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Review Sun Mar 27 2011
Review: Chapel Club @ Double Door, 3/23/11
There are a few things that I was expecting from London's Chapel Club at the Double Door on Wednesday: polished new wave sounds and a certain knee quivering baritone that can't help but hint at Ian Curtis or Jim Morrison. What I wasn't expecting was five oh-so-humble-and-endearing yet really young looking twenty-somethings.
The five members of Chapel Club took the stage with anthemic guitar soundscapes of "Five Trees" set to blue house lights. The stringed instruments controlled most of the groups short set. Aside from Bowman graciously thanking the crowd, the most endearing aspect may have been lead singer Lewis Bowman's baritone vocals. Bowman introduced "Bodies" as a pleasant little love song before richly lingering over each song's lyrics. Most of the previously mentioned knee quivers occurred during the stripped down choruses of "Bodies". The only complaint about the song was that the vocals needed to be turned up.
From there, the group played the leisurely "Paper Thin" off the group's debut release, Palace. Bowman lightly held the microphone while breathing over the lyrics to "Window" and contemplated life choices, like either settling down or messing around with someone else's wife . They went into "O Maybe I", finally ending the set with the pop-y "Eastern Girls". While there was nothing ground-breaking about the set, as a longtime sucker for a baritone, I had nothing to complain about.
richie / March 28, 2011 2:54 AM
Wow, they played Window? I ♥ that song.