CHVRCHES live in Manila: You’ve heard it all before, but not like this
CHVRCES Live in Manila
SM Aura Samsung Hall, Taguig
Nov, 26, 2014
Sonically, it could have happened in the eighties.
Explosive processed beats, frosty synthesized chords, sequencer patterns reminiscent of Vangelis’s soundtrack work for “Blade Runner,” sampled vocals played staccato in different pitches…
Of course back then, there was a distinct line drawn between guitar-based bands and synth-oriented groups particularly in the performance area. ‘
Synth player as corpse
The synthesizer player would often be standing stock still, playing up the automaton role as an extension of the electronics laid around him/her, alluding to a future where everything happens with the press of a button or the twist of a knob, the bleak timbres produced by technology a celebration of the death of the phallus-obsessed guitar rock.
They might as well be ironing clothes or chopping vegetables.
What’s the difference between a coffin and a keyboard, goes a musician’s joke: with a coffin, the corpse is inside.
Aligned on stage
It is, of course 2014, the sounds of the future now part of a retro past and revived for the present.
If anybody from the eighties time traveled and remained militant about celebrating the mechanization of music and musicians, CHVRCHES would have been a disappointment.
On stage right, Iain Cook shifts between keyboards, a guitar, and a bass; on stage right, Martin Doherty’s fingers dance gingerly on a sampler, triggering different sounds, and moving animatedly. In the middle, elfin vocalist Lauren Mayberry occasionally holds the microphone lodged in its stand head down as if in prayer. She shakes her tambourine in perfect time (she’s also a drummer).
They are aligned onstage: not a vocalist-with-sidemen situation here.
Hope and sadness
The sound is clear and huge, Mayberry’s soaring plaintive vocals resonating around the hall, and the effect is akin to having a rave in a cathedral.
Maybe that’s why, despite insisting that there are no religious connotations with the band name, they chose to call themselves CHVRCHES… sure sounds like they’re in one.
There is hope and sadness in those places, and in the band’s debut album “The Bones of What You Believe.”
Back to earth
The music is bright and buoyant, the lyrics sometimes melancholic. “I’m feeling capable of saying it’s over” repeats Mayberry on the coda of “Tether.” And then…
“Thanks guys!”
Mayberry expresses gratitude cheerily, the celestial singing voice now down-to-earth.
Criminally pretty nerd
She holds a Masters in journalism and is a law graduate.
Her almost criminally pretty face has gained a lot of attention but she prefers to deflect not exploit it. In fact, she wrote articulately against sexism.
Sure, she has on occasion applied glitter and upswept eyeliner, but it is clear that she, Cook, and Doherty are not upholding any “image.”
You’ve heard it before…but not like this
Their sound is synth-driven with pop smarts: people who grew up on a diet of Eurythmics, OMD, Erasure, Depeche Mode, heck, even Cyndi Lauper.
You’ve heard it all before… but not quite like this.
The concert featured three local opening acts: DJ Joey Santos, Brisom, and Autotelic; an entrance snafu prevented a large number of the audience from checking them out.
I caught the last three songs of Autotelic’s set and at the very least, their cheerful indie rock was an appropriate lead-in to the main act.
Nearly note perfect
CHVRCHES played most of their album in their performance, nearly note perfect; there were subtle timbral changes that revealed a band that, while reliant on pre-programmed beats and motifs, clearly was not a “just press play” outfit.
Iain Cook played the lurching octave riff on “Lungs” on distorted bass guitar. He also played the catchy four-note guitar hook of “Night Sky.”
Martin Doherty took a selfie with the crowd before trading places with Mayberry for “Under the Tide.” His vocals were serviceable and lacked the clarity of Mayberry’s stylings but made up for it with hyperactive stage moves.
The focal/vocal point
Mayberry’s voice of course was the focal (vocal?) point, her child-like timbre sometimes eerie but always catchy, the element that defines the band’s sound as current.
The main set ended with their biggest hit (so far) “The Mother We Share.” With its stuttering sampled vocal intro, hip-hop rhythm, new wave synths and happy/sad chorus, it remains CHVRCHES’ signature tune.
The encore included “Dead Air” from the “Mockingjay Part 1” OST, and the haunting “You Caught the Light” which once again featured Doherty on vocals.
The three traded little asides in between songs; Mayberry commented that it was a nice way to end the Asian tour which ends on Dec. 1 in Seoul.
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