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Chvrches at First Avenue marquee
Chvrches at First Ave Setlist
Chvrches at Electric Fetus Setlist
North American Tour Dates
06/07/14 Royal Oak, MI Royal Oak Music Theatre
Read More
06/08/14 Field Trip Music & Arts Festival 06/10/14 Columbus, OH Newport Music Hall 06/11/14 Pittsburgh, PA Stage AE 06/13/14 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival 06/15/14 Brooklyn, NY "Northside Festival" 08/01/14 Chicago, IL Grant Park "Lollapalooza"
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Scottish trio Chvrches, is clearly now having a good time.
The indie electronic-pop threesome (Lauren Mayberry [lead vocals/synths/samplers], Iain Cook [synths/guitar/bass/vocals], and Martin Doherty [synths/samplers/vocals]) has been steadily building in popularity over the last year and a half- topping the U.S. Independent Album chart, playing to sold-out Minneapolis crowds twice prior ahead of their (and long sold-out) current two-night stand, and receiving a giant doughnut from the venue, with the band’s logo decorated on top. They even spent their day off in town at Valley Fair, the local amusement park, and spread all those good feelings last night across First Avenue’s mainroom.
Summer Cannibals opened the show with a 35 min. set, a Portland-based post-grunge band featuring vocalist/guitarist Jessica Boudreaux and former Minnesotan Marc Swart on guitar, who was cheered on by family in the audience. The band is in support of No Makeup on their own New Moss Records, and follow-up EP, Make You Better, which was initially released on cassette only (?!).
Boudreaux has a sometimes fierce vocal, not unlike Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon, and Swart’s fuzzy guitar recalls the best things about the Northwest sound of the early ‘90s. Swart, who hadn’t been back to the state in five years, had even teased a Nirvana riff before one of the songs, while perhaps unconsciously promoting a competing show with his Red Fang t-shirt, as that band was playing down the street the same evening. Tracks like ‘Wear Me Out’ and ‘Hey/I was Saved’ sounded both influenced and updated for a 21st century audience.
Before their hour-long evening set, Chvrches briskly stopped by local record store Electric Fetus for a stripped, three song in-store performance. The band seemed relaxed and playful and the sparse versions of the songs were no less compelling than the full electric ones. Mayberry even pre-warned the all-ages crowd before ‘The Mother We Share’ that the lyrics contained “a sweary word”, even offering to “give a signal” before she said it, and saying it probably was the reason they’ve never been offered to sing on Sesame Street.
As lights were dimmed, rolling smoke from dry ice covered the stage area, and the Glaswegian trio Chvrches took the stage to begin their hour-long set, with the new ‘We Sink’. Their lightshow has grown impressively to almost EDM-scale stature, all cued off of the band’s logo as seen on the album cover, and keeping them even more in near-darkness, probably encouraged by Mayberry’s innate shyness. Cook and Doherty flanked Mayberry with their consoles on each side whose lighted front pieces (resembling a “7” and reverse "7") completed the band’s distinctive logo shape. Chvrches is somewhat unique in that it generates all the sounds heard live, as opposed to pre-programming loops and effects, that also keeps their live performance fresh.
‘Lies’, from full-length debut, The Bones of What You Believe (Glassnote/Virgin Records) followed, with the band mostly unseen against the rolling smoke and flashing lights that atmospherically mirrored the dark lyrics. Mayberry’s innocent sounding vocals cut above the sharpened beats, with Cook focused on his musical multi-tasking, and Doherty doing the same, though more manic in his creating. The band is a similar counterpart to locals Poliça, who use dual drummers to enhance their electronic core sound and feature a similarly on-stage shy Channy Leaneagh, versus the two synth/samplers that Chvrches use.
‘Gun’ would be next, its bouncy electronica belying the confrontational, revenge-filled dark lyrics that are at the song’s center. Mayberry teased the crowd about the venue’s warmth and using her floor fan to cool herself, envisioning herself as Whitney Houston in a video. Album bonus track, ‘Strong Hand’ was a nice surprise, and could almost be considered the album’s title track with its lyric, “give me the bones of what I believe”. Cell phone cameras collectively rose in the air for initial single, ‘Recover’, with the electronic bass more throbbing live, than on record.
Doherty took the lead vocals over for ‘Under the Tide’, spastically dancing in and out of the darkness during the chorus as Mayberry took over his sampler pads for the song. The overheated crowd had to be literally hosed down by venue staff up front before set closer, ‘The Mother We Share’, which worked everyone up even more.
Encore opening ‘You Caught the Light’ had Doherty returning to lead vocals; as the album’s final song, it also most recalls Doherty’s past as a member of fellow Scottish act, The Twilight Sad.
By the Throat’ with haunting lyric, “all that is golden is never real” was saved for last, though all that is golden seems to be becoming very real, for a band that will most likely playing much bigger venues to much larger crowds, the next time through... and will probably have a good time doing so.
The indie electronic-pop threesome (Lauren Mayberry [lead vocals/synths/samplers], Iain Cook [synths/guitar/bass/vocals], and Martin Doherty [synths/samplers/vocals]) has been steadily building in popularity over the last year and a half- topping the U.S. Independent Album chart, playing to sold-out Minneapolis crowds twice prior ahead of their (and long sold-out) current two-night stand, and receiving a giant doughnut from the venue, with the band’s logo decorated on top. They even spent their day off in town at Valley Fair, the local amusement park, and spread all those good feelings last night across First Avenue’s mainroom.
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Summer Cannibals
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Jessica Boudreaux
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Chvrches at Electric Fetus
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As lights were dimmed, rolling smoke from dry ice covered the stage area, and the Glaswegian trio Chvrches took the stage to begin their hour-long set, with the new ‘We Sink’. Their lightshow has grown impressively to almost EDM-scale stature, all cued off of the band’s logo as seen on the album cover, and keeping them even more in near-darkness, probably encouraged by Mayberry’s innate shyness. Cook and Doherty flanked Mayberry with their consoles on each side whose lighted front pieces (resembling a “7” and reverse "7") completed the band’s distinctive logo shape. Chvrches is somewhat unique in that it generates all the sounds heard live, as opposed to pre-programming loops and effects, that also keeps their live performance fresh.
‘Lies’, from full-length debut, The Bones of What You Believe (Glassnote/Virgin Records) followed, with the band mostly unseen against the rolling smoke and flashing lights that atmospherically mirrored the dark lyrics. Mayberry’s innocent sounding vocals cut above the sharpened beats, with Cook focused on his musical multi-tasking, and Doherty doing the same, though more manic in his creating. The band is a similar counterpart to locals Poliça, who use dual drummers to enhance their electronic core sound and feature a similarly on-stage shy Channy Leaneagh, versus the two synth/samplers that Chvrches use.
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Lauren Mayberry
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Doherty took the lead vocals over for ‘Under the Tide’, spastically dancing in and out of the darkness during the chorus as Mayberry took over his sampler pads for the song. The overheated crowd had to be literally hosed down by venue staff up front before set closer, ‘The Mother We Share’, which worked everyone up even more.
Encore opening ‘You Caught the Light’ had Doherty returning to lead vocals; as the album’s final song, it also most recalls Doherty’s past as a member of fellow Scottish act, The Twilight Sad.
By the Throat’ with haunting lyric, “all that is golden is never real” was saved for last, though all that is golden seems to be becoming very real, for a band that will most likely playing much bigger venues to much larger crowds, the next time through... and will probably have a good time doing so.
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Chvrches at First Avenue, Minneapolis (04 June 2014) |
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