Into Live Music Review: Chameleons
Part of the joy of doing gig reviews is being introduced to bands I’ve never heard of, so I’ll be upfront and admit that, until the email landed in my inbox, I had never heard of Chameleons. Naturally, I checked them out online, which led to a lot of head shaking and asking myself questions like ‘How the hell did these guys pass you by?’ But for whatever reason, they did. I had a listen to a handful of tracks prior to the gig, just so I wasn’t going in 100% cold, but essentially my introduction to the band was as a punter in the crowd at The Garage in Glasgow.
Not that there weren’t any girls or younger people in attendance, but the crowd was made up mostly of blokes over forty years old, which given when they formed – early 1980s – wasn’t surprising. Despite being part of the Manchester scene, they, perhaps unfairly, didn’t achieve the same level of commercial success as many of their contemporaries.
When the band graced the stage, I thought the response was a little muted, which made me wonder if there had been reports of issues with kit, sound quality or performance. After all, singing for an hour and three quarters can’t be easy, the task frontman and founding member Vox aka Mark Burgess had before him. Thankfully, no such issues existed. There were a couple of minor sound aspects that needed ironed out, but nothing that wasn’t addressed quickly and efficiently by the band’s crew. After a couple of tunes, ‘solid’ was the word that sprang to mind, but I do remember looking at my watch after around half an hour and thinking that, whilst tight, things felt a bit pedestrian. There was limited or no chat between songs at this stage and I wondered if they were going to be an example of a band simply going through the motions. However, if you can excuse the football analogy, it was a game of two halves.
Maybe Vox/Burgess just needed to warm up, but as the gig went on, he became much chattier and more and more the showman. My initial concerns about the band being pedestrian were completely blown out of the water as the performance became more animated, intense and engaging. I can only imagine how much more satisfying and entertaining this would have been for members of the crowd who had been fans since the band’s early days.
I found it difficult to categorise Chameleons’ sound, which is no bad thing as it suggests a degree of uniqueness. That said, there were songs (or sections of songs) that reminded me of Sisters of Mercy, The Cult, early U2 and The Cure’s Disintegration era, and some guitar licks, courtesy of Reg Smithies and Stephen Rice, that were Johnny Marr-esque. Largely, though, they have their own tense, atmospheric sound where the rhythm section grinds and rolls like a reliable engine, allowing shimmering guitar riffs and powerful, political vocals to sit on top. I thought drummer Todd Demma was particularly good, mixing solid patterns with the more diverse, the latter never detracting from what the rest of the band were doing, but at the same time making the kit stand out. Not sure if this is a compliment or not, but I could see their music being used to great effect in segues and montages in 1980s films, especially scenes involving cars or buses whizzing along motorways.
A lot of Vox/Burgess’s lyrics are clearly political; understandable given Chameleons’ heyday was during Thatcher’s reign. His lyrics complemented the band’s sound perfectly, adding to the intensity and purpose of the ensemble. At one point between songs, he told the crowd he was a punk; not in image or even in sound, but in attitude. He followed this by saying “Follow nobody, lead yourself”, which got a nice big cheer. I have to say, too, as a bassist, I’m always impressed by lead vocalists who also play bass. I’ve done the occasional backing vocal but find it pretty challenging to get both bits of my brain working at the same time! Vox/Burgess does it effortlessly – and you can probably count on one hand the number of bassists who are also lead vocalists and the band’s centrepiece. However, towards the end of the show, Burgess handed the bass to multi-nstrumentalist Danny Ashberry, so he could become even more animated and perform the part of ultimate front man, without the shackles of a bass guitar round his neck.
During an extended final song, the band nodded towards The Smiths, The Doors, The Beatles and Bowie, incorporating bits of songs from each in their refrain. It was a fitting end to a band who know how to build a set and do what they do well, but who wanted to reference their influences. Speaking of that, The Chameleons have influenced many established bands and artists, including The Verve, Interpol, The Flaming Lips, and Oasis, with Noel Gallagher saying he can hear himself every time he listens to their 1986 LP, Strange Times. It’s clearly an album the band and the fans rate as well, playing six songs from it on the night, including ‘Swamp Thing’ and ‘Ever After’.
Overall, it was a fantastic show at the Glasgow Garage, and I was amused when, at the end, Burgess said “Next time, we’ll play longer” despite the set being close to two hours! Seeing them live has made me keen to explore their back catalogue, which will no doubt force me to question yet again how I’d never come across them. It’s as if they were literal chameleons: there the whole time, being great at what they do, it’s just that I couldn’t see them.
Chameleons have just announced a new tour for October 2026 which will see the band return to Glasgow, playing SWG3 on 20th October with support form ex-Cure multi-instrumentalist Lol Tolhurst. Head to the band website here for more details.
Dickson Telfer
@DicksonTelfer
Photos courtesy of D.Telfer
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