Chvrches return to Philadelphia, PA for their Love Is Dead tour in support of their third album, which came out in May.
Franklin Music Hall, formerly known as The Electric Factory and briefly known as North Seventh, welcomed Chvrches for a sold-out show. This was the venue’s first show under its new name. Lo Moon, an indie rock band from Los Angles, CA, started the night with a seven-song set. Their first song was “This Is It” from their self-titled debut album that came out in February 2018. A couple of songs into the set, the band’s lead singer, Matt Lowell mentioned the Philadelphia Flyer’s new mascot Gritty and said he is “the coolest f**king thing ever.” After he professed his love for Gritty, he dove back into more songs from the album. Six of their seven songs were from their new album except for “For Me It’s You” which is a new, unreleased song that they’ve been playing recently.
A little before 10pm, Chvrches took the stage and opened with “Get Out,” the first single from their new album. The band were also in the area for Radio 104.5’s 11th Birthday Show in June at BB&T Pavilion. Lead singer, Lauren Mayberry then went right into “Bury It,” complete with center stage hair flipping for each chorus. Mayberry took a moment to thank the audience for their support. Continuing the Philadelphia sports theme, she mentioned how last time Chvrches was in town, the city didn’t have a Super Bowl Championship, which was followed by loud applause and a couple of E-A-G-L-E-S chants. The band went back and played “Gun,” which was released in 2013 and “God’s Plan” from Love Is Dead. Again, Mayberry took more time to thank the audience for coming to the show. She noted how they played at the same venue for the “first American show” on their Every Open Eye tour and noticed how so many people in the crowd made such an effort with their homemade shirts, sparkles and full make-up. She also went on a short banter about how, at a previous show, someone threw a jock strap filled with condoms onto the stage. Mayberry thought it was funny and joked about the band keeping it and rubbing it for good luck every night before they go on stage, like a rabbit’s foot.
On a more serious note, she told the audience that they may or may not know that Chvrches donates $1 from every ticket sale to that city’s Girls’ Rock Camps to get more talented females into music. The band then performed “Leave A Trace” and “Clearest Blue” before disappearing backstage. After a few minutes of loud applause, the trio returned for two encore songs: “The Mother We Share” and “Never Say Die.” Before leaving the stage, the band thanked the audience again and said they’d be back soon.
CHVRCHES
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Nice review and photos. Happy to see CHVRCHES back on tour and looking forward to seeing them again soon!