The Chevin takes its name from a wooded hillside overlooking Otley, near Leeds in the north of England. Their epic sound takes inspiration from that rolling landscape, yet this is the source of the key issue last night. Like Florence's Ceremonials, the music on their Champion EP cries out for a stadium setting. Indeed, they've already realised this dream, supporting White Lies in Wembley Arena in December. Yet this gig took place in a cramped back room of a pub, a venue which felt magically intimate for The Deep Dark Woods earlier this year, but stifled this rock music. The lighting only really illuminated drummer Mai Taylor, so lead singer Coyle Girelli was literally in the dark for much of the show, which must have disappointed some female members of the audience.
By far the most important requirement for a venue is clear sound: last night the modest PA was over-driven, struggling to cope with the volume and managing to be simultaneously muddy in the bass and harsh in the treble. The band also appeared to be a disconcerted by the sparse audience: the room had been over flowing for the lack lustre second support band, only to have emptied for the main act. This resulted in a sterile atmosphere and Girelli ended up thanking those who'd stayed to see them. My ears felt severely fatigued after the earlier bands, so perhaps others felt the need to rest theirs, or maybe they'd gone to The Deaf Institute to catch Oberhofer.
It wasn't really The Chevin's night then: the short, sub half hour set only really took flight for the closing songs Champion and new single Drive. There were no demands for an encore either. However, Drive showed great promise for their upcoming album Borderlands, due for August release, and I'd urge you to listen to the EP on Soundcloud. It was this, along with a recommendation from a music lover who'd seen their show at The Satellite, LA at the end of January, that tempted me to travel to this show. The EP reveals a band with confidence and swagger, with the sharp guitars and rhythms of early U2. In the studio, Girelli's tenor voice has amazing ability. Sadly, we didn't hear it against acoustic guitar last night owing to a broken string. I do hope that label pressure isn't putting them under pressure to gain too much exposure too soon. It would have been logical to delay their first headline gig in Manchester until they were ready to perform the album, and thus put together a full length set.
There was limited engagement with the small audience between songs, but we did learn that they're planning to play several festivals this summer. I hope I'll be at one of them, since I still believe that The Chevin has enormous potential, and I'd like to hear them in more favourable circumstances, performing material from their début album. I had a frustrating experience recently with a band as illustrious as The Black Keys, so I haven't given this show a rating as I don't believe it was a fair reflection of The Chevin's talent. They played SXSW this year, and are appearing on Letterman in August, so they're ambitiously aiming for a US breakthrough. I wish them well and I'll end with this quote from Girelli taken from an interview last year: 'I write from my heart. Our songs are filled with my experiences. Of love, loss, life and hope. Some of the songs on this record also deal with death after losing my grandma and a close friend to cancer just a few months apart last year.'
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