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Lauren Mayberry Setlist
Previously
Excerpt from
Palace Theatre (02 Oct 2018):
As for Chvrches their indiepop/dance/synthpop sound is more popular than ever, as evident by their ability to sell out their shows every time they play in Minnesota. Martin Doherty summed it up on stage, “It’s nice to be back. Time and time again, you keep selling out every time we come here. Thank you for that.” It’s been three years since their last album, Every Open Eye, so with the third album, Lauren Mayberry said that they wanted to take their time with Love is Dead. They approach the record by closely working with a producer, at first with David Stewart, but ultimately with Greg Kurstin and Steve Mac for final production. The result is that Love is Dead is a polished album, and their songs on the album are both very poppy, but at the same time, very vulnerable. It’s a good sound for the trio, and Mayberry had already mentioned that they had those songs in mind for “more of a live experience.” Read More
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Lauren Mayberry, lead singer of Chvrches, headlined an evening of electropop at Fine Line Music Club.
Cult of Venus led off, appearing in a Tron-like sleek black outfit with white trim and some stellar shoes. This NYC-based artist performed solo, with a variety of programmed and live-played music. There’s a lot of intricate work here to align and play the backing tracks as needed, switching between that keyboard set up, and guitar, while singing as well. That programmed music ranged from simple percussion, to synth and backing vocals to a full musical score depending on the song. The second song, Time Capsule, was an early indication of the control of that music while also belting out the vocals and was a highlight of the set.
There’s a bit of a mysterious aura or a slightly distant vibe from Cult of Venus. Often performing half or even fully turned away from the audience, strangely, this really worked in bringing the audience in closer. Adding in constant strobes with the dark red & blue lighting, this created a very gloomy and moody effect. And that music flowed straight into that mood, as we were told “Welcome to the Apocalypse” prior to the start of the third song Mountains.
After the next song, Singer, the fifth song started with an almost operatic opening (again, turned away from the crowd) before launching into the lyrics and closed out with that operatic solo. The final song, Algorithm, had a full dance house music underneath her guitar and vocals. A businesslike 30 minutes doesn’t do justice to the effect on the crowd, as Cult of Venus left the stage.
Speaking with Cult of Venus, I asked if the mysteriousness was purposeful. The answer was that some of it was logistical, with all of the instruments. But some of it is trying to create the sense of the woman singer shrouded in shadow, “just coming out of the ether”. It’s a fine line of not being too staged, but the outfit, backlighting, and pretty dark approach is intended to highlight the outline of the vocalist, but not necessarily the details. Asked about the relative lack of web presence, the initial answer was a short “no comment”, before stating that the Cult of Venus has long pre-dated this particular incarnation of it. The Cult is a symbol of mystery and power, resistance and ultimately, a space for women to have a voice. I expect we’ll see and hear much more from this artist in the future.
Lauren Mayberry came to the stage in support of her first solo album Vicious Creatures. The first song was the well played radio single, Crocodile Tears. A fantastically funny monologue after the first song apologizing for being a little late (side note: that was only two minutes late!) and having difficulties about getting into her outfit had the crowd laughing hard. As it ended with, “I think Aquaphor tonight, just lube up the pits” then had Mayberry saying, “Wait, this show is supposed to be all class”. It was a masterclass in showmanship and the crowd was hers from there on out. And she capitalized on the next song, Change Shapes. Strong beats from her drummer and bass riffs melded with the programmed dance music and was carried by Mulberry’s singing.
After the song Shame, Mayberry had another long aside about the fact that the green room had a lot of penises drawn on the wall and that the band decided to re-appropriate them by drawing them into different things. One becoming the Batman with signal got a hilarious response from the crowd. Mayberry said, “we’re taking it back, one green room at a time. But this next song isn’t about any of those things…” If Mayberry doesn’t find a career in music, she can certainly turn to stand up comedy.
Anywhere but Dancing was a good change of pace, being a slower and simpler ballad. But the electropop was back on the next number, Punch Drunk, with a solid, danceable beat. More asides about a poorly bought megaphone (“stay away from it cats, it’s cursed!”) led to Something in the Air, with a long intro building up to the song and ultimately using the new megaphone. A cover of The Verve’s Bittersweet Symphony was powerful with Mayberry solo with just piano for the first verse, before giving way to the backing band and music. The next song, A Work of Fiction, was a light and bouncy number with a catchy piano riff leading the way. The main set ended with a very noisy, buzzy Sorry, Etc including heavy strobes.
The encore was two numbers, but first Mayberry thanked the audience for dealing with “the solo effort of the lead singer from a band, ugh”. The first song found her back with that solo backing piano, and it was a powerful, if fairly quiet, song. They ended with Sunday Best, which was called “the hopeful one” off the album. It was back to high energy and synth pop heavy, included Mayberry drumming, and was a great way to end the evening.
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Lauren Mayberry at Fine Line (03 Feb 2025)
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| thaddeus ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com |
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