With a stage bedecked with fake flowers and Maybe This Time by Liza Minnelli playing in its entirety just before anyone takes to the stage, it felt like Lauren Mayberry had invited us round to hers to get a bit pissed and sing along to some absolute pop bangers. The repeated shouts of ‘We Love You, Lauren’ peppering the air throughout the course of the gig, echoed the general consensus that most of us would most definitely be up for that!
This intimate and convivial tone is further reinforced with her slightly bashful comments about most of the audience being made up of friends, family and CHVRCHES fans and confiding in us about how nervous she was, as if we were her pre-show confidantes. This informality eases the pressure for everyone, herself included, as to the expectations of the gig and allowed us all to just see what happens. Her oftentimes self-effacing banter and her genuine surprise at having to upscale the gig from Òran Mór to the larger SWG3 conveys that this isn’t going to be a slick high production CHVRCHES gig, this is going to be a Lauren Mayberry gig and the crowd were up for it.
Humility aside, however, her stage get-up, which consisted of a black t-shirt with the slogan ‘Safety, Dignity and Healthcare for all Trans People’ proves she hasn’t lost any of her confidence in using her position to platform important matters that are worthy of the spotlight. A stance further repeated later when she hailed the need for ‘as much queer and trans energy as we can’ following a warranted jibe at Rishi Sunak and chants of ‘Fuck the Tories’ which we were all too happy to get behind.
As she rightly pointed out, Mayberry was playing a bunch of songs that we’d never heard so I can’t really tell you which one was which. I do remember particularly enjoying one called Under The Knife and one called Change Shapes but rest assured that they all hit the mark. Not at all like the one song that had been pre-emptively released into the wild ahead of her solo tour, each track was hefty, loud and pop to their core. It was a setlist in which the aforementioned Are You Awake? should’ve felt out of place but weirdly didn’t at all when she did eventually play it.
To ‘soften the blow’ of the lack of tracks we knew Mayberry lined up two covers. Say What You Want by Texas was the chosen ‘local track of the day’, a part of the gig that had become something of a regular thing on her solo tour. The other was Like a Prayer and holy hell it was big! The way in which this iconic and enduring anthem fitted seamlessly into Lauren’s own newly crafted back catalogue is testament to the just how good Mayberry is and how on her way she is to being this generation’s pop icon.
For me, this gig stamps a seal of approval on Lauren Mayberry’s first proper expedition into the world of solo stardom and sticks a quality guaranteed sticker on the upcoming album. It’s an album that promises to be suitable for fans of CHVRCHES, suitable for fans of music and especially suitable for anyone who likes getting a bit pissed and singing along to some absolute pop bangers.
Words and pictures: Kat Gollock @littlekatphotos