Chvrches at The Olympia Theatre – Photos and Review

Chvrches, a Scottish synth-pop act played their first show in Ireland last night. Singer songwriter SOAK played in support,her chilled, ambient songs ‘Blud’ and ‘Sea Creatures’ were lovely. SOAK’s debut EP is out in May 2014 and she will be supporting Chvrches throughout their European tour.

Chvrches attracted a large crowd, and they packed in early while strobe lights flashed across their embedded Chvrches logo. Mayberry’s high vocal launched into ‘We Sink’, a pulsating sounding song, before the rest of band hit the darkened stage. Mayberry is a heart breaker for a beauty, and is often described as reminding people of someone that broke their heart once.

In 2013, the band came 5^th in the BBC Sound of Poll, and were tipped as an important up and coming musical act to watch.  ‘Recover’ EP was released in early March 2013 and a debut album ‘The Bones of What You Believe’ followed towards the end of last year. Lauren Mayberry on lead vocals, synth, Iain Cook on synth, guitar, bass, vocals, and Martin Doherty (synth, samplers, vocals).

During ‘Lies’ Mayberry sang “I can feel your dirty mind” during ‘Lies’, amidst beating lights and the crowd screamed in excitement.  There is an unusual complexity about Mayberry which is very hard to pin point, she is very unpredictable in her movements at times. Deep bass reverberated across and our chests, while the amps throbbed for ‘Gun’.  Wonky synth and throbbing bass mixed with her souring vocal gently massaging our heads similar to ‘Crystal Castles’. During “Night Sky”, Mayberry rocked back and forth on the spot with her microphone, lost in the music.

Lights twinkled and shimmered as the singer, quietly confident received a lot of crowd love – many  singing and rocking along in awe. The highlight of the night was Doherty stepping out from behind synth to sing and dance to ‘Under the Tide’. ‘The Mother We Share’ was followed by an outburst by Mayberry about her contempt toward the tickets touting before the Irish concert, which received cheers and wolf whistles in appreciation. Stand out songs were ‘Gun’, ‘Recover’, ‘Tether’ and they ended to explosions of their Chvrches logo on ‘Master’, leaving only smoke and their logo amidst the darkness of the stage.

Overall, it was a short set for the relatively new act who have with a lot going for them. Time and experience will definitely build on their impressive contribution to the musical hall of fame. It will be interesting to follow how Chvrches new material will unfold in future. The only drawback was that the gig took place on a Wednesday night, Friday or Saturday would have been perfect for this type of set, but still they performed to perfection and it was a great gig.

Review by Aine Byrne

Photos by Laur Ryan

Setlist:
We sink
Lies
Lungs
Gun
Night Sky
Strong Hand
Science
Recover
Tether
Under the Tide
The Mother We Share
Caught the Light
By the Throat
Masters