CHVRCHES Shakes The Shrine Auditorium: How The Band Surpassed Expectations

(Dale Chong/Neon Tommy)

As someone who’s only seen CHVRCHES perform by watching their NPR Tiny Desk concert and knowing they make their music primarily with synthesizers, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect about watching the Glasgow-native trio live at the Shrine Auditorium on October 17th. If I had any expectations, CHVRCHES exceeded them by a mile.

Opened by Mansionair and American Football, CHVRCHES charged out onto the stage with an energy that cannot be rivaled. On the stage stood two stands on each side for Iain Cook and Martin Doherty holding synthesizers, samplers, and a guitar for Cook. During the first song “Never Ending Circles,” Cook and Doherty took their places while powerhouse lead singer Lauren Mayberry commanded the stage, running from side to side and staking claim to the center.

For a show that was roughly an hour and fifteen minutes, the band did well mixing songs from their first album with hits from their second, including songs such as “Make Them Gold,” “Tether,” “Gun” and “Leave a Trace.” While the Shrine Auditorium was one of the larger venues the band has performed at, Mayberry kept the setting as intimate as possibly by speaking with the audience in between sets, mentioning how the band typically plays earlier shows and that it was “time for a nap,” proving to be quite charming.

It’s no secret that CHVRCHES is heavily influenced by 80s pop music, and if there’s any way to visualize that into a light show, it happened at this concert using strobes and LED screens. With the combination of the music along with the light show, it truly felt as though the room was encapsulated inside of a glittering disco ball.

Though Mayberry announced she was “marginally sick,” one would never be able to notice by the strength of her vocals throughout the night as well as her level of energy moving throughout the stage. Mayberry truly shows her singing chops in the slower “Afterglow,” before finishing off with “The Mother We Share.”

Simply by watching the way the band moves throughout the stage and the amount of energy they demonstrate, anyone can tell just how much they love performing, and ultimately their music. The CHVRCHES concert is exactly what you’d imagine their albums to be live; catchy electro-pop songs and high energy.

Full Setlist:

1. Never Ending Circles
2. We Sink
3. Keep You on My Side
4. Lies
5. Make Them Gold
6. Empty Threat
7. Tether
8. Playing Dead
9. Sciences/Visions
10. Gun
11. Bury It
12. Under the Tide
13. Recover
14. Clearest Blue
15. Leave a Trace
16. Afterglow
17. Mother We Share

Reach Associate Arts + Culture Editor Dale Chong here. Follow her on Twitter here.