hope, in the form of a lottery ticket;

We will not be going cold

Don't worry my dear

Look what I have here

A ticket of blue and of gold

Is it a winner? Is it sheer hope and desperation? We don't know. But what we do know is that Madra Salach deliver this modern tale of their own and others that have been around for a long, long time with passion and soul.

The Tunnel Tigers is introduced as being an old Irish folk song about Irish men that went over to London to create the tunnels for the Underground and lost their lives. Banks introduces The Blantyre Explosion by asking how far away Blantyre is, and there is a bit of banter by the crowd, with a couple of people shoutin out to declare the town as a shitehole. 

Banks laughs and says that he is about to sing a song regarding Scotland's worst ever mining disaster that happened back in 1877, killing over 200 people. Banks then gets serious as he pours his heart into the song so much that you believe that he is the young man telling the story about wandering by the Clyde in mourning and meeting a girl crying;

I stepped up beside her, and thus I addressed her

Pray tell me, fair maid, of your trouble and pain

Sobbing and sighing, at last she did answer

Johnny Murphy, kind sir, was my true lovers name

Twenty one years of age, full of youth and good looking

To work down the mines of High Blantyre he came

The wedding was fixed, all guests were invited

That calm summer's evening, young Johnny was slain

Banks jokes afterwards that they have more miserable songs to sing! But the crowd are mesmerised by him and his band. The intensity they play with, the soundscapes they conjure (slight and delicate tinges of electronica and psychedelia merged with Celtic folk and soul) and Banks exceptional voice.

At times, he is lost in the music, twitching and biting his nails (or what he has left!), turning his head, then back to the mic to give it his all.

In the Aeroplane Over The Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel is more upbeat and works beautifully. Single I Was Just A Boy is pretty euphoric with the crowd singing along, the extended instrumental is ferocious. Then they close with The Man Who Seeks Pleasure. The crowd are singing underneath Banks, subconciously mindful that they want to sing, but also want to take in his voice. The recorded version that they have released is special, but live, this song takes on more power. It's really special. A modern classic.

We head through to the bar and agree that Madra Salach will probably be selling out the Barrowland next year. They are a special band. The band are doing a roaring trade at the merch desk and mixing with fans. The guitarist/mandolin player is next to us at the bar and agrees that his singer has 'a fair set of pipes on him' and hints that they will be back in Scotland in October/November when they have a tour planned. Joe and I mentioned we saw them at Tenement Trail last year and he talks fondly about their day playing the Van Winkle and the response from that show and from the McChuills crowd. It was a pleasure to buy his round for him.  

Setlist

1. Blue & Gold

2. Spancil Hill (Michael Considine cover)

3. The Tunnel Tigers (Ewan McColl cover)

4. The Blantyre Explosion (Luke Kelly cover)

5. Murphy Can Never Go Home (Mick Curry cover)

6. In the Aeroplane Over The Sea (Neutral Milk Hotel cover)

7. The Ribbon Factory

8. I Was Just A Boy

9. The Man Who Seeks Pleasure