LIVE REVIEW: Chase Atlantic @ Eventim Apollo, London
Amongst throws of panic and uncertainty around concerts set for Brixton Academy, CHASE ATLANTIC brought their three-day residency to the Eventim Apollo instead. The queue looped around the corner with fans buzzing with excitement, though the night itself was plagued with issues. From ticket scammers and new tickets not being sent for the venue change to them putting photographers in the balcony, it started off rough, but thankfully CHASE ATLANTIC brought their all to the stage and made it worth it.
Due to the box office having only two queues to handle ticket sales, issues, press and guest lists, by the time we entered the venue, we had missed the first half of opener XAVIER MAYNE, however, once seated, it proved that nothing truly exciting was being missed. XAVIER MAYNE has the looks and swagger to draw in swarms of teenage girls, but musically? The entire set sounded like one continuous monotonous track. With a high amount of reverb and distortion, the few times he was actually performing live were almost impossible to decipher, yet the crowd still lapped it up. A lot of disgruntled parents looked bored and borderline confused throughout this set and it was very clear to see why.
Rating: 4/10
After XAVIER MAYNE left the stage, the crew brought a ladder onto the stage and it seemed like something may have needed to be fixed on stage but no, it was a prop for the next support. RUNNING TOUCH (the moniker of Matthew Kopp of OCEAN GROVE) was a much more energetic performer and actually interacted with the audience from the get-go. After climbing down from his ladder, the singer flitted between shredding guitar and drum solos to playing insane keyboard runs too, it seems like he had endless talent – and energy. Once again though, the feedback and vocal distortion made it hard to hear specific lyrics or vocal prowess. After fighting with tech issues for the first three songs, RUNNING TOUCH, unfortunately, had to cut their set short, dampening the impact and leaving the crowd wanting more.
Rating: 6/10
After two fairly underwhelming openers, all bets were off when it came to CHASE ATLANTIC’s headline set. Thankfully though, any naysayers were proven wrong. After a ridiculously long mini-movie style opener, the band burst onto the stage with endless energy and charisma that had even the balcony crowd on their feet. This group are the prime example of having distortion and reverb but still being completely understandable. Even though their discography strays more to the alt-pop route, they are the kind of band who ‘rock it up’ live, and it works immensely well. Their music turned to more of a pop-rock feel with electronic additions and it was the perfect amalgamation of genres to draw in a diverse crowd. It’s a shame their openers didn’t bring that energy.
The bass and drums were palpable, you could feel it in your rib cage with how strong it was. It was insane at its highest moments. Their staging was simple with a large LCD screen that they used to it’s full extent, displaying mini-movies and album artwork in the background as they performed, they didn’t need anything else more elaborate. CHASE ATLANTIC’s two frontmen, Mitchel Cave and Christian Anthony, had all of the charm, charisma, and good looks that you would expect for a boy band, but the star of the five-man show was the saxophone player; Clinton Cave. Every other song had a saxophone solo and the guy owned every moment on the stage, adding prowess and class to every moment.
With a strong set, highlights came from the likes of Into It and Slow Down, both of which made the balcony feel like it was going to come down with how much people were jumping up and down and genuinely having the times of their lives as the band unleashed the songs to the packed crowd. Crunchy chords, heavy drums and saxophone solos mixed with rap vocals is a bizarre mixture on paper, but live, it is honestly a winning combination and one that CHASE ATLANIC delivered with class.
Rating: 9/10
Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in London from Adriana Vasile here:
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