Yow! Saturday morning was evidence of an incredible Chameleons event horizon of some sort for me! I had seen earlier this year, and lamented the fact, that The Chameleons were touring America but not coming within a day’s drive from my southeast environment. So I got along with my business. Nothing to see here, right? Because The Chameleons [or even Chameleons Vox – singer Mark Burgess’ separate touring band] ever seemed to play in the state where I lived. But all of that changed as of Friday.

It was Saturday morning in the pre-dawn hours, and I was catching up with the Trouser Press forum. I saw that the Chameleons tour thread from earlier this year had been re-activated. Further dates were added for this Fall that saw the Post-Punk icons coming within a hour of where I lived. That was it! The game was afoot. I saw that the band were playing in Greenville, SC, which is only a hour’s drive from Asheville, NC where I live. It’s a little late for a “school night” but I did it for my first Thomas Dolby concert, and I’m going to do it to see The Chameleons. In a show where they are playing their entire third album, “Strange Times” in a “classic album” set.

But that’s just a single event. As the morning continued, I thought to myself that I was irritated that I traded in my copies of “Script Of A Bridge” and “Strange Times” on LP during the Great Vinyl Purge, with the notion that I would re-buy them on the silver disc once they were available. Only to not ever buy them moving forward. And in the last 20 years I have been jonesing for “Script Of The Bridge,” in particular! At least once a month I get “Don’t Fall” stuck in my head with no recourse available to me at that point! But I cannot remember seeing a CD of “Script Of The Bridge” at any time in my travels during the last quarter century.

At least with “Strange Times” I still have “Swamp Thing” on the Canadian “Hardest Hits Vol. 3” compilation. In 2011 I found their second album, “What Does Anything Mean, Basically” on the silver disc, in my city, in the cheapie bin [!] and pounced. But for the last 13 years, those two discs have been it for The Chameleons in my Record Cell and now that I was planning on attending a concert, I wondered if I could even afford any of their other CDs!

I was trolling through Discogs [“Script Of The Bridge” was in print at normal cost, but “Strange Times” was a $30+ disc] to find the best way to source the albums, when my friend Dean texted me, alerting me of a new Chameleons album [tentatively titled “Arctic Moon”] coming later this year. Well that was it. The universe was swatting my cranium with a cosmic 2″ x 4″! Apparently, the first single was released on May 24th, entitled “Where Are You?” It’s a roaring taste of guitar rock with Burgess in fine form. The EP also had two non-LP tracks in a remake of “Endlessly Falling” from the band’s earliest days and “Forever,” a pensive ballad in the thoughtful Chameleons manner.

Vocalist Mark Burgess still has the guitar of Reg Smithies in the band for some classic sound, but Dave Fielding was still out of the band. Original drummer John Lever died in 2017 so these dates will feature half of the original lineup abetted by Stephen Rice, [guitar], Todd Demma [drums], and Danny Ashberry [keys]. The tour started almost two weeks ago and my apologies for not saying anything earlier, but I was out of the country in April, and from where I was standing then, it wasn’t going to do me any good to discuss Chameleons tour dates. Obviously, that’s changed by now! I’ll try to do better!

CHAMELEONS | N. American “Strange Times” Tour Dates | 2024

11 June | Urban Lounge | Salt Lake City, UT
12 June | Oriental Theater | Denver, CO
13 June | Record Bar | Kansas City, MO
14 June | Sundown at Granada | Dallas, TX
15 June | White Oak Music Hall | Houston, TX
17 June | Lowbrow Palace | El Paso, NM
18 June | Launch Pad | Albuquerque, NM
19 June | 191 Toole | Tucson, AZ
20 June | Last Exit | Phoenix, AZ
08 August | Underground Arts | Ardmore, PA
09 August | Space Ballroom | Hamden, CT
10 August | The Sinclair | Cambridge, MA
12 August | Theatre Fairmount | Montreal, QUE
13 August | The Opera House | Toronto, ONT
14 August | The Town Ballroom | Buffalo, NY
16 August | Webster Hall | New York City, NY
17 August | The Black Cat | Washington DC
18 October | Bottom Lounge | Chicago, IL
19 October | Smalls | Detroit, MI
20 October | Skully’s Music Diner | Columbus, OH
22 October | Eastside Bowl | Nashville, TN
23 October | Saturn | Birmingham, AL
24 October | Radio Room | Greneville, SC
25 October | The Ramkat | Winston-Salem, NC
26 October | 40 Watt Club – Southern Gothic Festival | Athens, GA
27 October | The Orpheum | Tampa, FL
28 October | Respectable Street | West Palm Beach, FL
30 October | House Of Blues | New Orleans, LA
6 November | Black Circle | Indianapolis, IN

I always liked The Chameleons since I first heard “Up The Down Escalator” on college radio 41 years ago. I have asked a friend in the neighborhood to possibly attend the show with me. so I may have some company on what will be a brief road trip to see a band that I never really imagined I’d ever have the pleasure to see in concert. But he’s in Scotland during October, so that may not happen. No matter what, I plan on being there for this one. I’ve been enjoying all of the bands that have obviously looked towards The Chameleons as inspiration in the last decade or so, and now is the time for the real thing. With “Arctic Moon” coming out on Metropolis Records later this year, this could also be your time to see the always powerful Mark Burgess. For a little taster of the new album [and two B-sides] DJ hit that button!

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