Chameleons - 10 Sep 23, W Palm FL

Respectable Street Cafe:

Mark Burgess' thundering bass and passionate vocals, ripped through a set of songs with all the urgency of 1981 gold medal winning track star in four white striped on blue adidas shoes.

9/11 23 : Here's what I can make out of my gin smeared chicken scratch parchment that survived in one of my pockets

‘Paper Tigers’
‘A Person Isn’t Safe Anywhere These Days’
‘Here Today’
‘Pleasure And Pain’
‘Monkeyland’
‘Looking Inwardly’
‘Perfume Garden’
‘Up The Down Escalator’
‘Singing Rule Britannia
‘Soul In Isolation’
‘In Shreds’ (raised the hair from the back of my neck)
‘Second Skin’
‘Swamp Thing’
‘Don’t Fall



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 09/11/2023 10:32AM by STEVE.

I think I'm gonna go see them in a few weeks too. I will endure The Mission, I suppose.

Yeah, the show started at 7pm and the chameleons we on by 8:30 and were off the stage at 9:30

That's exactly the way we timed our entrance in and out of the venue as well.
I guess everyone planned it that way because Chris Oliver nearly plowed me over when he hit the exit stairs full on.
Next was Reg, but he hit his brakes, stopped and shook my hand.

The Chameleons were terrific last night! The band was tight, and they delivered their songs with real passion (and surprisingly good sound quality, given the venue). Again, I would've loved to have heard more, but hey, I'll take what I could get.

SETLIST:
A Person Isn't Safe Anywhere These Days
Monkeyland
Looking Inwardly
In Shreds
Caution
Singing Rule Britannia (While the Walls Close In)
Swamp Thing
Second Skin

Theatre of Hate played first ... and came onto the stage 20 minutes early, which worked out well for me. I got tired of their music about two songs in, and went to the room next door, where it was quieter. (They had a playlist going that I really enjoyed.) And I left right after the Chameleons' set ended -- not out of antipathy toward The Mission, but because I had a 4:30AM start today.

I saw them here in Portland on Tuesday and enjoyed the hell out of it. Nice to finally catch them live after close to 40 years of fandom.

I was similarly impressed by how tight and energetic they were. The setlist here was probably pretty much identical to what they did in Seattle and it scratched enough of my itches, even if it was about half as long as I would have preferred. Apparently they and the Mission have switched the middle and closing slots on occasion on this tour and I sure would have preferred for the Chameleons to have played for more than 50 minutes.

I wasn't all that thrilled with Theatre of Hate either, but was interested to read their history yesterday (after the fact) since it was clear they were contemporaries of the other two bands. I guess Billy Duffy got his start in ToH before moving on to Southern Death Cult.

I did stick around for the Mission, along with maybe 2/3 of the crowd that had been there for the Chameleons. I've never been much of an enthusiast and only own one record, but they put on a decent show. It definitely helped that they had a young and energetic and very good drummer, so that kept things a little more lively.

I'm seeing them in Tampa tomorrow (Tue). Very excited, even for The Mission. I started digging into their stuff over the past few weeks and am enjoying it.

They're playing Seattle on the 27th. I have an early start the next day, but I may have to just tough it out. I missed their last Seattle show ... and Mark isn't getting any younger.

This tour hits Austin this coming Saturday at our local goth club. Alas, it’s the same night as the Ron Carter Trio (and John McLaughlin’s Shakti, for that matter), so I’ll have to miss it. Carter’s 86, speaking of not getting any younger.

That is the correct response… for $10,000 and a BRAND...NEW...CARRRR!!!

Former TP subscriber [81, 82, 83, 84]

[postpunkmonk.com]
For further rumination on the Fresh New Sound of Yesterday®

My thoughts from the show last night in Tampa.

First and foremost, I was expecting a setlist similar to the one Steve posted (14 songs), so when they ended after 8, I was sorely disappointed. But when I checked setlist.fm this morning, I saw that every other set thus far on this tour has been 8-9 songs, including the show Steve attended in West Palm Beach. So, I think Steve's napkin may have been a bit more gin-smeared and chicken-scratched than he realized. Love ya, Steve, but just setting the record straight for the good of the forum. :-)

Short set notwithstanding, I concur with Steve--the band was in top form and playing with a ton of energy. When I saw them 4 years ago, as much as I enjoyed the show, it was clearly Mark and a pick-up band. With Reg back in the fold and top-notch drummer Stephen Rice (who has been with Mark for a while now), this band is just far superior. As a guitarist, I was so excited to see Reg play his original parts. Mark was very animated and theatric. Oh, and his voice sounded great, even if they played down a step on a few tunes. Setlist as follows (I may have jumbled the order a bit):

A Person Isn't Safe Anywhere These Days
Monkeyland
Looking Inwardly
Soul in Isolation
Home Is Where the Heart Is
Swamp Thing
In Shreds
Second Skin

For the closing minute or so of Second Skin, Mark jumped off the stage and finished playing the song in the crowd. This was right in front of a mom and dad and their young children (middle-school age tops), so I'm sure that was an extra special treat for them.

Theatre of Hate kicked off the evening, and I really enjoyed their set. They also opened last time I saw The Chameleons, and other than "Do You Believe in the Westworld," I couldn't have told you if they played any of the same songs from 4 years ago. I want to dig into their music. There is something different about them I find appealing.

The Mission were better than I expected. Before catching up on the band over the past month or so, I incorrectly thought it was Wayne Hussey with a rotating cast backing him. Turns out, other than a new drummer, it's the same bassist and guitarist that played on their first 3 albums. This has apparently been the case since 2011, so that was cool that I got to see the "classic" lineup for the most part. Other than some early sound issues, their set offered little to complain about. Hussey sounded great, and they played just about every song a casual fan such as myself would want to hear. It was sweltering hot in the venue, which Hussey commented on after the second song...but the guy didn't drink a drop of water for the duration. I'm guessing he did when they left the stage before the encore, but who knows. The Chameleons guys were chugging water after every song.

All in all, a great night. My ears are still ringing, but I had a blast.

I mentioned the upcoming Mission/Chameleons show to Leilani, the DJ who has the Friday night slot ahead of mine. She instantly piped up with, "Oh, you just reminded me! I have two tickets that I'm not gonna be able to use, 'cause we'll be out of town. Want 'em?"

So I guess my decision is made.

I missed them when they came through these parts, but in hindsight, I would have made it a priority to see them if the song "Less Than Human" had been on the setlist. I am drawn to atmospherics in music, and the aforementioned track and "View From A Hill" are pure New Wave stylings reminiscent of U2 and Echo And The Bunnymen.

I'm gonna see em too here in Boston!

One thing that struck me was the broad age range of the audience at the Seattle show. (And it was a big audience too!) Plenty of people in the audience looked like they could've been fans in the band's Eighties heyday. But quite a few looked a lot younger, and a surprising number of people in the crowd looked as if they were barely old enough to be there without a fake ID. (It was not an all-ages show.) Unlike Rhett, I didn't stick around for the headliner, so I can't say whether the audience thinned out (or grew) appreciably by the time The Mission took the stage. But it's nice to think that the Chameleons' music has held up so well, and sustained its appeal to a steadily broadening range of fans.

Like I said, I would've loved to have heard more of their songs ... but hey, for a free ticket, I have no grounds to complain. Shit, I even found free parking near the venue! In downtown Seattle, that's like spotting a unicorn.

I had the same surprise last week seeing Slowdive. I was expecting to see all olds like myself and was (pleasantly) surprised to behold a sea of young people with X's on their hands. Maybe the yoots are not that bad these days (?)

Are you suggesting Froberg had it wrong?