Fat Sam’s Dundee
12th June 2023
Straight from supporting Coldplay’s stadium tour, CHVRCHES headed out to play a small summer tour consisting of four sold out gigs at Nottingham Rock City, a double header at the Glasgow Barrowlands and then on to Fat Sam’s in Dundee.
CHVRCHES had to cancel a previous planned gig back in March 2022 at Fat Sam’s due to an illness in the bands camp.
With their first new music in over a year CHVRCHES released the single ‘Over’ as they teamed up with producer Oscar Holter. The band said “Normally we collect songs over the course of months (or years) until we have an album’s worth of material but this time we just wanted to release something we were excited about and give the fans something new to mark the end of the Screen Violence era, and the start of whatever the next CHVRCHES chapter might be.”
Making my way to the gig I was excited because I was hoping that CHVRCHES would still be bringing along DEAD PONY as a support band for the night. The band had supported them in Nottingham and the double header Borrowlands gig but when I arrived, I was informed that it was just CHVRCHES performing.
In the venue I noticed a good following of die-hard fans or as the band call then, “Chvrches Deadheads,” along the front wearing Final Girl t-shirts. I was approach by a fan who informed me that at the end of the show fake blood would be thrown and it would be a good time to photograph this but sadly I had to inform the fan that I only get the first three songs at the start.
As the lights went down band mates Iain Cook, Martin Doherty and Johnny Scott took to the stage making way for Mayberry to enter to the delight of her screaming Deadheads. Mayberry said ”Well, hello Dundee. Thank you for all coming out to the rescheduled show, it took 14-15 months to get here so thank you.”
Mayberry spun and ran across the stage and at times I was finding it difficult to keep up with her energetic performance. She made a few costume changes including the slasher-filmed-themed with fake blood.
The 17-song set list included the bands collaboration with Robert Smith of The Cure How Not To Drown, Science/Visions, Final Girl before a three song encore with Asking for a Friend, The Mother We Share and Clearest Blue’s.
