My road trip Last Thursday night to the adjacent state for the Chameleons concert was quick; more than vindicating the decision to attend this show. Great conversation with my friend Jacob made the time pass even more quickly. We got to the venue about 75 minutes before the 8:00 p.m. showtime and found a tasty dinner at a very nearby Indian restaurant that lived up to my expectations, which were on the high side after scoping out the menu online prior. We walked into the venue to find it about a third full and ambled over to the merch table to find our trophies. Jacob got the Chameleons hoodie and I was thrilled to see small, silver discs on the counter besides the usual LPs. Against my darkest fears that it would be LPs only.

I was crestfallen to see that “Script Of A Bridge” was sold out. Indeed, every one of the nearly ten CDs was crossed off the price list, but they had obviously leaned heavily into “Strange Times” stock, since this tour was playing it in full, and that was my number two target. I bought the Blue Apple reissue on 2xCD and then thought that I needed the T-shirt as well. By the time we staked out a place on the floor, openers The Veldt were coming out and testing their guitars.

THE VELDT @RADIO ROOM OCT-24-2024

I’d bought new earplugs for this show and fitted them in as I could tell that the guitars were going to be loud. The Earasers worked like champs for the entire show. My brother-in-law recommended them to me and they attenuate the lower frequencies to allow more musical detail in while chopping down overall volume levels by 31 db. The live sound, while loud, wasn’t criminally so. I was not feeling every drum hit in my solar plexus. But neither was the musical detail being smothered by indiscriminate earplug blanketing…very nice.

I’d seen The Veldt at one point in the 90s opening for Cocteau Twins on possibly their “Four Calendar Café” tour. Robin Guthrie had famously produced their debut album for Capitol only to not release it, but the band was definitely taking a page from the Cocteau’s rulebook with three guitarists, bass, and a drum machine. The massed guitars definitely had a Guthrie tone as the music went other places.

The band were exploring psychedelic spaces adjacent to shoegaze while lead singer Daniel Chavis brought the power of Soul singing to the game, which was rich with hybrid vigor. The vibe was suffused with beauty and power filtered through the eloquent singing of frontman Daniel. Meanwhile, his identical twin brother, Danny Chavis was at stage right exploring the deep space of guitar drone for the entire show. I was already enjoying this show to the utmost and would hope to not wait another 30+ years before I caught The Veldt live once more. I was happy to see them get a generous 50 minute opening set and I treasured every minute!

Next: …Strange Times Indeed