[ATTENDED: February 17, 2025] Lauren Mayberry
I was a fan of Chvrches when their first album came out. Then I kind of lost track of them. But in that time my wife became a fan. We missed their last tour in Philly (back in 2021 (!)). When Lauren Mayberry released a solo album, we both loved the single “Something in the Air” and thought it would be neat to see her live.
The show didn’t sell very well, which was surprising I thought, since Chvrches has sold out Franklin Music Hall, a much bigger venue. But it meant that we had a really intimate show, which was awesome.
Overall I liked most of the album Vicious Creature, although there were a few songs that I wasn’t that excited by. But wow, these songs were fantastic live!
She had two band members on stage and, I think, a guy on the side with a bank of Apple laptops (I joked that it looked like an Apple store–there were about five!). The two members on stage were Marian Li-Pino on drums and Heather Nation doing guitar or bass depending on the song. Later in the set, Heather played piano and Marian played guitar for a song, too.
Heather Nation was ferocious on guitar–generating great sounds. And Marian Li-Pino was a beast on the drums. They had a cool cymbal that was bent and made a great metallic, non-cymbal sound. And Lauren Mayberry was an excellent front woman–she knows how to perform a show. And what a voice! I mean, it was amazing.
She played the entire album. The bangers were amazing–bigger and louder than I expected. The quieter songs were pretty, a little too mellow for my enjoyment, but hey, you need to vary the mood.
And she had props. For Crocodile Tears she had a telephone. For Something in the Air, she sang into a megaphone. And for Sunday Best she beat the hell out of a floor tom. All the while, she danced around the stage. She told some short but amusing stories and even congratulated Philly on their super bowl win, even though the only thing she knew about football is what she learned from watching Taylor Swift.
The show was just over an hour and even if it was short it didn’t feel like it. We got an entire evening’s worth of entertainment out of the set. And the crowd was good too. In fact, this guy next to me dropped his drink which spilled all over the floor. The people around him and in front of me moved and since they were right in front of me, I now had a perfect view of the stage. Win-win.
We were back in the car by 10:15 and home nice and early having enjoyed a really fun evening.
I think we’d both like to see Chvrches if they ever tour, but it would kind of suck to see them in a big crowded room after seeing this close intimate show–and I’m sure if they come back, the venue will be huge and it will be packed! But it would probably be worth it.
- Liability Waiver [tape intro]
- Crocodile Tears €
- Change Shapes €
- Mantra €
- Shame €
- Anywhere but Dancing €
- Punch Drunk €
- Something in the Air € [with megaphone]
- Are You Awake? €
- Bitter Sweet Symphony (The Verve cover)
- A Work of Fiction €
- Sorry, Etc €
encore - Oh, Mother €
- Sunday Best €
€ Vicious Creature (2024)
Here’s a recording of the show a few nights before ours.
I Just Read About That... 
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