CHVRCHES Prove Conscious Techno Pop Lives Strong at Seattle’s Paramount Theatre (SHOW REVIEW)

CHVRCHES recently brought their sold-out show to Seattle’s Paramount Theatre on September 30th for an exhilarating night of upbeat pop dance tunes in support of their Screen Violence album. The Seattle show came near to the end of this fifty-plus date tour, which kicked off in their hometown of Glasgow, Scotland, in March. Despite that, the quartet felt fresh, invigorated, and eager to be playing in front of the nearly 3,000 eager fans. 

Since their launch in early 2011, CHVRCHES has grown in an admirably intentional fashion, eschewing media that focused on anything beyond the band as a whole and steadily building a passionate fanbase on the strength of four albums. While each successive album has explored new territory, they also retain fundamental electric energy, a synth-tinged pulse that sucks in the listener and demonstrates the broad mix of influences foundational to the group. Indeed, Screen Violence features one of those influences personified, with the presence of The Cure leader singer Robert Smith on “How Not to Drown” – a song which still resonated live despite the noticeable lack of Smith’s vocals. 

Founding members Iain Cook, Martin Doherty, and Lauren Mayberry are all multi-instrumentalists and it was amazing to watch Doherty and Cook, in particular, shifting effortlessly between keyboard, guitar, and bass as Mayberry danced from one side of the stage to another, twirling, singing, and seeming to call to the audience to join in her enthusiasm for the show. The band has built a passionate following, a fact made evident by the fervor with which the audience was shout-singing along with many songs, and dancing energetically throughout the venue (despite the presence of seats in the mezzanine). 

Their live set was consistently dynamic; fog and lights were complemented with a screen backdrop that provided a glowing backdrop, alternately pulsing pink neon rectangles or fuzzy static in varying colors of red, blue, pink, green, and more. The screen and lighting provided a perfect backdrop of nondescript energy; it never detracted from the show but served to augment the verve with which the quartet performed.  

However, in addition to the music, CHVRCHES is a thoughtful, conscious techno-pop. Lead singer Mayberry demonstrated humility and gratitude to which one could attribute, at least in part, some of the reason they’ve been so successful; for example, late in the show, she commented on how amazing it was that people were “still coming to (their) shows after all these years to make music together,” and thanked the audience for making it possible. Understandably, that humility and clear passion for the connectedness between audience and performers simply further reinforces the bond CHVRCHES’ audience clearly feels with them. 

As the show ended and people waited to leave the packed floor area, this reviewer struck up conversations with some of the enthusiastic fans standing nearby. One, 12-year-old Willa, was visibly excited about having been in the front row where she was sure, Mayberry had made eye contact with her multiple times. In her words, “you could tell they were having a lot of fun on stage and the entire audience was reverberating that amazing energy back at them. You have to like what you do to be good on stage and they clearly did. The lights were spot on, and Lauren’s costume changes (of which she made three) made the show really fun and cool.” This jaded viewer had a hard time finding anything there with which to disagree; part of what has made CHVRCHES the amazing band they’ve become is their impossible-to-miss joie de vivre, their evident, and contagious, love of the show. It will be fun to see where that passion takes them next; this review intends to stay along for the ride. 

CHVRCHES Setlist Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA, USA 2022, Screen Violence

 

 

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