Concert Thu Sep 12 2013

Review/Photos: CHVRCHES with XXYYXX @ Cabaret Metro 09/10/13

By Kirstie Shanley

Like a sudden meteor shower in a starless quiet sky, CHVRCHES seemed to emerge out of nowhere. The Scottish electro-pop three piece is almost relentlessly fun and catchy but there are plenty of bands out there boasting such a quality that aren't selling out much smaller venues. Their sudden popularity and ability to sell out The Metro on a Wednesday night after only a couple of EPs to their name (their first full length entitled The Bones of What You Believe will be released later this month) piqued this reviewer's/photographer's interest.

One item of variability amongst bands playing live is their stage banter and, interestingly enough, word had gotten around that this trio had some worthy and amusing things to say, especially lead singer Lauren Mayberry herself. However, most of the time, perhaps because the show was being filmed, the band stayed pretty focused on playing their songs, which was a little unfortunate in that it was difficult to gain a sense of the band's personality.(Though Mayberry did express her,happiness to be back playing shows in Chicago.)

Another aspect that shouldn't be overlooked is the amount of energy a young band like this seems to possess live when they are tightly grasping greatness and on the verge of a possibly epic career. The songs definitely sounded more solid live than on album with a nice pounding beat and the visuals of lights and an upside down lit up V did add some stage presence. It felt more heavy hitting live than the whimsy thisw reviewer was expecting. The double synths may have helped a bit too with this aspect. At times, this delivered just enough to heighten the appeal but often there was just too much style and not enough substance.

Overall, the real downfall of the evening was that though CHVRCHES is a fun and already accomplished sounding band live, they failed to live up to the excessive hype generated over them. Unlike Savages, whose live presence veers more towards the edgy and truly profound, the success of CHVRCHES seems more based in the fact that the band's sound is just very accessible. They aren't doing anything all that creative with their music at this point but it seems they don't even need to in order to please more mainstream audiences everywhere.

CHVRCHES Setlist:

This reviewer would also be remiss if she didn't mention the opener, producer/dj Marcel Everett who plays under the moniker XXYYXX. It's impressive, to say the least, that Everett is only 17 but mainly because he is able to show strong creativity in the way he blends beats and samples quite effortlessly. Everett may be a laptop user and a knob twister but he's also a great dancer and it was exhilarating to watch him move on stage, his form often silhouetted by hazy backlighting. The facial expressions one could make out suggested an intense Joy from his musical creations. Everett's set showed all kinds of influences from drum and bass to techno to a more avant-garde "modern art" noise piece he said he created with another fan the night previously, which was easily one of the best tracks of the set.